We’re thrilled to welcome former Student President Eden Annesley as our guest blogger, sharing some her experiences from her time in Japan as a recipient of the prestigious New Colombo Prize.
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As a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Colombo Plan scholar (NCP), I’ve been living in Japan for fifteen months, and it’s been an incredible adventure. I spent two semesters on exchange at the International College of Liberal Arts, in Yamanashi, as well as spending time in Tokyo as a language student and intern at Office Sound Pot, the private music business of shakuhachi master (Japanese bamboo flute), Akikazu Nakamura.
Alongside slowly improving my Japanese speaking, and taking all sorts of interesting classes like judo and Japanese koto (traditional stringed-instrument), I’ve also been able to explore, discovering a love of hiking Japan’s mountains across Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, and getting involved with cross-cultural exchange events at my host university, Yamanashi Gakuin Daigaku.
Living at Raymont Residential College was great preparation for living as an international student abroad and provided a great foundation for interacting with so many different people across university and social life. I was also greatly helped by Dr Dale (Raymont’s Emeritus Academic Advisor) and Jette in applying for the NCP scholarship. I am so grateful for the Raymont friends who were able to support me throughout my time abroad.
Living in Japan has developed my awareness of a world very different from Australia and allowed me to grow in so many new ways. I was able to re-discover my love for languages, see how music could unite communities, and manage a completely original music project as part of Duo Aki for the Osaka World Expo.
And of course, there have been lots of fun moments as a tourist, becoming an udon connoisseur, climbing Mt. Fuji despite torrential rain, and getting lost in Shinjuku Station (the world’s busiest train station) many times!
I can’t encourage students enough to challenge themselves and apply for opportunities like the NCP as part of their undergraduate degree.
Eden Annesley