September 9, 2011
Welcome back, Jessica- What did you do back at home?
During the summer holidays I went back to Australia to renew my visa, which took much longer that I originally expected so it was a good thing I was there the whole month. The good news is, the visa is now long enough for me to stay here for the next six months. In the mean while I managed to catch up with family and friends as well as doing various activities.
While my life in Japan was exciting it was also exhausting going full blast [Peter Sensei: 'full blast' is an Australian term for as 'hard as you can'] all the time so having a rest was good. One of the things I noticed while living in Japan was that everyone is extremely fit. From taking public transport, to doing sports after school everyday, I may have been fit in Australia but compared to everyone in Japan I wasn’t even close. So during the holidays I started going to the gym every other day to build up my endurance so that I’ll be able to withstand the next six months here. I have yet to test my progress but I hope that I’m stronger enough now to endure my Kendo teacher’s expert attacks!
One of the other things I had on my list was to study more Japanese, but of course that never happened. Why did I set myself such a ridiculous goal? Studying in the holidays- what a crazy idea! However that didn’t stop me doing other Japanese things, I managed to meet up with an old friend of mine who was having a movie marathon where we watched two days worth of Studio Ghibli movies. Watching more anime, who would have thought (hehehe)! I also had a Sushi Party too; my friends and I use to have ‘Japanese Days’ where we made sushi, which tasted really bad and watched anime together. So before I returned to Australia from Japan I asked my home stay mum to teach me how to make proper sushi, the Japanese way so that we could try it at home and... it worked! This may not seem like such a big deal to most people but this was a great accomplishment for all of us. I really enjoyed meeting up and hanging out with my friends again.
Another thing I did was go the art gallery. For a while I was having an creative block and I found it hard to draw so my granny and I went to the art gallery to look at the exhibits. The artworks there were amazing; they varied from simple ink washes of people doing ordinary things to stunning paintings brimming with colour which drew the audience into the work. Going to the gallery really helped inspire me to keep creating. Instead of focusing on drawing like I usually do, my granny (AKA my assistant) and I went into the city to take photos together, which was really fun.
Overall I’m glad that I went home for those few weeks. It allowed me to clear my head and unwind. We also have some new exchange students so now I won’t be as lonely as before. I’m ready to give it my all and become a master of Japanese! Well that’s my goal for now, so wish me luck!
Jessica