ARITA, JAPAN

Jordana has had a great start to her exchange in Japan. Having left Australia on 19 January she has settled in well and living in Arita, the original place for ceramics making in Japan with her host mum, Ayakosan, host dad and her new sister, Sayaka. Her host brother is Hirotaka who is currently on exchange in Australia. Fortunately they were able to meet before he departed and they keep in regular contact. The family is making her feel very welcome.

Jordana is really enjoying her time at school and making some good connections and friendships.

Her classmates are very generous with their time and go out of their way to help her settle into classes, walk with her to school and encourage her at soccer and dodge ball. She has joined a few school clubs – manga and art.

 

She has taken the opportunity to do some sight-seeing around her home town, Arita. She has also visited Fukuoka and went to the Lantern Festival at Nagasaki. In March her family is taking her on a journey to Osaka. The opportunity to be immersed in Japanese culture is complemented by spending some quality time with her host family.

Her language proficiency is developing and she has given talks about herself and Australia to her classmates, her host Rotary Club and the Rotary District indicating that she is quite pleased with herself. The Rotary Club meetings are quite different – very formal and like business conferences. At the District Meetings she has managed to meet up with 3 other exchange students and has enjoyed swapping notes and stories with them.