International Exchange

This was the seventh year Naragakuen has sent its students to Adelaide and the sixth time to send students to Southern Vales Christian College (SVCC) and Investigator College.
All the students in the past and this year as well had a wonderful time thanks to our hosts' generosity and hospitality.

In the morning, our students were given lessons by an ESL teacher. At SVCC the same teacher gives lessons to them every year. Ms. Jenny Jenkinson is a very kind and patient teacher and helped our students learn English and about Australian culture. Our students liked her very much.

Organizing the schedule was Ms. Jane Moran, who was the coordinator at SVCC. She was always in good spirits and her big smile always made our students happy.

Ms. Moran often had to change our daily schedule this year because of the weather. Teachers at SVCC were very flexible and allowed our students to visit their classes very willingly and warmly.

Due to the unusually bad weather this year, visiting Four Oaks Farm was cancelled, but the students at both schools still enjoyed visiting other places.

As for our students who were at SVCC, they went into the city and visited a famous chocolate factory (Haigh), Himeji Garden (Himeji is a sister city of Adelaide), St. Peter's Cathedral, Central Market, (where they had lunch brought from home), and Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Institute, where they watched a didgeridoo performance and learned about circular breathing.
Some students were allowed to play the instrument, but it was difficult to even get any sounds from it.

Our students at SVCC and their buddies went on an excursion to Victor Harbor. They crossed a bridge to Granite Island on foot and came back in a tram drawn by a horse. They played for some time in Victor Harbor Skate Park, which is a park specially designed for teenagers.
After that they went to Urimbirra Wildlife Park, where they enjoyed feeding koalas and kangaroos.

On the last Friday evening, we had a farewell party at the school. Our students at SVCC presented a true-or-false quiz, a bingo game and a dance.
The host families seemed to enjoy the students' performances.

On Monday morning we met at the school parking area at 5:50. We said our good-byes to our host families and left for Adelaide International Airport with a lot of unforgettable memories.