August 5, 2017
Kingaroy State High School hosted a friendly farewell dinner on Thursday for 30 students from Japan’s Fudooka High School who have spent the past week at the school.
Teachers, host families and students gathered to enjoy a barbecue prepared by the students and staff from the Clontarf Academy, and to thank everyone who had made the visit go so smoothly.
Fudooka High School is located in Kazo, north of Tokyo in Saitama Prefecture.
The Japanese students spent just a few days at the school but crammed a lot of activities into their short stay in Australia.
They attended regular school classes with their appointed “buddies”, but also learned some fair dinkum Aussie skills which they can take home with them, including how to make pavlova and damper.
They also visited Australia Zoo to get up close with some of the native animals, and enjoyed a trip to the Bunya Mountains.
Fudooka students have been coming to Kingaroy State High School annually since the mid-1990s.
They live with host families connected to the Kingaroy State High School community and join in that family’s activities during their stay.
KSHS Principal Ashley Roediger said the students appeared to have enjoyed their visit to Kingaroy.
Usually the Fudooka visitors arrive just in time to see the school’s Flair concert, but this year they were a week earlier which means they will be performing during the school’s charity concert at Kingaroy Town Hall on Friday night.
Tickets to the concert will be available from 6:30pm at the door.
The students will fly out of Australia on Monday morning.
