y2jchampion

Well, it has now been a week since I arrived in Japan. And I have to say, so far, so good. There's still a lot of things I need to get used to. I thought my Japanese was decent, but it's definitely not up to scratch to get around here. I can buy things and have small conversations but I need to study more to build up my ability. The food here is quite cheap, I was surprised as to how cheap some things are around here. Back home certain things were pretty dear, but things here are very affordable. Wii is about $399 back home in Australia, here it's like $250. PS3 is nearly $700 back home, here it's $400. So I am definitely happy that console

Okay, so it's now just over 40 days before I leave Australia to live in Japan. It's starting to really mount on me that it's really happening. Having never lived by myself for such a long period of time, I am starting to feel the pressure of the move and I haven't even done it yet. Then there's the fact I will be in a country away from family and friends. I won't know a soul over there when I start. The only thing spurring me onward is the fact that I have wanted to do something like this for so long. I just didn't imagine it would be this scary. I hope it all works out. I'll need to post some artwork before I leave Australia, since I won

I don't normally talk about things like this, so here goes. This is something very close to my heart. My mother's home country of Burma is located in South East Asia. It has been under the rule of a cruel and barbaric military dictatorship. This dictatorship has more child soldiers than any other country in the world, nearly 70,000. This military uses these children and other soldiers to attack minorities, destroying over 3000 villages and forcing people to flee their homes. My mother is one of the lucky few that escaped and found a good life here in Australia. Others are not so lucky as you or me. Children and Women are raped, enforcing t