Japan
This was the first time I have ever been to another country! So it’s kind of a big deal you know. The first time I have been in an international flight. So let me share the silly, yet amazing moments.
The flight
It was so huge. Much bigger than the Maldivian flights. And they have this Screen on the back of every seat so you could watch movies or cartoons or whatever. They offered various types of food that Maldivian flights does not. I enjoyed the food since it’s not something you get to eat every other day. First we landed in Colombo and after sometime we boarded in to the flight that will take us to Japan.
I made an acquaintance with a Srilankan lady. She taught me how to eat using a chopstick. It was fun and I even took a picture with her and we exchanged the address cards. She said she works for a pharmaceutical company. And guess what? She thought Maldives was one whole piece of land. She knew Male’ was the Capital but she didn’t know the island were separated by the sea. It was quite shocking to realize that there are some people with limited knowledge about Maldives. Then again, this country is not that big isn’t it? Normal foregin citizens might never have heard of this place. Its barely visible on the map. Have YOU heard of Corfu? No right? I sent her an email after coming home, but sadly I got no reply. There might be lots of reasons for that ofcourse.
So I want to give you a piece of advice. Travelling is about getting new experience right? So don’t be uncomfortable if you are not sitting with your friends. You can get to know each other and become friends right? I mean some of us cannot breathe without spending each second with our loved ones. You can be with your friends all the time. But at rare times like that, you can get to know new people.
Responsibility
I have never imagined going to another country at a young age without a family member. Let alone, a complete group of strangers. (strangers may seem a strong word but..) So handling the passport, money and your own luggage was all new. If I went with a family member, im sure they wouldn’t dare giving me a wallet full of dollars to walk around with. So having to look after these all by myself gave me a new sense of responsibility. It felt great!
I exchanged the currencies (dollars to yen of course) all by myself! It was such a grown-up thing to do and having done that made me feel awesome. We were also given key cards for our rooms without which we won’t be able to get in. So we had to take extra care of it as well.
The Bus
It was a beautiful tour bus, air conditioned, with comfortable seats. Each of us get a new bottle of water every day. All we had to was lie back and stare out of the window into the beautiful landscape of Japan. Before coming to Japan, a teacher from CHSE taught us how to pray in the flight and bus. And it was the first time I prayed in a bus so that was pretty cool. All the lower grade Islam lesson came pretty handy that time.
