Aya

 My stories http://cgea.wikispaces.com/Aya%27s+story+from+Japan

Hi my name is Aya Smith. I was born in Iwate, Japan. I have been in Australia for 2 months. I came to Australia with my husband’s family. When I first arrived I was amused by several things. Beautiful weather, the huge river, no mountains etc…everything was exciting for me. I had never seen the real horizon before. I had never eaten passion fruit before. I miss the food from my country. I especially miss various mushrooms, Japanese vegetables and fruit. If I was able to buy all material here, I could cook real Japanese cuisine. The weather in my country is very humid in summer, and it is colder than Perth in winter. The size of Japan is one twentieth of Australia. It is very small country. But over 20 million people (the same number in the whole of Australia.) live in Tokyo and Yokohama area. It is more crowded than Australia. The city I lived in, Morioka was smaller, than Perth. My city has less people. The population is about 30 thousands. The unemployment isn’t good. It is easy to get a good education and it is not easy to get a good job. It is also easy to find a place to live. The main export of Japan is food.

My country is a great place to holiday, I recommend you go to Tokyo, Kyoto, Okinawa and Hokkaido. It is cheap compared to Australia. It is difficult to visit all of places. When you go to Kyoto, you must visit some old temples to see; Kinkakuji (Golden temple) it is very popular among travellers. Another important famous place to visit is Tokyo tower, here you can see amazing metropolis views. Especially at night the view is phenomenal. A place I have heard about but have not been to is Okinawa. It is an important resort place because it never snows all year, and has a nice beach.

Since I have been here I have visited a few places. I decided to go for a holiday on Rottenest island. I went to there by ship. I stayed in a rental house near the lighthouse with my husband and his family. We visited many beaches. I would recommend spending time, a couple of days, for a holiday, there was lots to do: swimming, fishing, cycling and relaxing.

Now to tell you a little about me. There are 4 people in my family. My family live in White Gum Valley. The members of my family include: my husband, Robert 33, my mother in law, Merry 63, my father in law, Trent 69 and a cat, her name is Roxy) . My family is in Japan. I have my father, mother and one sister. I have got a photo from my sister, so I will attach this photo. She is 2 years younger than me. She is married. She is on the left in this photo.

  I have had several jobs in Japan. After school I worked at an English school as a sales and receptionist for 5 years. I also studied general English at “Perth International College of English” for 3 months after my first job. My last job was as an editorial writer for a bridal magazine in Japan. I was happy to work there, because I always spoke with beautiful and cute staff, and lovely products for example wedding dresses, flowers, gifts, guest houses, restaurants, etc…

My hobbies are playing piano, ball-room dancing and sometimes brain training by Nintendo DS. Unfortunately I don’t have a piano at home, so I can’t play it now. My other hobby, ball-room dancing, to be honest I haven’t done it for a year and half. I’m thinking of starting it again. Recently I’m keen on brain training by Nintendo DS. I have a Japanese version and an English version. On the week ends I usually spend time with Merry’s friends (my mother in law). Last week over twenty people came to our house. Merry is always caring about me, and she doesn’t make me lonely. But what I really would like to do on the week ends is go out and have a chat with people my age. The best holiday I have had was to Europe (England, France and Italy) in May this year with my husband. It was very enjoyable because we saw a lot of historical architecture. 

< Louvre in Paris>   If I win lotto I would like to go to all over the world with my husband. I would like to go for at least 3 months. I especially want to go to Egypt, because I think it would be exciting when I am there I would like to see the pyramids.

At TAFE I would like to build my speaking and listening skills to be able to have a comfortable communication with native speakers. After this course I hope to join a tourist or hospitality course. I enjoy learning about the latest news. I prefer to study in groups and I like to learn through discussion.