On October 1st, three Casebrook students and myself, along with two students from Cobham Intermediate were given the opportunity to go on a cultural trip to Japan. We stayed at three different areas - Tokyo, Iwate and Nagano, and experienced living in Japanese houses with three homestay families for two nights each. 

Out of the whole trip one of my favourite things was the homestays. In Japan, everyone is so generous and caring, even if there was a language gap between us, we got through anything important with google translate and hand actions, the families all had such a great bond and the kids got along like they were friends, not siblings. I am still in touch with my homestay children via letter!

Along with the homestays the food was amazing, 99% was fresh and it was to die for, I miss slurping up the soba noodles and dipping hand rolled sushi into soy sauce!

In the whole trip some of my favourite moments were…

• The day we went to Disneyland - even though it wasn't as cultural as my other favourites, it was very different from a normal Disneyland as it was filled with halloween decorations!

• Fishing - one day when we stayed in the mountains, we had an experience where we had to catch a fish with our hands, kill the fish, gut it, skewer it, cook it over a fire we had also made from scratch then eat it afterwards. Although at the time I felt sick, I am happy I did it in the end and got that experience.

• This one might seem a bit strange but I also enjoyed the train/bus rides - even if they were long, it was nice to look out the window, relax and have a few hours to fool around with the other kids. None of us had really talked before this trip but we all got along really well and had lots of fun together!

• Otsuchi - on one of the days we got a tour around Otsuchi, a town badly damaged by the Kamaishi Earthquake & Tsunami in 2011, 18 days after our Christchurch Earthquake. We listened to a victim's child talking about his experience when he was our age now, how hard it was to lose everything he did not appreciate when it was in front of him everyday. Everyone was close to tearing up by the end of it.

When the trip came to an end it was really sad, all of us kids had become great friends on the trip, sharing laughs and inside jokes.

In the end, I have to give credit to the four adults that came on the trip with us - Tracey Ormsby (my mother), Jason Bourke (Kohana’s dad), Mr Stribling and Mrs Goulden.

The effort and work they did for the trip was incredible, I don't know how they survived the long days and crazy kids, it was so fun with them.

If you ever have the chance to go on a cultural trip with Casebrook, definitely take into consideration going, I know the memories I had there will stay in my heart for ever!

Mia Ormsby