Homestay Students

Hosting homestay students has been a rewarding experience for us. Participating in Monash College Homestay Program has enabled us to learn about cultures, heritage and traditions in different parts of the world. To make the experience worthwhile, it is important to keep an open mind, along with kindness and consideration for each other's lifestyle.

We have put together a collection of shared memories we have had with our past homestay students.

Our first homestay student, Haruka stayed with us in 2015 for five weeks. At that time, she was an undergraduate at Chiba University, training to be a teacher in Japan. Being a teacher myself, our dinner conversations were often centred on education, teaching and learning.

We became friends on Facebook, and from time to time, we received her updates. Married soon after graduation, she is now a mother of an adorable boy!

The photos above were taken on a weekend outing with Haruka at the Brighton Beach.

Our longest-staying homestay student, Lucas is from Vietnam. He came to us as an under-18 student studying initially the Foundation Year at Monash College, and then the Bachelor of Business program at Monash University.

Honest and direct, Lucas expresses his ideas and feelings openly. Because of his emotional openness, we got along with him easily. For example, he lets us know early on his food preferences, and his habits, eg. gaming on the computer during his spare time.

We were celebrating Lucas' birthday in the photo on the left. Other homestay students in pictures are Yuta on the left and Taka on the right. At any one time, we usually have two homestay students with us. Yuta from Japan was with us in the later half of 2017 and Taka also from Japan was with us in mid-2018

It was 2018 Chinese New Year in the photo on the left. Lucas had just returned to Melbourne for his first semester at Monash University. The second photo above has Ran from China, who was on an exchange program with Monash University. Ran's stay with us was a short two weeks, but he made use of all the limited time he had to visit places in Melbourne.

In the photo on the right, we were playing the game Monopoly after dinner. It was sometime in early 2019, and Yuma, from Japan along with Lucas were with us. I cannot remember who won the game, but we had good fun that evening. When Yuma left to return to Japan, we moved from our home in Jeanette Street to the present Harlington Street.

An undergraduate from Bunkyo University, Moeka stayed with us in mid 2017 for about three months. We have a common interest in reading and watching detective stories. Sharing with me her interests in manga and Ghibli Studio movies, we talked about her favourite anime television series Detective Conan. Or titled Case Closed when the show is translated in English.

Majoring in tourism, Moeka loves to travel, and she hopes to work for the company that operates the Shinkansen after graduation.

During one of the weekends, we took a day trip to the Mount Dandenong Ranges National Park, and walked the 1000 Steps Kokoda Walk. It was a good workout on a chilly winter day. Stopping by the Maples Tea Room, we tucked into some hot scones with butter and jam, and warmed ourselves with some English tea and coffee.

Yuichi from Hosei University stayed with us in late 2016 for about four months while he was with Monash College on the English Language program. He is amiable, polite and good-humoured, and we enjoyed many dinner conversations together.

We were celebrating Yuichi's birthday with a hotpot dinner. The other homestay student was Jieming who was also on the English Language program before he began the Foundation Year Program when he returned the following year.

In the photos above, the four (Yuichi, Jieming, Yeu-Wen and me) of us made a trip to the beach to watch the sunset on a late afternoon. It was a warm and beautiful day in spring, and although it isn't obvious in the photos, the beach was pretty crowded. Seeing the sun slowly disappearing into the horizon is surely one of the many pleasures in life.

In early 2017, Taiga from Bunkyo University on the English Language program stayed with us for five weeks. Affable, courteous and good-natured, he has a keen interest in photography, taking many scenic shots of Melbourne. Up until today, we still get to see many amazing and beautiful shots of his recent travels as we have become friends on Facebook.

Around the same time Taiga was with us, Jieming returned from his holidays, continuing his stay until he turned 18. The celebration was for Jieming's eighteenth birthday - the hallmark of adulthood in Australia. Coincidentally about a year and a half later, Jieming became my student at Monash College when he studied the Diploma of Business. After completing the Diploma program, he progressed to study the Bachelor of Business degree at Monash University.

Vinniesia came to us when her assigned homestay host went on vacation, and as a rule, she had to be re-located to another available host. At that time, Vinniesia was studying the Diploma of Engineering at Monash College. Below are pictures of us attending Monash College Homestay year-end potluck gathering. For the occasion, I baked a tray of shortbread.

The shortbread was a favourite with Shishi our other homestay student then. Before we went our separate ways for the Christmas holidays, the four (Shishi, Vinniesia, Yeu-Wen and me) made a trip to Saint Kilda Breakwater to catch the penguins and the sunset.