P.s: don't mind all the grammar mistakes I made. Cuz I'm too lazy to check. :/ Sorry. Grammar's all over the place!!!
"We don't wish for the easy stuff. We wish for big things. Things that are ambitious, out of reach. We wish because we need help and we're scared and we know we may be asking too much. We still wish, though, because sometimes they come true." - Meredith Grey, Grey's Anatomy.
A cliche way to start a post, but nevertheless, it's too relevant to not use it.
It all started with a wish - the wish to be chosen as a participant. The memory of the moment when I received the letter telling me that I was chosen was still vivid, imprinted in my mind. No, I was not jumping up and down when I knew I got the place, no, I was not screaming and crying all over the place either. I was even surprised of what my reaction was and how calm I was when I got the news. But thinking back, it was because I didn't know what to feel, as I've never been so lucky before in my whole entire life. A full scholarship to Japan! "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?"were the only words I could think of at that moment. Well, I used a couple of minutes to settle down, and then broke the news to my mother. My mother and sister however, were the ones who appeared to be more excited than me. But I was still in a state of shock, and confused.
Days went by and I was still in a confused state. I just couldn't believe that this, was actually happening to me. And finally, it was D-day. The day, where the sorcery started. In the blink of an eye, we were on the plane! It was a sleepless night for me, I don't know why but I just couldn't sleep. I'm not sure if it's because the excitement has finally kicked in or it was because of the insomnia. Nevertheless, we reached Japan.
We have finally, touched down, on the ground of JAPAN. Meanwhile, was constantly poking and pinching myself to check whether I was dreaming, because daheck, it's a free trip after all! And you just don't get free trips like this!!! Anyways, the customs guy was the first Japanese we met, and believe me or not, it was actually my first time talking to a Japanese. And it was also the first time I said "arigatou gozaimasu" ,without the awkwardness. It felt good, like the words were imprisoned birds and finally I let it into the wild. After getting through the tedious queue and everything, we were off to go!
Finally. That's the only word that ran across my mind at the moment. Finally the time has come. We were showered with the gracious and affable smiles of our tour guides, Seiko-san ,Akiko-san and the Japanese student volunteer, Panda! (hahahhaha, oh yeah, and kiki went like crazy over the Jap volunteers cause aiyoh, they're JAPANESE!! no doubt we jakuns get crazy right? oh yesh, and clarrise, being the super stern her went: OH GOSH, KIKI. do you know what we're here for?! But yeah, I don't think Kiki gave a damn. hahah) They greeted us with the most genuine smile and gave us instructions on how to put our name tags on the luggage. That was the moment when I saw how disciplined the Japanese are. They even had specific places for us to put our name tags! Another thing that shocked all of us was the mention of the seat belts on the buses. We whoo-ed and wow-ed at the fact that even the buses had seat belts!
First stop, was Nara. I was already indulged in the amazing scenery outside the window. Not to mention fascinated by the variety of colours they have on the leaves. I've never, ever seen something as beautiful as this before. I was feeling rather sleep deprived though, as I didn't get enough sleep on the plane, so I dozed off on the way.
Oh yeah, and one thing I have to mention is that I placed my camera in my luggage and that luggage was underneath the bus you know, the compartment where you put luggage lah, and I had to ask Akiko-san to help me take out my luggage so that I don't miss the oppurtinity to take photos. :/ I was rather scared that she might get pissed off, but wth, she gave me this dashing smile and said she was willing to help. She told me that there were no guarantees though, cuz if my bag was placed on the very inside, then she can do nothing to help, but phew, fortunately it was actually on the very outside! :D So yeah, got it! Haha, plus she said :" oh you're very lucky!!!" and flashed her dashing smile again at me. Haha. (yeah, and I helped her too okay, i'm not a spoiled girl leh)
We went to multiple shrines, met lots of Japanese students who were on their school trips, took photos of cute little Japanese babies like crazy people on loose. We were just simply amazed by how beautiful the country was, and how well-mannered everyone was!
3 days of touring Japan went by and it was the time to go to our host families. I was scared, nervous, and excited all in the same time. I was placed in Miyazaki, a place in Kyushu. My friend was placed there last year as well, and she told her host parents that she has a friend going there this year. I don't know how, but they actually found me in some department store we went to when we reached Miyazaki! This just proved to me how sweet they can be, to come and meet someone who they don't even know. And how can I not mention my host family? To be honest, the stay at my host family was the best experience ever in this whole entire program. Not only I got to experience the Japanese lifestyle, but I also bonded pretty well with participants from other countries. Being the only Malaysian, I was forced to talk to the other participants. I have never been able to talk to strangers so well before, but I had to. Living in a complete stranger's house may sound scary, but it wasn't terrifying nor difficult, at all! Of course, some awkward moments were inevitable; but when you keep an open mind, those moments are the most precious ones. Their hospitality was also one thing that shocked me. My host sisters were rather shy though, but still, you can feel their kindness radiating. Only my younger host sister could speak a little bit of English, but the language barrier wasn't an issue. We still found things that we had in common - we were Potterheads! She even gave me a Harry Potter book that was only sold in Japan! But one thing that I regret a lot is that I never get to bond with my host sister that much. Nevertheless, she still gave away the magazine when she knew that my idol was in it. My host mother, mama, in the other hand always tries hard to speak in English with me, and sometimes I can't even understand her at all, but that doesn't really matter much because we will both laugh in the end. After a few days, we had to leave Miyazaki. Before leaving, mama gave me the biggest hug ever and asked me to come back again. My sisters gave me notes before I went on the bus, which nearly made me tear up. It was so devastating to leave because I felt like I was home right there. My host family, my friends' host families, the year program students and the other JENESYS members from other countries has able to make me feel warm amidst the cold. It was funny to think of how we started off as complete strangers into family members and friends we will never forget.
The other thing that I liked during the homestay, was the fact that we get to know the other AFS participants who were staying there for a year. We even went to Nagasaki with the AFSers we met there. I was pretty nervous, living with people from different countries and my hotel roomates consists of an Australian, an American, and a New Zealander. But staying in the same room with them for merely one night showed me that although we're all from different countries and have different cultures, we still are connected somehow. After all, we're citizens of the world!
Then came the JENESYS festival which was a blast! It started out with inspirational speeches, touching videos made by the awesome student volunteers, and then there came the part where we were all supposed to sing "Closer To You", the theme song for JENESYS. When I heard the song for the first time, I was all like "oh, this is another cheesy song", but when we had to sing it on the last day, the emotions just got the hold of me. The volunteers even danced "Soran Bushi" for us. The music was happy and loud, they had smiles across their faces, but I don't know why, I just had the urge to cry. I didn't want all this to end, I need all the awesomeness to continue! But no matter how bad we wanted time to stop, it just wouldn't stop for us. The time for us to leave eventually came and we were sent back to our normal routines once again.
But one thing for sure, I will never forget this JENESYS experience. And I will never ever forget the people I met there. I've never felt luckier than this before. I remember I used to grumble a lot about how mundane my life was, but after going to Japan with AFS, I realized how lucky I actually am, to meet all these great people, to go to all these beautiful places. And whenever I feel down, I'll be sure to look back and remind myself of JENESYS. It certainly showed something I've never known about the world as well. World peace is not impossible to achieve, because everyone's just about the same, we just happen to be living in different places, having different habits! We just need a little tolerance and everything's possible.
Lastly, I'd like to thank AFS Malaysia, AFS Japan, AFS organizations around the world, CM10, Miyazaki, Mama, Papa, Yumemi, Tsugumi, Mr and Mrs Matsuda, Hideyoshi, Masako, Rina, Mr and Mrs Ito, Tsubasa, Megumi, Bonnie, Bryan, Christopher, Azizi, Chee-chii, Zamantha, Mona, Zakki, Alisha, Molly, Safiya, Camile, Jiwon, Rita, Hosho Senior High School, and everyone that made this trip happen. :)
I thought I was gonna be alone but how wrong was I?! Never knew I would meet this bunch of amazing people! DAISUKI MINA-SAN!!!! <3 <3
The most amazing bunch! MIYAZAKIANS ALL THE WAYYYY. LOVE. DAISUKI.
Another quote to end the post. :D
Friendship is not measured by how much time you spend together, It is measured by the fond thought of that person when ever they come into your heart
— Linda Ienuso
It's not that I don't wanna post a picture of CM10, but I don't have a picture with all the CM10 members in it!!!! TT____TT I was to chicken to ask people to take a picture of us, cuz everytime we take group photos, one person would always be the cameraman and he/she would be showered by like 20++ cameras. So being the very kind me, I chose to keep my own camera and take the pictures off from facebook. But celaka, facebook. The photos all became very dodgy after you upload them into facebook. :/ So yeah.
And one thing, I regret not taking photos with all the people I met there. I don't even have the pictures with my tour guides! I don't even have pictures with my Miyazkians. :( Like NO PICTURES WITH ZAMANTHA. NO PICTURE WITH BRYAN! NO PICTURE WITH AZIZI. WTH. :( NO PICTURE WITH THAT DAMN HOT STUDENT VOLUNTEER! so damn sad tau?!
Whatever lah. :) I still am grateful that I got to go okay. :DDD
