I'm home!

I'm safe back in Japan today! What I said at first when I got off the airplane was 'it' cold in Japan!' It would take time to adopt my body into Japanese climate...

On the airplane, I started reading messages which I got from my friends at the last drinking party. All messages reminded me of my life in Australia. To my shame, I was going to cry alone there. It was so long flight from Australia to Japan that I work hard to kill a time not to cry again.
On my way to my home from Narita airport, I felt strange feeling for everything. I have seen something but it looks different from that before... I might be Taro Urashima...haha... Because I had an urge for Japanese rice, I asked a person who picked me up from the airport to drop at a Japanese restaurant. I'm still a Japanese even though I stayed in Australia for nine months. Although he said my Japanese sounds a bit funny... I have to practice Japanese in order to get a future job. Of course, I will keep studying English!!! What I felt a pressure is that I have to show off my English for my teachers and friends. I do not know whether I can come through their expectations. But I could say I had a really precious experience there anyway!!!

I'm home, Japan! Please do not miss me you Australian guys! I won't cry anymore because I believe that we can meet again some day;^)

thanks for everything!

I did not want to count...but I could not help counting how many days I had left... someday I have to go back to Japan anyway.

In the last week, I was very busy to buy souvenirs, to send my luggage, to apply to go back to Japan....that's why I could not do everything I wanted to do. But, sometimes we need a time limit. Otherwise we can be getting lazy. Being struggling preparation, I tried to make a plan to meet my friends as much as I could. I feel sorry for everyone who invited me but whom I could not spend time with me. However, I was really happy that a lot of my friends came to my farewell drinking though some of them seemed to be busy on exams and assignments. I used to say that I did not have so many friends in last semester. But actually, I have many many great friends! What's a shame I could not notice it!!!
I do not know how many times I cried. I had not realized that I could cry so easily...I'm sorry for showing my awful face. But, I believe that the number of tears shows the number of my memories in Australia.

THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH FOR EVERYTHING! I WILL NEVER FORGET WHAT I DID IN AUSTRALIA FOREVER!!!

100 to do list

Nowadays, what I somehow tend to do is to count how many days I have left to stay Australia. Just today, I have less than one month until I go back to Japan. I cannot believe! I don't wanna believe!, which is what I'm saying every day. If I want, I can change the date of flight. But, I'm really worry about job hunting. As my professor says, there are a lots of things to do in Japan...

Anyway, I have only one month. I do want to do whatever I can! I do never waste a time! Such person, I, have got a good idea from Hiroko who was one of my classmates in last semester. That is....'100 to do list before leaving'. What I really wanted to do, what I have missed to do, what I thank my friends...and whatever comes up to my mind, I put on the list. In order to make the list, this blog was helpful. I have continued posting so far, which was good. Though I don't know I can achieve everything on the list, having the list could make the rest of my life in Australia maaaaaaaaaaad fun!

Surely doing heavy assignments, I will enjoy as much as I can in Australia!!!

with flatmates

International students look very busy even in holiday, which differ from us, exchange students. Such my flatmates seemed to finish their assignments and invited me to go daytrip to Jervis bay which is located in Southern Coast! Though I have spent much money on traveling, I still could afford to go day trip with them. Three of my flatmates from Malaysia, their friends from India, Spain, and my Japanese friends joined all together.

This day trip had a quite tight schedule because there are many things to see in South Coast. While I used to live in South of Sydney, I had not been further than Cronulla where I stayed five years ago. Firstly, we went to see grant coastline and the Kiama Blowhole which is like a big tube made by rock and spouts seawater. I did not know that there were such a beautiful place in Sydney! On our way to there, we dropped at Wollongong Nan Tien Temple. We saw China for a while, which made us feel mysterious... After that, we rode on a ferry having a lunch to watch dolphin and whale. It was difficult to close to them as I expected. But, wild dolphin and whale were cuter and more alive than that in aquarium (Unfortunately, I could not take a good picture of them)...Despite of my concern that we who are from Japan would be looked with something strange by Australian people, I did not have any problems, which was good. It's because I have a Japanese friend who had experienced in bad way when he joined whale watching tour. Finally, we moved to beaches which are famous for the whitest sand in the world and came back to city.

It was a bit tiring to follow the tight schedule...but, I enjoyed much more than I expected. Particularly, I was really glad to go out with my flat mates. During the trip, we could talk about deep topics with a lot of joking:) It might be the last going out with them because when I leave Australia, they would be very busy to do assignments and exams. This trip must have been a gooooooooood memory with them...!

From Tasmania~Day4

Today, we got up early again and joined a tour to go to the Port Arthur which was established as a traditional prison of convicts from England in 1830. As it is said that Tasmania has a sad history of Australia, I did not know that such a historical place is located there but in the main land. On the bus, each of us got a tramp card which a man or woman was drawn. These people were people in the prison and found at the Museum. The man who was printed on my card was chased by gangs moved there. People were sent there even though their crimes were not so heavy. Some of them seemed to commit crime to escape from poor life.

When I went out the museum, I was so surprised because there were so beautiful yard and buildings. I supposed convicts' mind would have become pure if they stayed there for a while. But, I changed my mind. When I had a look a penitentiary, I did not want to imagine what I would have done or something like that. Some rooms did not have any rooves and floors...

Around 1 o'clock, we joined a harbour tour which we can get explanation of the history at an outer island. The island also looked nice. There had also graves sad histories of convicts though...

We learned much history of it, which was good while we were not so comfortable. However, it must be necessary for us to go traveling not just for fun. That is why I cannot stop traveling! Of course, we enjoyed this traveling a lot! It would be the last trip for me in Australia. I really want to thank Kasumi (sitting next to me in the right photo) who invited me and Grace (the second right of the right photo) and Cici (the right of the right photo) for traveling together.

In Tasmania~Day3

This morning, we got up very early to go to Mount Wellington because we had to take the rental car back to a rent shop. Also, it looked hard to clime the Mountain without cars. Getting lost many times on our way to the top on Mountain, we saw beautiful scenery of Hobart city. But, the most wonderful view was from the top. We were above cloud and saw the city in hole of cloud. In addition, there was still snow on surface of roads. It was the first time for me to see snow in Australia!

Then, we went to the Salamanca Market. I like markets because we can know about the place from what are sold in markets. There were something interesting which I had not found in markets in Sydney. For example, fruit leather, Tasmanian Devil's mitten, antique musical instruments. and so on. More over, many musicians from young to old generations were playing music between shops, which was very interesting for me♪ We did not buy anything there because we did not want to make our luggage bigger. (Our luggage had already been filled with chocolate...)

After that, we hanged around city. The orchid festival was held at Town Hall, which mended our tiredness. And, we studied maritime history at the Maritime Museum next to Town Hall. To my surprise, people in Tasmania did whale hunting as well as Japanese! (I can argue about it in class because we have had some discussion of whale hunting in this semester.)

At night, we ate Indian dishes. We could eat anything, but there were few restaurants around our backpacker even though it was Saturday today. It was the last night in Tasmania. We enjoyed chatting over.

In Tasmania~Day2

Today, we rent a car to go away from Hobert. Today's theme was EATING! It's dangerous theme for me who is on diet...

First, we dropped at a cheese factory. It was much smaller than we expected. We tasted more than five cheese made in the factory. Goat cheese had a strong smell and taste. (I didn't like it.) We bought nothing and drove for the next food.

Next food was chocolate! In Australia, there is a famous sweets company, Cadbury which deals with chocolate, ice cream, candy and so on. Grace and Cici really wanted to come to the factory so that they decided the factory as the first destination. They applied a visitor tour for an hour. Contrary to our expectation, what we did there was to have explanation of how to make chocolate and history of the company. We were depressed and bought a lot of cheaper chocolates which were not sold because of defect.

The last food was bread. While it took about two hours to get there, we, Japanese wanted to go to a famous bakery 'Ross Village Bakery'. It is said that Studio Giburi movie 'Kiki's delivery service (魔女の宅急便)' was based on the bakery. I love the movie! The bakery was a bit different from our images. But, we found a black cat, gigi's dolls were sold. Shopper aunt seemed to be accustomed to Japanese tourists. She suggested us to take a picture at a counter with Kiki's pose like resting our chin on our hands, which made my interests gone, unfortunately...

After that, we thought we had time to go to wineries. However, because of clapped car navigation, we got lost and ran out of time to go. Instead, we went out to a pub 'New Sydney' (even though we were in Tasmania!) and drunk Tasman beer and wine. Though I could not distinguish how was different from normal beer and wine, I was satisfied with fashionable night at the pub with live musical performance. Umm...I ate much today...

To Tasmania~Day1

During this mid semester brake, where do I go? It was a difficult question...because this vacation would be the last chance for me to go traveling in Australia now. As everyone says, Australia is too big to go traveling. Then, I got an invitation from Kasumi, Japanese who stayed with me in previous place for a month. My destination was set to Tasmania!

Honestly, Tasmania is not so famous amongst Japanese because I did not know it when I was in Japan. But, I thought I would never go there straight from Japan. (I might have chance to go to Cairns from Japan. Don't you think so?)

I went there with Kasumi, Grace(her current flat mate from Hong Kong), and Cici(Grace's friend from China). Though I had not met Cici, we could get along with each other as soon as we met at the airport. After two hours flight from Sydney, where we arrived was the center of Tasmania, Hobart. We caught a taxi and went to places to eat seafood. In fact, I cannot eat seafood so much because these especially shellfish did not appeal to me...I had never eaten oyster which is famous in Tasmania. But, we were traveling. I thought I should not miss it!...I ate it for the first time in my life. umm...I might eat again!...,which would make my family surprised:)

After that, we walked around the city and had a rest at Cenotaph which was made for commemoration of ANZAC. Although it was the center of the state, Hobart was a country side. Also, there were a few Asian. I thought as if I were in a small European country which is not multicultural one... Thinking of that kind of things, we went back to a backpacker and went to bed a bit early for tomorrow.

The second guest from Japan

This weekend, my mum came to Australia. As I wrote, she had been here in March with my younger sister. But, in this time, she was alone! When I was in Japan, she was not such a brave person. She might have been changed with me...

In fact, she was going to go to Cairns with me, which plan was changed because it was a bit difficult to make schedule with me. Finaly, she came to Sydney where I am again. That is why there are not much place to go in city. I tried to find sightseeing spots where she has never been. For example, Manly beach, the Rocks Market, Fetherdale wild life park and Blue Mountain. My mum seemed to remember what she saw at the last time. I think I could guide her much better than before. Now, I know some good restaurants or cafes as well.

My mum and I talked all the time. But our contents of conversations were different from before one. I have only two months left to stay here. I have to think about my future before I start finding a job. Regarding my situation, it was a good chance for me to talk with my mum what I would do. I do not mean I obey what my parents want me to do. But, I rely on them. I should listen to their opinions as one of advices...As a result, what I should do in Australia is to improve my English skill and to decide my future having various experiences as much as I can! For me, my mum is the best adviser in my family. Did you have a good time here, mum?

By the way, the first thing what my mum said to me was...'you got fat, Miho~!' I try to get my previous body back...

Happy B'day♪

In this month, my friends from Yamanashi University called 'Nashi Girls', Kanako, Mai and Tomoko, have their birthdays. Two more Japanese friends also have their birthdays as well. So, they held a big BBQ birthday party all together. In Australia, birthday people normally hold a party and invite others by themselves.

The venue is Mai's place in Oatley because Mai and Kanako are right next door. I had visited Kanako's place some times before. Though it is far from City, I like that kind of atmosphere. (My previous place, Hurstville is a bit different area.) For five birthday people, about fifty people including local students and exchange students gathered at the party. I brought a sort of apple pie, presents and letters for them. Especially, I have been with Nashi Girls so long! It was a good chance to cerebrate with a lot of thanks!!! They seemed to be glad to get my present and a hammy letter (I honestly wrote embarrassing things!) , I guess. While we were caught in a shower, we had a nice time there.

At the same time, I envied them to see them being celebrated and getting presents...because my birthday is in December. Then, I will be in Japan. (Ironically, my passport will be expired on my birthday.) I have already bought an airplane ticket in Japan. I won't change the date of it. I cannot change my birthday...it cannot be helped...If I can say a selfish thing, I wanted to spend my birthday in Australia. For such a person, me, Mai kindly gave me a present even though we have two months until my birthday. Thanks~!

Anyway...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

HOPE YOUR MARVELOUS TIME BOTH IN AUSTRALIA AND JAPAN!!!

The first guest from Japan

Two guests are supposed to come to Australia from Japan. This weekend, one of them came over down under.

He had never been to any foreign countries. So, I really worried him...He did not have even a passport. In addition, though he is in summer vacation in Japan, he seems to be busy. I guess he did not have enough time to prepare because when he was sure to come was quite recent. Anyway, he come here safely. We met each other for the first time in seven months. I told him many thing about my life guiding and also he taught me many thing about Japan. As I wrote, Australia is the first foreign country for him, which made me have a kind of responsibility to show a foreign country. Also, his stay was only for three days. I thought I should tell him everything attractive about Sydney without wasting a time...

Everything depended on me. I felt as if I were a tour planner and a tour guide. What I am familiar to were new for him. He reminded me of what I felt when I came to Australia seven months ago. I could meet my Japanese and Australian friends with him. He is originally shy, so he might have been uncomfortable to talk with them. But, after that, he seemed to notice that he has to study English more, which was good!
I hope he could spend a good time to stay in Australia. C ya soon in Japan:)

with high school students

In this semester, I go to a local high school every Friday to help teaching Japanese as an assistant. (I will write about this volunteer work later...) Normally, I follow a Japanese teacher and attend Japanese classes at the school. But today, students had an excursion. Kindly, the teacher took me with students for free!

We got on a bus and went to the Nihongo Tanken centre (Japanese Language Centre) in Kirawee high school (30minutes from Central by trains). In the campus, there was a Japanese traditional building like a house next to a gym, which was a bit strange. Staff members are a native Japanese and an Australian who can speak Japanese very well. A lot of activities in Japanese had already been prepared for students such as Interview game, Kansuji game (calculation with kansuji), and so on. For students, it must have been the first time to be in Japanese tatami mat room with a tokonoma and shoji screens. Also, they had rice crackers and a Japanese lunch box. I wish I had such an excursion some times to promote studying English! I do not know what style of excursion we could do though...I strongly thought that there is no culture like Japanese one! Everything there reminds me of Japan.

Students seemed to enjoy activities. However, some students could not catch up with games because two staff members did not speak English at all. It was because they tried to do activities following a new styled teaching strategy. I had heard about the strategy which is done only in the second language without explanation in the first language. Which is better to acquire language skill? No one would have known yet...Today, I did think about language education.

an invitaion from my flatmate

Among five flatmates in my flat, three of them are from Malaysia. After I moved to dormitory, I have made many Malay friends. It is the independence day of Malaysia, today. The Malaysian festival was held in Darling Harbour. My flatmates said to me 'come come!'

One of my flatmates was working there because she belongs to Malaysian Society at UTS. The event was organized by the Society in some Universities in NSW. Can you imagine so many international students from Malaysia in Australia? According to Malay friends, Malay people come to Australia to study because there are some educational discrimination in Malaysia. It seems to be because of races (Malay, Indian, and Chinese). Since this diary would be very long, I cannot write about the issue. Anyway, it is common for Malay students to study abroad when they are university students. That's why they can have such a big event by themselves...

In the event, we could taste many Malay foods. As my friends said, Malay foods are mixed with Chinese, Indonesia, and Thai. So, it is a bit difficult to define what Malay foods are. What we ate there are Nashi Remak (the left side of picture, cooked rice, spicy sauce, cucumber and anchovy), Roti (plain bread like Nan and spicy sauces) and Ice Kacha (ice and sweet syrup, like Kakigori). For me, these tested too spicy or too sweet. But, I had never eaten Malay foods. I will ask my friends how to make them. At the stage, some people danced with traditional clothes. Dance performance did not stop for a long time... different races have their own special dances. Umm, it is complicated country, Malaysia. I think going traveling to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian capital city, because the city is famous as a good sightseeing resort. However, how many tourists know that complicated fact of Malaysia...? I should know more about Malaysia not only for studying but also being close to my flatmates from Malaysia!

In-fusion!

An international feast of food, music, dance and more...which is called 'In-fusion'! In this week, UTS was vibrant with the multicultural event. It's just like multicultural country, Australia!

Today, one of in-fusion event was held at a UTS dormitory. Only student residents can attend the event. We were asked to take part in some contest or performance. In particular, we joined the cooking competition! Speaking of Japanese food, a lot of people would imagine 'Sushi' especially 'roll sushi'. It is not interesting to make expected food, so we made 'tsirashi zushi'. It was hard to collect special ingredients of it. But, some friends led us to manage our roles. Thanks to them, we did make a beautiful and fantastic Sushi! (Japanese foods are quite colourful!) Unfortunately, though it could not win on the competition, our sushi was eaten out. Also, there were many kinds of foods from over the world. For example, India curry, French cakes, Vietnamese spring roll, and so on. I ate too much foods! (Because of it, I have stomachache now...) While we were eating, some people had performance from their countries. It showed that everyone has opportunities to tell their culture in Australia. It's nice event, isn' it? If possible, I want to join again!

to my health...

Nowadays, I'm thinking about loosing my weight seriously....because I gain weight a lot! Three months later, I will be in Japan. My family, friends, teachers, and people who know me might be surprised to see my change! I always say myself 'I HAVE TO EXERCISE'.

One of my choices is YOGA. It was a bit popular among young women in Japan, wasn't it? My friend who is from Hong Kong suggested that I should do YOGA. As she introduced me a cheap trial course, I decided to try it. (I can go whenever I want within two weeks.) Although I had never done before, I thought that it must be easier than running or muscle training to keep doing.

We have to move very slowly and to keep postures and balance well, which looks easy but makes me feel tired. How to breathe is one of the most important elements in YOGA. Some friends said I must have a big amount of breathing capacity because I belong to a wind orchestra...I betrayed such an expectation and was shocked how rigid I am. All lessons are held for ninety minutes. During lessons, we can sweat and make our bodies flexible. Unfortunately, YOGA is not for loosing weight. However, we can feel relaxed and keep our posture beautiful! Also, teachers teach us how to move in English. It is a rare experience so hard to catch specific names of a part of body that I copy others many times. I will go to do YOGA as much as I can.
This is my current way of spending time after school. How long can I keep going?

distance sisterly love

I received an email from my younger sister in English. It was her reply of my present. Though there were many mistakes in her English, I could tell she put her effort on the email.

My younger sister's birthday is 17th August. I sent her a birthday card five days before her birthday, which was my surprising event for her. She must not have expected me to do something for her birthday because I had not done anything some years in Japan. How bad sister I was! But, in fact, our relationship was so terrible. We had quarrels almost everyday, which made my mother bothered. If our relationship is still bad, I might have done nothing...
So, we are going better now! I can say that my studying here changed our relationship. I had lived with her for 18 years since my sister was born. It was the first time for us to live separately. I didn't care about my sister when I left Japan and so did she, I thought. But, my sister gave me a letter and a picture. (She is good at drawing.) To be honest, I was so surprised and happy that I was likely to cry when I got them. I put the picture on the wall in my room as an encouragement to me.

Although it is natural to do something for siblings, I could not help doing something for her this year. In particular, I wanted to tell my thank and love for her. The reason why I wrote in English is because she is studying English to enter a university. According to my mother, my sister looked up a dictionary to understand meaning of my card. I was glad to hear that and thought she is cute. I could feel her love from her email as well. Yeah, she is only one my sister! I hope we can be sooooooooo good sisters that my mother does not have to have troubles any more! Anyway, happy birthday my sister, Naho~:)

1/70.000

No one would not expect me to run 14kilometers in Australia. Me neither...!

Sydney has a big running and walking event from Hyde Park to Bondi beach in every August, which is called 'City to Surf'. Although I had heard about it from one of my classmates, I had not thought to join it actually because I don't like a marathon competition, races, and something like that. However, if I miss this time, I will never join the event...Such an idea came up to my mind again. Also, one more reason why I joined is to be able to buy UTS team T-shirt. It might be trivial reasons...But, I guess most of Australian runners are not serious to run:) I had seen some pictures of runners who wore funny costumes. Anyway, even though we knew how long I would run, I was so busy that I could not do any exercise.

When we got to the starting place, Hyde Park, there had already been soooooo many people! This year, about 70,000 people join the event!! Can you imagine that number of crowd? Even if I wanted to run, I couldn't do because of people, people, and people... Some adults were taking baby cars walking as participants. On the way, landscape was really nice. A lot of children worked as volunteer worker and cheered us up. (One of my English teacher said having fun at mass events was a kind of Australian culture!) After three and a half hours later, we finally got to the goal. Though I had run much longer didistance, I was satisfied with a sense of achievement X)

Our name will be printed on a newspaper day after tomorrow...

Sports pass across the border

There is something which can pass across the border around us...

Today, I went to the Olympic Park where Sydney Olympic was held to watch Judo! One of my Japanese friends Tomoko took part in a Judo competition. Even though she is from Yamanashi university, I had never seen her Judo. Also, it was the first time for me to watch Judo directly. (I should have watched Judo in Japan!) As her friend, I went there to cheer her up with her international friends.

She could not win. However, to our surprise, it was cleared that her competitive was a Representative of Sydney Olympic team! Tomoko had a match with a big athlete!!

By the way, I respect her because she enjoys her interest even in Australia. Though I was going to join a wind

orchestra club, I have not found yet. In my plan, I want to make through my interest, music. But, it is not so easy because wind orchestra does not seem to be popular in Sydney. For me, she is my classmate as well as my senior in a meaning of doing an interest as a communication tool. Today, she inspired me a lot...!

To Brisbane~Day3

To my surprise, today was the last day...Mai went back to Sydney earlier than us to watch a rugby game. Three of us, Kanako, Sooyoun, and I and a Korean girl who stayed in same room at an accommodation went to Brisbane all together.

Fortunately, it was nice weather today. We hanged around a beach in the morning. Although there was no surfer, it was just like 'surfer's paradise'! I wish I could surf...In fact, I have tried to surf only once in Australia. But I wasn't brave to try alone. After that, we said good bye to Gold Coast. On our way to Brisbane, I don't know how many times we got lost. When we arrived at the first destination was around 2p.m. We ran out of time to go some places. So, we went to Town Hall, the botanic garden. Though Brisbane is a quite small city, it would have developed like Sydney. What I was surprised there is how big Brisbane airport is! I have been to some airport in Australia. Brisbane one would be the biggest among airports I used.

Finally, I can say I had a good traveling with friends. As I wrote, I could discover their unexpected characters. Thanks a lot Yamanashi girls!!!

In Gold Coast~Day2

Fortunately, it was gooood sunny day today! We planed to go to one of theme park, the Movie world. Before we came to Gold Coast, we asked many friends who have been to theme parks which is the best one because we were going to only one theme park.

If I describe the Movie World, I can say that it was like a small USJ. I have never been to USJ though... The main movies are 'BAT MAN' and 'SUPER MAN'. But, we didn't have to make a queue longer than fifteen minutes. It was strange and unexpected situation for us Japanese who used to wait about one hour to ride attractions in Tokyo Disneyland or Fujikyu highland. You would see how small the park was. Oh, I had one more unexpected thing, which is about Mai and Kanako. To my surprise, Mai was really scared to ride coasters with Sooyoun. However, Kanako was so curious that she said 'interesting!'. (I looked up to her because she shouted something in English even though we were riding a coaster.) I was between them. I was not scared to ride and wanted to try everything but was not so active as Kanako. In the afternoon, we met our friends Jason and Takashi there and hanged around together. They, Kanako, and I rode a 'SUPER MAN' coaster at last. I seemed to shout and have an ugly face...haha......

The theme park was big enough to go around in a day. Though I could not help comparing it with Japanese theme parks, we enjoyed a lot:)

To Gold Coast~Day1

Since I came to Australia, I had been traveling by myself. The reason why I traveled alone is because I want to be independent. If I go with someone, I think I would depend on the person. So, this travel was the first time for me to go with my friends. Does it sound lonely? No worries, I have friends to go traveling if I want.

Yamanashi girls, Mai and Kanako made a plan. Our destination is Gold Coast, Queens Land! We supposed that Gold Coast is good place to go with friends because there are some theme parks. Actually, I did not want to go a theme park alone. It's nice choice, isn't it? But, the only thing difficult for us was to make our schedule. Mai and Kanako went ahead. I and Korean girl, Sooyoun who stays with same house with Kanako got to Gold Coast.

Unfortunately, it was heavy rain there. We could not see a beautiful beach though we stayed at Surfers Paradise. Instead, we enjoyed shopping. I was surprised that Kanako loves shopping so much! Members of us were only girls, which was good. On the other hand, we did not have a sense of direction...So do typical girls, don't they? Mai had the best sense of it among us and took us to our backpacker. umm, I could see different characters of Yamanashi girls!

thank you my australian family!

Today was the last day to stay with my host family because I decided to move to UTS dormitory. Tomorrow, I have to check in and move to new place.

Since I came here, I have lived with my host family. As I wrote before on this blog, they are immigrants. So, their life styles are different from Aussie family whom Kanako and Mai stay with. Sometimes, I felt cultural differences and difficulties to stay. But, I could have very very precious experiences! Even though I go to the UK (my host father's home country) or Belgium (my host mother's home country), I cannot have such a life. Don't you think so?

The last week was the worst week. Everyone except my host father was sick... Though I wanted to help them somehow, I think I could not do anything special for them. However, fortunately, I could have a last dinner with them all. Finlay they recovered from sickness! I tried to talk more than usual. Sure thing...I was very quiet when I had a dinner with them for the first time. haha.

Anyway, after the dinner, I gave them a present. I wrote mannnnnnnnnnnny massages and collected my favorite pictures of them to make them remember me whenever they have a look my present. My host sister and mother gave me presents as well. There would remind me of staying with them for five months!

Because of my defect of vocabulary, I cannot express my appreciation in words... The longer I was with you, the more I knew your family, and the more trouble I made to you, which must be my memory forever...THANK YOU VERY MUCH for taking care of me as a part of your family! I will visit you at least once before I go back to Japan!!!

Who was he?

For a couple of days, it was so crowded in Sydney. I had not known the reason why so many people came to Sydney from over the world. Because of the event, Christian people who had same huts and backpacks were everywhere. This event made me think about cohesion of religion.

Anyway, today, I joined a walking event which was run by UTS from Circular quay. We walked to Balamora beach with Salad bowl member. Salad bowl is one of UTS community like JASS. International students and local students who are interested in international people join the community. I have participated some events of it so far. Whenever I attend events, I can make new international friends. Today, I got friends with Chinese and Polish girl!

After the event, we dropped at Star Bucks coffee to chat. Then, there was a man who wore a colourful robe which was decorated with many national flags. He smiled us and spoke to me hello in Japanese! Who is he...? A common idea about him among us was that he might be Pope! In Circular quay station, many Christian people marched to the Opera House...He must be Pope!...We met one of the most famous people in the world! Even though no one is Christian, we were happy to see him. I could not help talking about this story to someone! However, everyone whom I told the story doubted the man. Definitely, he must not be at Star Bucks alone...maybe he was an imitation Pope. If you want, please laugh me~

to be relaxed...

Almost everyday, I drink more than three cups of coffee...Do I have too much caffeine? While I'm drinking, I can be relaxed~! On my way to our university, there are so many coffee shop that I cannot count them. Sometimes, I buy a cup of coffee in the morning even though it does not wake me up. Western coffee culture spreads over Australia. I can kill time finding new cafeterias and chatting having coffee with my friends.

As that fact was shown, a massive and dangerous (for me) event was held at the Rocks! It is called "the Aroma festival." A lot of coffee, chocolate, and tea shops gathered at the venue and sold their products cheap. I was satisfied with smells hanging around. But I could not stand without having anything! I bought an affogato, a latte, a chiller and a waffle. There were so many shops that I could not judge which shop was better. After I felt full, I enjoyed tasting many kinds of sweets. (I noticed why I'm getting fat...) Anyway, this event is held once a year. I did not miss a lovely event!

In Alice Springs~Day4

I had a looooong sleep. Though I stayed at a share room with three females, two of them had already gone out when I woke up. A woman was very kind. I asked her many things about around the accommodation. She explained and took me to the main street.

I hanged around the central town of Alice Springs. I sent a post card to my family as I did in Melbourne. There were souvenir shops, accommodations, petrol stations, tour shops... most of shops were for tourists. I saw a lot of Aboriginal people. Central Australia is the place where Aboriginal people live. We should not live there for long time. I found a kinder garden and a hospital for only Aboriginal people. As I learned about complicated racism in a class in last semester, it might be difficult to live together... I could study a little for an hour on my way to an accommodation.

This trip was quite different from last one to Melbourne. I touched nature and had a wild experience. I did not want to be a typical Japanese tourist who went there just for having a look a model of a movie. I tried to think about a lot of things including myself. Could I mature a little bit...?

At Kings Canyon~Day3

Following yesterday, we got up before 6 o'clock. We went to Kings Canyon to climb. Before I came to Central Australia, I asked about it to my local friends. No one knew it as a sightseeing spot. But I wanted to go there because I thought I would never go in my life. That is why I chose the tour including Kings Canyon. It was much harder than I expected!!

We climbed the first point. It was enough to see a great landscape. At the moment, a tour guide said "we will come back here after 3 and a half hours~!" I doubted of my ears. I have never climbed so long time:-( It must be a good exercise! I did not turn back to release my daily fat! Everything was rocks. All of them were shaped by nature. The tour guide told us that canyon means rocks which was made by earthquake. In this meaning, Grand Canyon which was made by water in the US uses the word "canyon" in a wrong way. We were in a real canyon. Thought it was not so popular spot, there were grant walls and "Lost city". I could see an unique atmosphere of "Lost city". I heard winds like voices.

We survived! We came back! I talked about like that with girls. This activity made our lunch more yummy:) Our tour schedule nearly finished. We had got on a bus for five hours to get to accommodations. I had a good sleep on the bus. Tour members got off the bus one ofter another. In the tour, many members were from German spoken countries. I could not talk so much...But I enjoyed the tour with them. "A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME CHANCE."

At Uluru~Day2

The reason why we got up 5:30 was... to watch Uluru at sunrise! It was still very dark and cold. A tour guide took us the best point. We stood for a while in admiration of the view. (I prefer sunset view to sunrise though...:)

Today's destination was only Uluru! We walked around Uluru for about two hours. It seems to be 10kilometers. What we saw walking was rocks, rocks, and ROCKS! I found a rock like a monster. I could not believe that Uluru was a monolith. There were some places where Aboriginal people prohibited us from taking pictures. Although it was hard for me to understand Aboriginal customs and faith, it must mean that nature is so big that we cannot explain without such a legend!

Even though Aboriginal people do not want others to climb Uluru, many people enjoyed climbing. I thought it would be a good memory. But I was so tired and gave up to do. I advised me to have followed Aboriginal will. According to the tour guide, some people was wound or dead by falling down. I did not want to die at Central Australia even if Uluru is famous for a Japanese movie which a heroine wished her boyfriend to sprinkle her bone there...

We spend all day around Uluru and moved to a campsite near by Kings Canyon. A dinner was made by Dutch ovens. We slept in a swag tonight as well. However, dingos started howling at 2am. I was so scared that I could not fall asleep...it was a wild night, wasn't it?

To Ayers Rock~Day1

I went traveling alone again! My destination was Central Australia! I heard that it was the best season to go there now. As you know, Ayers Rock is famous for a Japanese movie. The reason why I wanted to go was not only because of the movie but I wanted to visit natural places of Aboriginal people. I thought I would never go there if I miss this time!

I left Sydney in the early morning. To my luck, I did not have any trouble of an engineering strike. I got Ayers Rock airport at noon. There are a time difference for 30minutes between Sydney and Ayers Rock! In total, I took on an airplane for 3 hours. In case of Japan, we can go abroad with 3 hours flight! Can you imagine how big Australia is?

I joined a tour from Ayers Rock on the way to Katajuta. Katajuta was made by 36 rocks. There is the valley of wind which is a model of "風の谷のナウシカ". Definitely, I have seen the view in the movie... I talked with tour members walking around there. Most of them were from Europe. (Germany, France, England, Ireland, and Austria)

We moved to Uluru which is the most famous sightseeing spot in Central Australia. We enjoyed watching sunset and drinking champagne. Colours were changing with sunset. I cannot describe how beautiful it was...! I was typical Japanese tourist then, so I took funny pictures. Other tour members imitated me :)

At a campsite, we had a BBQ around campfire. I think it was Australian camp style. I chose this tour because I can sleep in a permanent tent at night. But, our tour guide suggested that we should sleep outside with a swag. Swag is like a sleeping bag and has a mattress in there. No one sleep in any tents. I followed others and saw falling stars!

for the first time, and the last time

IELTS, International English Language Testing System, is one of the most common English tests in Australia. Today, I took the test at UTS. We, international students, need a high score of IELTS to enter a faculty. But it is quite expensive to take it. I applied only once because I did not have enough time to prepare. I had never taken it before...

I was busy to do assignments in this semester. So, I actually started studying just for the preparation after I finished all assignments. Though it might not be enough and cannot be an excuse, I went to UTS library to study almost everyday. (To my shame, I had not studied so hard to take English tests since I took TOEFL test in Japan...) I had Japanese friends who would take it at the same day. We encouraged to study each other, which stimulated me to study very much. Some local friends helped me to practice speaking and to check my writing. Thank you everyone!

Nevertheless, to be frank, I cannot say I did well on the test. I do not have a confidence to get a good result... However, the most important thing must be a process of preparation of it. I have to accept the result as my English ability. Unless I want to get a civil right in Australia, I will never take IELTS in my future. It was the first time and the last time for me. But, I could notice that I need more study. KEEP STUDYING!

unexpected present

Today, I got a present from Mandy, one of JASS (Japanese and Australian Students Society) members. (an eco bag, UTS ball point pen, and a card) "Akiyama Miho 先生", which was written on the envelop of a card. It was a gift for us who were teachers of Japanese.

In this semester, I taught Japanese to students who belong to JASS as a teacher. Students were divided into three levels. I was a teacher of a intermediate class with Mai. There were no textbook and no plan. We could teach anything we wanted, which was the most difficult to have classes every week. We do not have any teaching skills because we had not taken education subjects even though we belong to the education faculty. Sometimes, we made a document referring a Japanese textbook of an official Japanese class at UTS. I could not teach and explain Japanese well. I feel sorry for students to be a bad teacher. To be frank, I had felt nervous to have a class. But, thanks to Mai and students, I could continue teaching Japanese. At the same time, they told me difficulties of Japanese very much!

I did not expect to get any present from them because I could not play a role as a Japanese teacher... So, I was very surprised and glad to receive it. Thank you, JASS!

One of my desire...

Speaking of Sydney, what image do you have? One of the most famous places is the Opera House, isn't it? Our friends who are leaving Australia wanted to go there. They booked a ticket for me.

The name of the program is 'Edward Scissor hands'. This story became a movie before. While I had never watched the movie...I did enjoyed watching the musical!!! The musical had no songs, no lines. Actors and actresses just danced with music. But I could understand contents and have a fun to watch so many elements of dancing that I did not want to blink not to miss any dancing and performances. Though I tend to see musicals and concerts as one of music players (I don't like this habit...), I was impressed and pleased! I'm frustrated not to be able to describe my impression because of a lack of my vocabulary!

It is said that we should wear a formal costume to the Opera House. So, I wore a dress which I brought from Japan and had never taken on so far. However, surprisingly, there were many people who took quite casual clothes like jeans. A custom seems to be changing. We were satisfied spending a night with an affected way. Night views from the Sydney Harbour were so beautiful! I really thought that I lived in such a stunning city! Even if I'm with a normal guy there, I might fall in love easily~:-) I want to go to a brass band concert If I have money...

No music, No my life!

Following yesterday, Hoe Yin took us to the Jazz and Blues Festival. She is really kind:)

This festival was held in Darling Harbour for three days. When we went there was the second day. We could listen to jazz and blues which were played by famous bands for free. I didn't know any bands and solo singers, which did not matter! I heard Australian jazz for the first time. As it is said that Japanese are not good at playing impromptu performance, I cannot play jazz music well. Is it because of nationality? Especially, a session of the drums and the conga was so cool! I remember that I played the conga in a big competition two years ago. Among many kinds of jazz groups, I liked a big band jazz the best. It might be because I used to listened to the brass band music. I was so excited!!

Since I came here, I have not touch any musical instruments. If I were in Japan, I would be busy to practice playing music with my members of the wind orchestra club... Though UTS has a orchestra club, they do not seem to have a percussion section. Are there any place to play music in Australia...? I NEED MUSIC! Today, I carefully thought about that.

Are they high school students...!?

They were very good actors and actresses!... One of my friend, Hoe Yin, got tickets for us to watch a high school musical. Her high school has an annual big musical. The title of musical was 'La Perichole'. Students seemed to have an audition at the beginning of a year. From them, they had practiced performance for four months. While I expected to watch a nice musical, their performance was much better than I expected!!

As you know, I love music. What I was excited about at first was a youth orchestra. There was a legitimate orchestra pit. I really wanted to join them. Surely, their singing and acting were so marvelous! I could not believe that all of them were students. I have performed a little in a school festival when I was a junior high school and high school student. But I think it was not in the same class as the musical. I should not compared with two of them... In spite I could not catch their lines and lyrics, I could see their efforts so much. At the same time, I thought I wanted to watch it before my presentation. We had to have a presentation about Australian culture as the last task in a subject. I explained about music habits of Australian youth. I said that Australian youth people do not listen to classical music because of a current musical trend (For example, it is common for them to get new music especially pop and rock online, etc...) My hypothesis and opinion might have changed if I watch the musical earlier. They must have opportunities to touch music more than Japanese students. I wish I joined a youth orchestra club when I was a high school. On my way to home, I could not help describing my impression!

Mystery Excursion

Today, we had the last class in this semester! The content of today's class was... MYSTERY EXCURSION! No students knew our destination. We just gathered at Circular Quay and followed our teachers.

The venue was...a teacher's house! It was so grant and big. She must be rich...More than 30 students and teachers were there and enjoyed talking and eating, which was like a party! Was it a sort of excursion. We were divided into three classes at the beginning of this semester. The party was held for us all together. All of us were international or exchange students. As far as I know, there were students who are from France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Korea, and Japan. We rarely have opportunities to meet such international people at the same time. Some of us are leaving Australia in this month. We had a precious time to talk with many students. Whenever I talk with international friends, I can notice a power of languages. Even though some people argue if English is the main language in the world or not, our common tool to communicate each other is English. One of reason why I chose to come to Australia is because I can meet many kinds of people. I do achieve my purpose just now! Thank you teachers and my friends for spending with me in this semester! My first semester passed very quickly!!

...Of course, I have to study English even in holiday anyway...

a little before...

One of my classmates, Hikaru, left Australia. He had studied in Australia from last semester. Even though this semester has not finished yet, he had to go back to Japan for job hunting.

For him who leaves a little earlier than others who will finish their studying in Australia, my classmates organized a farewell party. We went to Taramara (I'm not sure the name.) beach and had a BBQ. Even in Autumn, there were a lot of surfers. Not only Japanese but also local students whoever know Hikaru came to the party. However, today's main character did not come early because of his assignment. I had a same one. So, I could not ask him to come earlier... Finally when he arrived, most of foods had already left. Though I could not talk with him a lot in the party, I remember many memories with him. He helped and gave me advises many times! Otherwise I could not continue to take a subject on Thursday...His character often made me laugh:) Hikaru, I hope your good future and seeing you again in Japan!

Following him, Hiroko and Yu who are also my classmate will finish their studies in Australia. I could not believe that some Japanese students would leave. Untill then, I want to share time with them a lot. At the same time, I thought about my future when I will go back to Japan seriously. When I leave, how am I going...?

The last Tandem coffee~

We, new international students, had the last Tandem coffee chatting today. For me, Tandem coffee chatting is a favorite regular event at UTS. I had never been absent. During mid vacation, I went to UTS just for the event. At the event, we could meet our Tandem buddy regularly and get free coffee. Most of Japanese gathered every Thursday at 4 o'clock to talk with local and other international students. Thanks to the event, we could have opportunities to make many friends. As I wrote before, I got a nice buddy Edward! While I heard this event was not so fun and important from our seniors who had studied in here like me, I do recommend our juniors who will come to UTS next year to join the events!!

However, from next semester, we cannot have an official Tandem buddy any more. Our buddy will be a buddy of new students who will start their studies from next semester. Even if I cannot have any buddy, I will go to a cafeteria to find and talk my friends as well as this semester;^)
Thank you for goooood time, Edward!