Aioi Senior High School Vist

Friday 1 August

Aioi Senior High School in Hyogo prefecture, which is WA's sister state, is one of Kolbe's international friends.

We have established the exchange programme since 2003 and this year we welcomed a group of 15 Year 12 students and 2 teachers.

During their stay at Kolbe, there are series of school based activities and a weekend excursion.

Above all, their homestay with our generous families in the community is definitely one of the highlights.

JAPANESE VISIT 2008

Thursday 27 March

St Mary's Knight School is the school and seminary which was founded by our patron Saint Maximilian Kolbe in Nagasaki, Japan.

In Week 8 of Term One, a delegation of 5 students from St Mary's visited or College, accompanied by two staff - Father Omizo, who teaches RE and Theology, and Mr Kumagawa, who teaches English.

Mr Kumagawa's daughter, Ayumi, who was on exchange at Kolbe two years ago, and currently studies in New Zealand.

Throughout the week, we were fortunate enough to have Father Omizo and Father Fong concelebrate the Chisholm House Mass with Chisholm staff and students.

Groups of our Japanese visitors travel to Perth every year as part of our cultural and exchange program. In August 2008 our Japanese teacher, Mr Noburo Hagiwara and a group of Kolbe staff and students will prepare for their annual visit to Japan.

Japan Tour 2008

The College organises many inter-state and overseas trips as part of its extra-curricular activities to provide students with diverse learning opportunities. This year a group of students and staff will be visiting Japan in the Term Three holidays. Although the tour is to culminate students’ study of the language, the College invites any Year 11 students who have a genuine interest in the areas of history, geography, education, art, culture and tourism to apply for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. The application package, including the selection criteria, process and an outline of the tour will be available from Mr Hagiwara until 4 March.

Japan Tour 2007

In culminating a study of the language and its culture, the Japan Tour 2007, which took place from 30 September to 16 October, has been a very successful, memorable and productive one for the 9 students and 3 staff who took part. Of all the highlights, our pilgrimage to Nagasaki was very special. In particular, our visit to St. Francis Hospital to meet with Br Sergius, who worked with Fr Kolbe, was a quite moving experience for the members. Each one of us shook his hands, big hard-worked hands and was touched by his words “ As Fr Kolbe asked me and I like Japanese people, I have been living in Japan since.” Br Sergius, who is 100 years young, is receiving best wishes and prayers daily from his friends all over the country and from overseas.

Meeting with Brother Sergius	Cooking lesson at Aioi Senior High School	Catching up with past exchange students at St Mary's Knight School	Enjoying a Cultural Activity Tea Ceremony at Aioi SHS

We welcome our Visitors from Japan in Term 3, 2007.

As a key player for the Sister Cities activities between Rockingham and Ako, Kolbe is a home for the Teachers' and Students' Delegation from Ako and a group of Aioi S.H.S., Ako's neighboring city. These groups only stay relatively a short time, however, there is a series of interaction, activities and local tours with our students and staff.

Ako Visitors '07	Term Three - Visitors

Japanese Visitors at Kolbe Day

Our Japanese visitors enjoyed Kolbe Day, judging by the smiles on their faces. The newly arrived group from Aioi Senior High School hadn’t even had a chance to meet their host families before they were plunged into the activities.

Christina Roberts and Sarah Harrower, two of our Year 12 students studying TEE Japanese, acted as guides for Aya, Chie, Mai, and Ayaka who enjoyed spending their money on milkshakes, hotdogs and fairyfloss. They said they didn’t have the same kind of fun days like Kolbe Day at their schools!

Rio Monguchi from Ako Junior High School, was staying with Laura Whiteman’s family and celebrated her 15th birthday while she was here. They had been out to dinner and shown Rio around Rockingham, also attending the Saturday morning breakfast at Kolbe.

Both the Ako group, who were leaving on the Sunday, and the Aioi group who had just arrived, were at the breakfast, giving them a chance to exchange their views of their short Australian experience.

Cassie Scoble's family was host to Maya Hanazaki. They had taken Maya, who is also from Ako Junior High School, out to Serpentine Falls to see Australian animals in the wild - always a favourite expedition for our visitors.

The students are only here for a week and come to Kolbe accompanied by their own teachers on a cultural exchange. Later in September and October, Kolbe students will be participating in a three-week tour of Japan.

St.Mary's Knights High School Kolbe Visit 2006

St. Mary's Knights School was originally founded by Fr. Kolbe in 1931 on a steep hill in Nagasaki, Japan. We have established friendship with the school over the years and have been exchanging reciprocal visits. This year a group of students and a teacher has stayed with us from 23 March until 1 April. During that time both Kolbe students and the visitors enjoyed a number of activities in different classes. These communicative tasks gave the participants a good level of challenges and fun. The group also visited local tourist attractions such as the Penguin Island, Fremantle market and Kings Park. It was a short yet very meaningful, memorable visit. We will see them again in Japan in October 2007.