2019年2月15日金曜日 - 
Ashleigh - My First Trip to Japan
The first
time I came to Japan, I stayed near Tokyo. When I left
from Sydney it was summer, but when I
arrived in Japan it was winter. The
seasons are the opposite in Australia and
Japan, so it was a big change in temperature!
I remember walking off the plane and the air was very cold. From Narita, I caught the airport bus to Tokyo station. And from Tokyo station, I caught the train to the AirBNB I was staying at in Kawasaki. When I was on the train, I remember being surprised at how quiet it was. Trains in Australia are often quite noisy, and many people chat or listen to music. However, the trains in Tokyo were almost silent.
During the next three weeks, I stayed at the AirBNB. It was a house share with local Japanese people, and a few other people who were staying at the house on holiday too. One night, we cooked hotpot together. And on other nights we also watched the Sochi Winter Olympics on TV. It was nice to come back after a day of sightseeing to spend time with new friends, and it was also a good opportunity to learn more about the local Japanese culture.
The most surprising thing about Tokyo was how big it was. At the top of Tokyo Sky tree, you can see buildings spanning until the horizon. Even though I walked around and explored the city every day, there were still many things that I didn’t see. My favourite memory was seeing Mount Fuji. I went with my friend’s parents, who drove us there, and we stopped at Lake Kawaguchi on the way. From there, we could see Mount Fuji in the distance and there was so much snow, some of the lake was even frozen over. On the same day, we also traveled to Hakone and got the chairlift up the mountain. The view was very beautiful.
By the end of the trip, I had experienced going to various temples and shrines, seeing the plum trees bloom, joining a traditional tea ceremony and trying a lot of Japanese food. Now I live in Osaka and although it is different in some ways to Tokyo, I really enjoy living here too!
opposite: 逆
AirBNB: 個人が民泊や体験アクティビティを提供するWeb site
hotpot: 鍋
spanning: ～に至る
horizon: 地平線
explored: 探検した
chairlift: リフト