The Reason M.K. Doshisha International Jr/Sr High School, Kyoto, Japan

In the year 1997, it was about five years since I came back to Japan. I had a chance to go home-staying for about two weeks to Australia during the summer from my junior high school. My junior high school, called "Ikeda Junior High School Attached to Osaka Kyouiku University", was a sister school to the high school called "Keebra Park State High School" in Australia. I really wanted to go because it was obvious that my English knowledge was failing, and I also wanted to check if I really like to go to the high school that is giving many powers on English. I lived in the States when I was 6 to 10 years old. I was born there, but I don't have any memories of it. I could only talk in childish English, and since I attended schools in Japan after returning, I haven't had a chance to speak English with a native person. I could only understand what they were saying, but I couldn't express myself by using English. Still, I loved English. This was my chance of thinking to myself if I really want to improve my skills of English of "returnee", or just keep it as it is and just learn it by the Japanese way. However, since I was in the third year of junior high school, and I was called as a "Jukennsei", I had to study for the entrance exam of high school, so my parents didn't want me to go. Therefore, I had to study during the summer. I talked them into my going, saying that I'm going to look for what I really want to do. Finally, they said, "Yes" to me, under one condition: if I did my best on all of my exams I had left at school.

July 26th, this was supposed to be the date we leave Japan. However, because of the typhoon, we couldn't take off on that day and had to stay at the ryokan, a Japanese-style inn. I was having a nice time there, feeling a kind of relief of still being able to stay in Japan. The next early morning, we got ready to finally leave and went off to the Kansai International Airport. It was still raining but my heart was shining like a sunny day. I did some last shopping and got into the plane. I still couldn't believe that I was actually leaving Japan for Australia, on a plane without my family but only with my friends. It took about 10 hours to Brisbane, Australia. We were all very nervous to finally meet our host families for the first time. By the time I got with my host family, it was past 8 p.m. There was a total of four people in my host family;, father, Rob, mother, Esther, Lauren, and Wyatt, one-year younger brother, with a dog, Jessie, and a cat, Kimba, and two fish. I thought I was just going to introduce myself to the whole family and then go to bed since we had to go to school the next morning. However, after I once introduced myself, we ate dinner, (I couldn't eat much because of the nervousness), and talked a lot with my host-sister, Lauren. Lauren is one-year older than me and is tall with long blond hair. Since she took Japanese class at her school, she knew a little of it and it was kind of easy for me to talk about Japan. I was going to show her how to do Origami, folding paper; however, she already knew how to make some. Even though she knew how, we made some together. By the time we went to bed, it was around 12 o'clock. I remember that when I was trying to communicate with them, I couldn't really say what I want. My head had gone all white and I couldn't think of anything to say at all. I thought that I could speak more but all the language, all the words, that came out from my mouth was Japanese. I knew all the words that I wanted to say in my head, but it was stuck in my throat. They tried so hard to understand what I wanted to say and to make me feel home. It seemed like Lauren didn't care much either I can speak well or not. She wasn't the kind of person who talks a lot, but stayed calm and listen to me talk, without making any bad faces. This made me relax a lot. From this minute, my time with English has started again. I went to school with her, on the next day. I was getting used to English at home, but I was yet still nervous at school. My voice was shaking when Lauren introduced me to her friends. They were all one or two years older than me, but they looked like adults. However, as time went by I really got used to speaking English, and actually I was having a lot of fun. I also had fun listening to all the talk of Lauren with her friends; they didn't know if I could understand or not, though. One of her friends, called Amanda, asked me many questions and made me feel like one of them. Most of my Japanese friends who went with me didn't have an earlier experience living in a different country other than Japan, as I had. So they were asking me many things of how to say it in English. I noticed that they were also trying their best, working hard to communicate with foreigners, not only me.

As the time passed these nervousness and my problem of speechless of English was being solved. Then something interesting happened to me and to my friends. On the 3rd day of school, instead of going to school, we, the students and the teachers from my school, went on a trip to Currumbin Sanctuary, where we could see all the animals in Australia and get to cuddle a koala. I met with my friends like usual, but once we got into the bus we started talking in English. Well, sometimes we spoke in Japanese too when we had trouble but most of the time we were all trying to speak in English!! I didn't feel weird at all. In fact, I, maybe we, was having a joyful time. After I went home, I spoke about this to my host-family. Since Lauren was sick and in bed, I got her a present and I was glad to see that she was happy receiving it. I now knew that I was really getting used to English again. However, this wonderful, grateful time didn't last forever. By the time I really got used to it, I had to say good-bye to my host family. I couldn't believe how fast the time went by. I was holding my tears trying not to show them that I was crying, but when I got into the bus, my tears came out. All the happy moments I experienced in this week went through my head. It was nothing special that I did: talking with Lauren and her friends, going shopping, and to the supermarket, watching TV, enjoying the barbeque they did for me on the last day, but those little things were all so special to me. After leaving Gold Coast, we went to Sydney for sightseeing. I did have a wonderful time there in Sydney, but I wished that I could have stayed more in Gold Coast, with my host family. Soon, it was time for me to leave Australia. August 4th, rainy, as if it were showing our own hearts. After I came back to Japan, I finally noticed that I wanted to study more to make my skills of English a better one. So I decided to go to a high school, which I can enjoy using English, and I chose this school, Doshisha International High School. When I entered this school, I was surprised to see many other students who used English very well, like they had no problem with it. I got afraid of attending here at that time. However, I just thought to myself that my capacity of English couldn't get any worse, so I just have to do my best to approve it. I was in Sb English class first, a class in which I never thought I could get in. At first, I did have some hard times in English, but as I got used to it, it got really fun and I started to have thoughts of wanting to change my class to Sa English class. I finally did change now, in the highest grade of high school. I couldn't believe that it really came true. Sb and Sa class are very different, but I am having some hard times again. However, thanks to my friends and teachers I'm doing okay now. Even, when I have a difficult time I do not want to quit but just to make it better all the time. I think I couldn't think this way and love English as much if I hadn't gone to Australia in the year of 1997.

Kido, Masako (2000). The Reason. Retrieved March 25, 2001, from the Doshisha International Jr/Sr High School web site: http://www.intnl.doshisha.ac.jp/projects/3sa/2000/memoir/sa2/d17-masako.html

Copyright (c) 2002, Child Research Net, All rights reserved.