My Japanese Exchange - Genevieve -
For seven weeks in December to January, I had the opportunity to travel to Tokyo, Japan, to live with a host family and attend Meijiro Kenshin High School.
My host family took me to many places around Tokyo, such as Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Shinjuku and Harajuku. I enjoyed eating Japanese foods and drinks such as crepes and strawberries in Harajuku, ramen in Shibuya, sushi in Tsukiji, udon in Shinjuku, izakaya food in Tachikawa and tapioca in many places. I did lots of shopping and sight-seeing, such as going to the Blue Cave Illumination in Shibuya.
I also went to Disneyland, which was really fun! I had never been to a Disney park before, and whilst I don't normally enjoy rides, I had lots of fun going on rides with my host sister. I also went to SpaJapo with my host family, which was very relaxing. In Tachikawa, we went to Japanese IKEA, which was fun! The food was really good and everything was so cheap!
My host family were incredibly kind to me and gave me the opportunity to travel to Hokkaido for a little holiday with them. I had never seen snow before, so this was a very special trip. On the first night, I got to see snowfall at an illumination in Sapporo, which was beautiful. In Sapporo, we visited Hokkaido Jingu, the Shiroi Koibito factory, a sushi restaurant, and a home-style Japanese restaurant, both of which had the best seafood I've ever tasted.
On our third day in Hokkaido, we travelled to Otaru. It was one of the highlights of my stay in Japan because it was so different from Tokyo and Sapporo, and it was absolutely stunning. We visited the music box shop and walked down the main street. At the airport, I got to experience an onsen for the first time. It was amazing - I could barely see my host family through the steam.
Though I only had a short time at school, I made many friends and got to experience many different things. At my school in Australia, we don't clean our classrooms, or eat in them, or have little tests in the mornings for our subjects, and I don't have any classes with my homeroom. It was really interesting to see how Japanese school worked. At the start of my stay in Japan, the International Culture Club had a small party to welcome me, which was really fun. I got to teach the students about Australia, and I had a really fun time talking to them all. I also had the opportunity to attend a tea ceremony club, which was cool. I also got to make some of the ocha, but it was quite difficult. I also went to the cooking club, which was really fun. We made dumplings from radishes, green onions and shrimp.
Every day, I had a Japanese lesson with Goto Sensei. I learnt a lot of new things and understood lots of things I didn't before. I also had a music class with some Grade 8 students, which was really fun. I also got to participate in an Art class, where we did puzzles, and a Calligraphy class, where I got to write some kanji and words, and draw my own picture.
I also had lots of English classes, where I made lots of friends. I worked on a project with a partner in one class and helped the other classes with research for their projects. I really enjoyed talking to the students, and I got to have lunch with some of the classes as well. I really enjoyed spending time with my homeroom class. Even though I didn't get to talk to everybody, everybody also greeted me with a smile, and I made lots of friends. Koizumi Sensei was very kind to me as well!
Every Wednesday in the school term, I had the opportunity to go on an excursion with Saito Sensei, and once with the International Culture Club. The first excursion was to Asakusa, which was very cool, and very big, especially the gate. I also got to buy some omiyage in the Nakamise shopping street. After visiting the temple, we went down the river on a boat cruise. I was surprised at how big Tokyo was, and it was really interesting to see all the bridges. At the end of the cruise, we walked through the Hama-rikyu Gardens. They were really beautiful. We saw the rest house and the teahouses. The garden was so peaceful, and it struck me how different it was from the rest of Tokyo. The garden seemed so big to me, but I could see the city outside it, and it made me wonder at how big Tokyo is.
I also went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Culture Club. It was a really interesting trip because they were preparing for the Olympics. I didn't understand much, but the students helped me, and the presenter also talked about Australian and Japanese relations in English so I could understand, and it was very informative.
My second excursion with Saito Sensei was to the Edo Tokyo museum. We saw the Ukiyo-e exhibition, with paintings from five famous artists of the Edo period. My favourite artists were Hokusai and Hiroshige. The paintings were really beautiful. We also went to the permanent exhibition, where there were many replicas of the Edo period, maps and artifacts. My favourite part of the exhibition was looking at the books from the Edo period. They were really interesting.
The third excursion was to the Ghibli museum. Everything was in Japanese but I didn't mind because there were lots of pictures. My favourite Ghibli movie is Laputa, and there were lots of detailed drawings from the movie, so I enjoyed it. We watched two short films which were really interesting and funny. Everything was so pretty!
I made lots of friends at Mejiro, and I was incredibly sad to leave! The students and teachers were all really welcoming and kind. I enjoyed attending Mejiro, even if it was for a short time. Hopefully one day I can come back and see everybody again!
Genevieve (Somerville House, Australia)