My travel to Japan became as a chance. But this was one of the most impressive things in my life. I have never thought about being in Japan before everything occurred, but when it did, I understood that this wonderful country took my breath and took my heart.
You can never like what you don’t know. In these two weeks I’ve known much and learnt enough to say that now I love Japan. It is a very enjoyable country with kind and caring residents.

There are so many things that impressed me. Even my first impression was not like something I could imagine. There were green fields and hills, which looked at some point exotic, but were the beautiful synthesis of nature and human activity. If you think about it, the first impression reflects the real situation that can be seen in Japan – people are living in harmony with nature, they respect their habitat and do their best to protect and improve the environment.

So the environment protection was one of the main subjects I needed to learn from this travel. I was surprised by seeing all of these industrial plants in Kanazawa that do not harm the environment, do not produce tons of waste and can cope with different poisonous gases and substances. Japanese people really care about the place they are living and everything reminds about it. We’ve seen three industrial plants, the construction of which is based on circulation of energy and sources. We’ve also been to villages and had a chance to be involved in various activities that took place close to Hakusan biosphere reserve. I personally learnt how to cut mushrooms and plant pumpkin. We all worked together to clean a fire pool from sand and clay. Our work was sometimes hard, but we always had a lot of fun. The villagers were very kind and we had a good meal and rest in their houses.

Though we had a little time in Japan, we have seen two celebrations. First was Tanabata, where we made a wish. Second was the Hakusan festival that turned out to be an enjoyable weekend with dancing, dressing in yukata, mysterious processions and delicious food. I understood that it is better not to just work, but to be able to work and to have fun at the same time. People seem happy if they can relax during their work. I have never seen something like this before, but now I know why people are ready to do much – they enjoy doing anything.

Despite it was sometimes difficult to follow the rules, my stay in Japan was uneventful. I had a lot of fun with my new Japanese friends, who told me something new every day. I’m really happy to have this experience.

I am grateful to Akemi and Gan, who were teaching us Japanese during our stay at Kanazawa. They were very joyful mates and we had a lot of fun during the lessons. Now I wish to take further education to improve my Japanese for the next time when I go to Japan.

Thank you all for a welcome reception. Hope we’ll meet again. Lots of love,

Daria Diagileva, Moscow State University    

 Planting pumpkin

 Cleaning the fire pool

 Tanabata trees

 With friends at Hakusan festival

 Me and my Japanese teachers