A culture covered in courtesy, revelling in respect, and swimming in solidarity. Campbelltown Koshigaya Sister Cities Association, next year celebrating their 40th anniversary, invites 15 students between the ages of 14 and 18 to experience 12 nights during the school holidays surrounded by life and the reality of Japan. As one of the selected students following an interview process, I, alongside seemingly random people who soon became close friends, attended 12 orientation sessions learning about language, culture and respect, and social interactions, had the privilege of broadening my travel horizons. Mount Carmel was the highest represented school in the delegation, with students attending; Erica Tax (Year 8), Chelsea Herborn (Year 9), Lucy Powell, Olivia Judd (Year 10) joining myself and 10 other students from various schools in the Campbelltown area.

The experience itself was amazing! We began the adventure by visiting a Cup Noodle Museum and the Imperial Palace on the first day, then Campbelltown Park, a junior high school and Campbelltown Forest of Wild Birds in Koshigaya. The group made ice-cream, were welcomed to dinner by the Koshigaya Mayor, then visited Mt Fuji on Day 4 and had an overnight stay at a hotel nearby. The weekend was spent with host families, enjoying the bustling streets of Shibuya, or a morning run with the family, I watched my host sister play Japanese handball (a really engaging sport!), visited the local Shinto Shrine, and made my own Japanese rice cake topped with soy sauce. Week 2 entailed a primary and a preschool visit, tea ceremony, Nikko National Park, Tokyo Skytree, Asakusa and, finally, Disneyland. Each event was filled with excitement and personal fulfilment, with the unreal sensation of being in an unfamiliar, overseas location without family or otherwise close friends.

With all people making their way home safely, albeit exhausted, we celebrated our many memories and positive connections of both Australian and Japanese cultures and ways of living. Everyone interacted and made lifelong friends, encountered everyday life in an overseas country, and achieved no sleep on either plane trip! All fun! If there is one key aspect of what I have learned in this opportunity, it would be the imperative need to accept all adventure, and to never look back. I am heavily grateful for all the people in my life who made this trip possible and recognise such vital doors which have been opened travel in the future.

By Onyx Holmes, Year 10