A Lifetime of memories and friendships

The Loreto College visit to Sacred Heart Obayashi in Japan created new connections and friendships through conversations, lessons and games, followed by a weekend spent with host families. These friendships were strengthened when 22 Obayashi students visited Australia for two weeks, and were able to reconnect with their ‘buddies’ once again.

Two of these reconnected students were Tomoko (Year 9 – Obayashi) and Breanna (Year 11 – Loreto College). Breanna stayed with Tomoko and her family during the Japanese Language Tour and was able to prepare Tomoko for her much awaited visit to Australia later in the year. Communicating via emails and Snap Chat messaging, Tomoko was well prepared to fully immerse herself in Loreto life including joining the College Hockey team with Breanna for the two weeks she was here. When Tomoko was asked if she had played hockey before, she said no, but wanted to play anyway with her friend Breanna.

On reflection, Breanna wrote:

‘When I first met Tomoko in Japan, I was very nervous, but I’m very glad to have done the homestay with Tomoko and her family as I got to live and experience life with her family in Japan. Her whole family was so nice to take care of me, we had so much fun getting to know each other. We got to experience the culture by visiting Hirota Temple, and then going to a popular ramen shop for lunch, where the servings were huge. They also took me to a big shopping mall and took me out for dinner to a sushi train restaurant. All the food was amazing, I also got to experience making matcha and playing with some fireworks. When it was time to leave my host family, we were sad to say goodbye. On my last day with Tomoko, we got the chance to play tennis at her club in school, it was a lot of fun. When I found out that Tomoko was coming to Australia to visit Loreto, I was over the moon, because now she got to have the experience here with me and I was her buddy in school. When Tomoko visited Loreto in Australia she joined me in my club in after-school hockey, she was amazing and even scored her very first goal.’

Tomoko enjoyed her exchange experience, making lifelong memories, later writing:

‘I want to thank Breanna for accepting me for two weeks at this school. She came to Japan and stayed at my house as a foreign student. We spent a lot of great times going to stores, temples and watching TV. It was good as we could learn something about each other in that time. It was a very precious experience for me. After her visit to Japan, we spent time sending emails to each other – I sent them in English and in Japanese, and then Breanna would send me some like that too. We saw each other again at Loreto College Ballarat and I was very glad to see her again – it made me very happy. I will treasure these experiences and have many good memories that will stay with me into the future’.

During 2023 Loreto College Ballarat hosted 43 Japanese students via a well oiled hosting program lead by Faculty Coordinator: Languages, Ms Yoshie Burrows. Students from a variety of schools including: Kyoiku Gakuen in Tokyo, Otsuma High School in Tokyo, Doshisha Junior High School in Kyoto and Sacred Heart Obayashi near Osaka were welcomed to Loreto College Ballarat this year. These students spent their time immersing themselves in Loreto school life, learning English and experiencing the Australian culture, as well as visiting a few well known sites such as Sovereign Hill and the Ballarat Wildlife Park. These visits provide worldwide connections and a lifetime of memories and friendships.