Host families have farewelled six Japanese students who visited Port Stephens for a week-long exchange.
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Organised between the Port Stephens Sister Cities Committee and Yugawara Town Hall the students attended St Phillips Christian College through the week and enjoyed a series of cultural visits.
“It was a wonderful experience, we’ve done it for the past five years now,” host parent Catherine Deverell said.
Mrs Deverell and her husband Tim agreed the highlight was seeing the students “come out of their shells”.
“There’s a language barrier but kids being kids, it’s great to watch them get along,” she said.
“It’s great for our boys Dalton (14) and Finn (16) to interact with different cultures.”
Members of Port Stephens Sister Cities Committee arranged cultural trips, including a council visit, tours of Sketchley Cottage and historic King Street in Raymond Terrace, as well as a trip to the Murrook Centre to take part in the Aboriginal cultural program.
A retired Japanese couple that now calls Shoal Bay home translated information handouts about Port Stephens and Worimi history.
The Deverell family hosted Yukiji and Amane, both 14, for the week.
As a treat the Deverells also took them onto the Stockton Dunes for some sand boarding and to Oakvale Farm to hold a koala.
“It’s about giving them that experience of Australia,” Mrs Deverell said.
“We get a lot of enjoyment from hosting the students.”
The six students on exchange, all in their early teens, were accompanied by a teacher, were rewarded with the experience after they were judged best in a leadership program run by Yugawara Town Hall.
“These trips can be expensive but local voluntary help has not only taken the edge off the cost but enriched the experience,” Port Stephens Sister Cities Committee chairman Nigel Dique said.
”Fingal Bay Sports Club kindly loaned a bus to transport them to and from Sydney, with a retired coach driver from Shoal Bay behind the wheel.
“It’s heartening to belong to a community that can pitch in to make a visit by keen young kids all the more worthwhile.”
The Sister Cities committee and the host families said farewell to the students with an Aussie barbecue at the Nelson Bay Community Arts Centre on August 17.
