Hello! My name is Sydney Travis. I am currently, as of April 8th, 2018, a Junior at Ferris High School. I'm currently 17 years old and will be turning 18 this upcoming October. I'm not very good with my words, but I will try my best to get all my words out!
It honestly still doesn't even feel real yet. I know that I'm going to Japan this summer for 6 weeks, but it just feels like a dream. I've spoken with one of the other girls, Amaya Martin, about it and she and I feel the same about it all. I honestly can't even express how honored I feel to be accepted into this program. I've been trying since I was a Freshman, even while I knew the program was not accepting Freshman. I wanted to be able to do this so badly. It is my dream to go to Japan. I want my future to be in Japan, no matter the job or life I decide to have.
I found out yesterday, April 7th, that my exchange sibling will be a 16-year-old girl named Mana Ito. As soon as I found out, I emailed her right away and sent her my LINE messaging app information so we could communicate easier with each other. It wasn't until around 11:00PM last night that I got a message back from her. It was honestly the most amazing feeling ever. I have had the opportunity to host before. For the 2017 exchange, I had the amazing opportunity to host Shuhei Tsutsui while in America. My family has no regrets at all, and still to this day have a strong relationship with Shuhei. Though I didn't know him as long as the other exchange students, due to not actually going to Japan, Shuhei and I have become brother and sister. We still message each other as much as possible and check up on each other. I found out that when I go to Japan this summer, his family has invited me over for a meal so that they can thank me for taking him in. When I found that out I cried. It just made me feel so incredibly happy.
I have a job currently, to get money for Japan. It's honestly really hard to save money though. I find that when I try to save money, I end up needing to go buy things, and so it has become very difficult to save my money. I'm also already thinking of what to pack in my suitcases...it is honestly so hard to figure out what I want to bring. Once we get closer to the date we leave, I think it will get easier. At least I hope it will.
I have also realized that, even as a third-year Japanese student, I still have much to learn, and am excited to keep studying and testing my boundaries in the language. I need to study more Kanji and focus a lot on being able to speak as fluently as I am able to.
I really want to thank everyone who is involved in the Nishinomiya Sister City Society. If it wasn't for all of those involved, I probably would never have the opportunity to go to Japan. And also thank you to my family. They might not be thinking it now, but I know that we will all miss each other as soon as I step past the security gate and onto my airplane.
I will continue to write more in the future, but for now, I will sleep and worry about working and school.
Until next time!
トラビス シドニー
It honestly still doesn't even feel real yet. I know that I'm going to Japan this summer for 6 weeks, but it just feels like a dream. I've spoken with one of the other girls, Amaya Martin, about it and she and I feel the same about it all. I honestly can't even express how honored I feel to be accepted into this program. I've been trying since I was a Freshman, even while I knew the program was not accepting Freshman. I wanted to be able to do this so badly. It is my dream to go to Japan. I want my future to be in Japan, no matter the job or life I decide to have.
I found out yesterday, April 7th, that my exchange sibling will be a 16-year-old girl named Mana Ito. As soon as I found out, I emailed her right away and sent her my LINE messaging app information so we could communicate easier with each other. It wasn't until around 11:00PM last night that I got a message back from her. It was honestly the most amazing feeling ever. I have had the opportunity to host before. For the 2017 exchange, I had the amazing opportunity to host Shuhei Tsutsui while in America. My family has no regrets at all, and still to this day have a strong relationship with Shuhei. Though I didn't know him as long as the other exchange students, due to not actually going to Japan, Shuhei and I have become brother and sister. We still message each other as much as possible and check up on each other. I found out that when I go to Japan this summer, his family has invited me over for a meal so that they can thank me for taking him in. When I found that out I cried. It just made me feel so incredibly happy.
I have a job currently, to get money for Japan. It's honestly really hard to save money though. I find that when I try to save money, I end up needing to go buy things, and so it has become very difficult to save my money. I'm also already thinking of what to pack in my suitcases...it is honestly so hard to figure out what I want to bring. Once we get closer to the date we leave, I think it will get easier. At least I hope it will.
I have also realized that, even as a third-year Japanese student, I still have much to learn, and am excited to keep studying and testing my boundaries in the language. I need to study more Kanji and focus a lot on being able to speak as fluently as I am able to.
I really want to thank everyone who is involved in the Nishinomiya Sister City Society. If it wasn't for all of those involved, I probably would never have the opportunity to go to Japan. And also thank you to my family. They might not be thinking it now, but I know that we will all miss each other as soon as I step past the security gate and onto my airplane.
I will continue to write more in the future, but for now, I will sleep and worry about working and school.
Until next time!
トラビス シドニー
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