Ben Little - VIC to Japan

Thu 08 Jul 2010

Ben comes from Victoria and is currently on a year exchange program in Japan. He is having a fantastic time and has provided us with an update on his experience so far:

Hello from Japan! I've now been here for 3 and a half months. I'm having such a great time here in Japan! Time has gone so fast, it only feels like 2 weeks since I left.

I live in Kyoto, which is the old capital of Japan, in Kansai area. I’m now with my second host family; I have had 2 host families during my stay here. My first host family was great and it was sad to leave them but I hope to see them again before I come home in a month. My first host family had a Mum (chikako), a Dad (sorry forgot his name!), and 2 host sisters Ami and Chiaki (19 and 15). My current host family has 2 grandparents, (who I just call ojichan and obachan) a Mum (michiyo) and a host brother my age (keita), oh yeah and a dog! Which I am actually thrilled about because I miss all my pets at home!

When I first arrived here it was spring holidays so me and my host sisters went into the city of Kyoto and went to karaoke almost everyday which was so fun. In spring holidays was sakura (cherry blossom) season which was absolutely beautiful. Me and my host family went to ohanami, which is where Japanese people go to see the cherry blossoms and take along with them food for a picnic underneath the cherry blossom trees. It was so pretty! Once spring holidays were over I had my first day of school. I was really excited to go to a Japanese school and meet so many new people.

On my first day I made an introduction to everyone at the assembly, which was so nerve wracking! My Japanese school is 5 stories high and has so many stairs; I got so lost for the first week. Everyone at my school is really nice though and always say hello to me at school. I made friends easily and settled in after about a week. With my first host family　I used to always ride my bike to school every morning which was really fun. So many people ride bikes everywhere here! Now, with my second host family, I walk to school which is really handy.

It’s now been over 3 months and I have well settled into Japanese lifestyle. Although I went to Japan last year for a 2 week study tour with my school, this year was my first time living with a Japanese family in everyday lifestyle. At first it was really different but I didn’t say no to anything, just kept an open mind and learnt so many new things.

This trip has been so amazing! I’ve met so many new people here and have so many memories here in Kyoto that I feel like it’s my hometown. My Japanese has improved heaps and I can easily converse in normal everyday conversation now. I would like to improve more before I go home in August though. It’s almost summer holidays and my friends and I are making plans on what to do during the break. I almost feel Japanese, going to school here, going out with friends and of course speaking Japanese, it’s great! I will definitely miss all the amazing people I’ve met here and am not looking forward to going home (no offence mum, if you’re reading this.)

To all of you thinking about going on exchange I have 2 words to say to you, "DO IT!” Don’t be afraid, go overseas, have a great time and improve your language skills! Oh, and go for as long as you can! A year may seem like a long time but you will fit in fine and have such a great time that time will fly!

People who are interested in going on exchange, please do! Bye for now!