Welcome to Mount Waverley Secondary College, Owa Exchange Students!

A warm welcome to eight exchange students from our sister school, Owa Senior High School in Osaka! They arrived this week and, eager to experience all that Mount Waverley Secondary College has to offer, immediately joined their fellow Year 10 students on camp. We hope they have a fantastic time and make some lasting memories.

These students will be with us for Term 1 and we encourage everyone in the school community to extend a friendly hand and make them feel welcome. If you see them around school or in the wider community, please say hello! Sharing our Aussie culture and helping them settle in will make their exchange experience even more rewarding. We look forward to a wonderful exchange with Owa Senior High School.


Yuzuki Enjo Camp Diary, 29 – 31 January 2025

All the Owa exchange students from Japan joined the Year 10 camp to Coonawarra Adventure Resort. It was very very very exciting!

On the first day, we rode a bus for about 3 hours. It felt like Australia has nature everywhere. I was surrounded by mountains and lots of animals. For example, kangaroos, cows, wallabies, etc. The first activity was archery. I thought it was difficult and I couldn’t hit the target. The second activity was an athletic course. The instructor cleared the course very fast. That day we had a trivia event and Koyuki, Mikoto and I joined up with the students from the room next door to make a team. Everyone was so kind.

On the second day, we went canoeing. I think canoeing was the best activity of the whole camp. It was amazing. The next activity was the giant swing. It was very scary. We had to pull the string ourselves. Our fifth activity was raft building and we were divided into two teams – MWSC vs Owa exchange students. We managed to do the entire task using only English! However, our raft didn’t work. I thought it was very funny.

The sixth activity was ziplining and Koyuki and I did ziplined six times! It was fun. That evening we did a night hike. I walked and talked with MWSC students on the night hike because I thought it would be a good chance to make Australian friends. As a result, I think I made some new friends. I tried my best on the night hike.

On the third day, the seventh activity was rock climbing. It was very tiring but I made it to the top. I think all the activities were very good. I think that not being able to refuse to do the activities is a big part of foreign culture. I can refuse to do activities in Japan. For example, I could refuse to do activities I am afraid of or if I don’t want to get wet. I think that the camp was a great experience for me.

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Swimming Carnival – Monday, 3 February 2025

by Itcho Taniguchi

All eight Owa students attended the swimming carnival on February 3rd. The carnival was outside. It was very hot, but some Owa students decided to support the swimmers rather than swim.

I swam freestyle (50m), breaststroke (50m), and butterfly (50m). I came 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

There aren’t many 50-meter pools in Japan so it was a fun experience to swim in such a big pool for the first time.

Japanese and Australian sports festivals are different. The MWSC swimming festival was like a party! All the Year 12 students wore costumes.

I drank a blue sports drink. It looked strange. I thought it was blue hawaii flavour, but it was raspberry.

We took pictures and ate lunch with MWSC students and I was able to make some new friends.

 

Owa Senior High School Website