Cherry Blossom Adventures

I enjoyed been interviewed so much the first time I signed up again to be interviewed. This time by Amanda! So here goes…I think I am going to be pretty busy tomorrow so am doing this Saturday night before I go to sleep…and making sure it will get posted tomorrow…don`t you love technology!

1. In your response to Enny’s first question, you mentioned that there’s so many place you’d love to live, you can’t narrow it down to just one. Are there any places you’ve visited that you definitely wouldn’t want to live in?

There is no place that I definitely wouldn`t want to live in….I have quite liked all the places I have visited for different reasons. However I don`t think I would enjoy living in China very much because of the pollution…I know Tokyo is not much better but the pollution in Shanghai was dreadful…even though I liked the place alot.

But I think I could make a home for myself anywhere if I had too. As for living in other places in Japan, I could do it but I quite like living in a big city. I have foreign supermarkets, other foreigners, a lot of signs in English and Japanese and places to buy foreign sized clothes. I think the biggest thing is that while I am foreign,….In Tokyo nobody notices you as much as they would if you were in the country where foreigners are few and far between. Shumpei`s family lives in Chiba and even there I get stared at more than I would in Tokyo….and that isn`t even the country.

In fact I think I would always like to live in close proximity to a big city no matter where in the world I lived.

2. Do you think, should Shun and yourself have children, you’ll raise them in Australia, or in Japan? Or somewhere completely different?

It would be either in Japan or Australia I think. I think that when there were younger we would raise them here…I think once they reach school age, especially for junior high and high school that I would like to think that we could reassess the situation and decide what would be best for the kids. There are a lot of half Japanese half foreign children in Japan and they fit in a lot better than they did 20 years ago. It is a lot more acceptable now to have children that are biracial…However children that are half are definitely treated different. I have heard stories, both good and bad. People coming up to young children on the street and demanding they say something in English, or being teased at school due to their lighter coloured hair and eyes. If we had children and they were facing these problems then I might rethink living and raising them in Japan….I have thought about it a lot but until we have children it is really hard to answer this as we really do not know what will happen.

3. You get to teach your students one life lesson- something you don’t think they should live without knowing. What would that lesson be?

That they should treat people the way they wanted to be treated. This is something my mum instilled in me growing up and it is a great piece of advice….Even if people don`t treat you back the way you wish to be treated at least you know that you did the right thing. I think that I try to do this with the kids at school….even at three a child knows that they don`t like to be pushed or have their toy taken away…so if you explain to the child when they do that whether or not they would like it to be done to them they learn quickly that if they don`t push their friends their friends won`t push them back. Of course they are children, and the pushing is still going to happen sometimes!

I think the best thing about international schools is that a lot of times the Japanese kids in the classes get to associate with foreign children (and teachers) I love the fact that the lesson of acceptance is been taught to them at a young age. In Australia it is different because it is such a multicultural place and while I know that racism exists there is still acceptance in most places. The Japanese children will remind each other to speak in English if one of the foreign children is playing too because they know that they might not understand otherwise. They are very accepting of the foreign children that come to school (the foreign children are also accepting of the Japanese children ) and I think that this will help them later in life. I am not saying all Japanese people are afraid of foreigners but the kids in my class are more likely to help a foreigner as they get older just because they have been exposed at a younger age….I think that once they go off to Japanese schools if there are foreign or half children in their class I think that they would more than likely be one of the first children to befriend the child that is not full Japanese.

4. What would you show a visitor to Brisbane, assuming you were home to host them?

I don`t know. The beach…although I guess we`d go to the Goldcoast for that? This is hard…I think when you are from somewhere it is hard to decide what visitors would like.

If they were visiting Australia from another country then I would take them to Lone Pine Sanctuary and Mt Kootha to see the view. Then maybe into the city around Queens street. Also to have fish and chips down at Manly. I have done all of these things with Shun!

If they were Australian maybe to the valley, just because there are a lot of good place to shop and eat and drink around there.

5. Is there anything you wish you’d done differently in your past?

I wish I had studied Japanese in high school when given the opportunity…Then when I entered university I could of started at a higher level. My level now would probably be the same but it would have meant my first six months in Japan I would have been able to communicate better.

I also wish that I had practiced Piano more and kept it up….I played from age 3 or 4 til I was 18 but I was never as good as most people who had played for that long.

There are a lot of things I could have done differently and didn`t. I wouldn`t say I regret anything because where I am now is the place I want to be at….but like I said I could have done a lot of things differently. There are some friends from childhood and after that I wish I had kept in contact with better but I guess losing touch is part of life.

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Last time only one person signed up to be interviewed, so come on people I want to be the one asking questions for a change!

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