The Adventures of the Little Lost Girl in Japan: Team Philippines, combine!

I went to Manila a day before the departure day for Japan. Before the departure day, we were all tasked to go to the national headquarters of the National Youth Commission for our orientation. There, we would finally meet our fellow delegates who we would be with for the next ten days in Japan.

I was really quite nervous and very excited by the time the elevator was taking me up, leading me to the office of NYC. I know my fellow delegates by name and by Facebook photo but not in person, meaning, I do not know anyone yet. I arrived at the conference room and saw four of my fellow delegates there. We introduced ourselves and chatted while waiting for the others.

The orientation started and a lot of things were discussed. Experienced were also shared that would make us become knowledgeable of the things that we would expect in Japan. Also, our passports were given out with out Japanese visa on it. That made everything become more real to me already.

After the orientation, the 15 delegates of the Philippines to Japan took a photo in order for us to have something to keep even before we went to Japan. We were still in our shy, nice-to-meet-you selves during that time, so everything was still very awkward. But, in the future adventures, these awkwardness cannot be found anywhere anymore!

So, here's the photo of us all. Please welcome, Team Philippines!

(To the next adventure...)

The Adventures of the Little Lost Girl in Japan: The Prequel

I have to tell everyone about this, because everything seems so surreal even up to now. I cannot believe that everything had happened in just a single blow, without me noticing it. Yes, a dream came true, coming like a gush of wind, in a little girl's ordinary, fancy and spontaneous life.

Having three of my classmates join the Kizuna and JENESYS programs of Japan during the year, I had myself thinking of considering to apply for a program too. I also had doubts because I know I am not competent enough, or there are more people around the Philippines who is more competent than me. The other side of me just said "who cares? Give it a try! You'll never know." So, I followed the other side of me that makes me want to push things further.

I applied for the JENESYS 2.0 Japan-ASEAN Student Conference Program. It is a ten-day program hosted by the Japanese government for students from the ASEAN member states and from Japan. I have complied everything needed in the application and had submitted my entry a day before the deadline. The essay that should be attached with the application forms was quite a challenge for me. I was thinking that it really had to be very impressive. But what I did when I wrote my essay is that I kept it simple, straight to the point and realistic.

Two weeks had passed by and I almost forgot that I had applied myself for something abroad. Whenever I would open my email account, I would not even hope for a reply from the National Youth Commission anymore. I really almost forgot that was trying my luck to reach one of my dreams.

Until one fine Tuesday, when I was waiting for my class to start, I was being called on my phone by an unknown number. it was not a cellphone number and the digits are quite confusing to decipher as to where was the call coming from. I answered the call but no one was on the other line. I hanged up. The call came again and this time, it was all choppy. I moved somewhere far from where I was seated. The person on the other line was telling me that he was from the National Youth Commission. That made me nervous. He also said that he was calling with regards to my documents. What I had in mind was that I had submitted some wrong documents in the process of application, and that I had to submit again, or I was disqualified from joining. It really made my heart sink. But I made the person on the other line continue what he was saying. He asked me if I have looked into my email already. I said that I haven't. He told me that I should look into my email because the NYC had sent me something and that...

 "you have to submit some documents because you have just been accepted for the JENESYS Student Conference Program."

The words above just made me become speechless for a few seconds and that I cannot find the right words to say to the person on the other line. Seriously, I want to scream so hard at that moment. I was just left with a lot of thank yous to be said to him.

The call ended and I was still in a state of shock. Mixed feelings were enveloped in my whole being that I cannot even fathom on what feeling should I be entertaining first. I cannot just believe what I just heard and I would really want someone to awake me from my dream-like feeling during that time. It was one moment that I had experienced for the first time in my life--being in a state of shock, being speechless, feeling like I've been dreaming only, wanting to cry and laugh and just shout all day in happiness. I cannot understand what was happening to me after the call. There's just one thing that would make this all real--the email.The email did not lie. I was really accepted to be a delegate in the student conference program in Japan!

Japan. Japan was just a dream country for me. I know I could not go there with just a few money with me. I need to be extra financed in order to go there, have a vacation and enjoy. But my Japan dreams will soon become true, I said. Within less than a month, the country that I would always want to visit would be within reach, for free! I could not understand why was this happening to me and why did I get this chance and why did I deserve this. But it was a blessing. A very big blessing, to be honest and to be exact. It was a blessing big enough for me to believe. And I never knew, it really was a blessing that was big enough for me to absorb.

And now, here's to making it real:

(To the next adventure...)