Our Youth Exchange student from Japan has been in Canberra since July. In the 12 months she is in Canberra, she will be hosted by four families. We do this with all our exchange students, so they get a variety of living experiences while they are here.
Monami and President Janine outside the Australian War Memorial sitting in the field of 62,000 knitted poppies
Monami’s first host family weren’t Rotarians so from a Rotary perspective, we only saw her at a few ordinary meetings off and on over the first three months.
However, on October 19, she moved in with Club President Janine and Chris. Since then, it has been one Rotary experience after another, starting with an early morning visit to our Capital Region Farmer’s Market on Saturday 20th. (Beleive it or not, she had never been before.)
Crowds start to arrive at the annual Hall Street Party
Last weekend she helped set up the Rotary banners the Hall street party. On Saturday 27th she went to the Australian War Memorial to see the display of 62,000 knitted poppies representing 62,000 lives lost in World War One. The display is in commemoration of 100 years since Armistice Day.
Bill and Kings discuss important things at the street party
If you haven’t seen it, we recommend a stroll around the front of the memorial. It is a very moving tribute.
To top off the weekend of Rotary activities, President Janine and Monami did a ceremonial ringing of the World Peace Bell in Nara Park.
Ringing the bell symbolises peace between nations and peace between friends and loved ones.
But that wasn’t the end of it, on Monday, she assisted at the Dream Cricket match held at Radford College.
Monami learns to bowl underarm (in true Aussie style!) at the Dream Cricket
