最近よく、
日本人の若者は世界に打って出る意欲に欠けている
内にこもる日本人の若者
など言われます。
海外に出てみたい
海外でがんばってみたい
そんな夢を持っているなら最初の一歩を思い切って踏み出してみましょう。
全てはまずその一歩から、と昂明くんが言っています。
Hello everyone.
My name is Komei Fujiwara.
I live in Melbourne, Australia and studying at a language school.
I visited here for a year on working holiday visa in 2008 to 2009. I returned to Japan for a while, and then I came back to Melbourne again as a student.
I would like to take this opportunity to write “My life in Melbourne” and “The importance of having a dream".
Firstly, what kind of place Australia is. I think some of you may know about it or visited there .It is approximately twenty times larger than Japan. There are beautiful beaches, enormous red desserts, rainforests, unique animals in each state, and friendly and openhearted Aussies.
I chose Melbourne out of 7 states, because it is the home country for Gene who was my English teacher at Rainbow. Melbourne is the second biggest city in Australia. It is said to be the students’ town and many students from variety of countries are living and studying.
I was filled with pleasure and hope, when I took the first step on the land of Australia .I lived with a host family, an Italian immigrant elderly-couple for the first month and half. A language school started a few days after arriving, and then my Australian life began in earnest. Of course, I study English there. I met many students who came from various countries and made many friends. I spent a lot of time with them and made many memories. There were as many farewells as many there were encounters. Most of them now have gone back to their home countries.
By the time I was getting used to life in Australia, I left the host family and looked for a share house. The share house is where you rent one house with someone or a family. Some people live in one room with two other people. I heard it is common that people leave their home to share a house in Australia after finishing high school. The good points of share house are that the rent is cheaper and you can meet new people. There is major disadvantage to it- you may feel stressed because you share many things with your house mates. I think this is a good idea for me, although it has a lot of troubles.
I was looking for a job to earn my living after graduating the language school.
I handed in my resume to many jobs, but I did not get any answers. This is probably because it is difficult to get a job if you do not speak competent English. In the end, my friend introduced me to a cleaning job.
After I had worked as a cleaner for around three months, I found a unique job at an only-one Japanese style public bath in Australia. I am still working there. The main tasks are cleaning the bathing area, handling the cahier, or instructing Australian customers how to take a Japanese bath. They don’t have the culture of washing outside of the bath tub then soaking their bodies in the bath.
I believe that my English skills were improved rapidly during the work there, which was for half a year. I finished this job once because of my visa conditions. Although, I got back there later.
In that six months, I learned a lot of things and I found what I really wanted to do with a help from my colleagues. I wanted to travel around Australia, I gave it up for a reason. But I will definitely make my dream come true. Many things happened but I am satisfied with that one year.
Why I decided to apply for Working Holiday Visa and to live in Australia? When I was seeking for a job as a university student, I was worried about my future. There was no particular interest in any job. I did not want to work just as any member of society - just going with the flow. So I considered and I made a choice to make my dream, which I had been dreaming of life in overseas since I was small child, comes true. Doing things differently from other people, making your dream come true, sometimes need determination, courage, and sometimes, sacrificing. But you will learn many things from the first big step towards your dream. I am having a new dream. I am working hard every day to get a Permanent Residential Visa and to work in Australia.
I think I am as I am today, because I try hard to step towards my dream each day.
Everyone, please have a dream. It doesn’t matter if it is small or obscure.
Please make the effort to make it come true. Do not forget that Mr Koizumi and the member of World Rainbow always support you. If you have any trouble, please ask for their help.
Thank you.
Komei Fujiwara
