Today is the last day of the year! It feels like this year just flew by. Looking back at 2018, I realized that I had a lot of firsts this year. These aren’t all completely related to the World Race, but here are 11 things I did for the first time in 2018:
1. Went to Japan
I have wanted to go to Japan for a long time now. I became interested in going to Japan mostly because of watching anime to be honest. I learned how to sing a few songs in Japanese, and then started trying to learn how to speak it. This language is so different from English so it‘s been a pretty difficult language for me to learn, and I am still just at a very basic level.
This year in March my brother Mateo and I went to Japan for nearly three weeks. We went to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. It was amazing! So many beautiful places to visit and awesome sightseeing opportunities. And I got to practice Japanese a little! It was so cool to even see some places that I had seen in anime. I would love to go back to Japan one day.
2. Used a Japanese Toilet
There were a few culture shock moments when I was in Japan. One was Japanese style squat toilets. So many places had both Western and Japanese toilets. I normally would just wait until the Western toilets were available (many times even Japanese people would wait as well). But there were a couple of times that I could not avoid it!
Click here to watch a funny tutorial about how to use Japanese toilets (it’s silly but it actually gave good tips that really helped out!)
3. Slept Over in an Airport
We had a really long layover when we were on our way back from Japan. So this was the first but with the World Race pending, not my last time to have a sleepover in the airport. We arrived at maybe 4 or 5pm and didn’t leave until about 7am the following day. Now I know to be prepared with a sleeping pad or sleeping bag when this happens again in the future.
4. Went to the West Coast
I’ve traveled all along the east coast (like literally the 13 colonies and Florida where I live now). But in September my sister and I flew over to Los Angeles and saw the west coast for the first time. We went to Disneyland and the Griffith Observatory. The main reason I went to LA however was for my next first.
5. Saw BTS in Concert
As an ARMY, I really wanted to be able to see BTS when they came out to the US this year. There were only a limited amount of places where they were touring here, so since I was going to have to travel out of state anyway I decided to see them in LA. Thankfully I was actually able to get a ticket.
I absolutely loved it! These guys are so talented and really give it their all to put on such a great performance. I hope I get to go to one of their concerts again one day!
6. Did a Cover in Another Language
When I came back I decided to do a cover of Serendipity by BTS. I think I’ve done at least one cover before but this was first cover in a foreign language. Singing is one of my absolute favorite things to do, and singing in different languages (in this case Korean) is really fun.
7. Flew in Plane by Myself
I’ve traveled on planes a fair amount of times but I’ve always traveled with at least another person. When I went to Training Camp in Georgia a couple of months ago, this was the first time I went on a plane by myself. Not that people don’t do that all the time, even kids, but I realized I usually had someone with me whenever I was traveling before.
8. Went to Georgia
I’ve had layovers in Georgia 3 times before, but when I went to Training Camp, it was the first time I actually left the airport. I absolutely loved everything I saw. It got a little cold which I was not a fan of, but other than that, I thought Georgia was such a beautiful place.
9. Ate a Cricket
I see no reason to eat a cricket again, so hopefully this was also the last time. Lol. One of the themes for a day at Training Camp was Adventure Day. We had a lot of weird stuff to try. In the spirit of things I ate a cricket. It was very crunchy and I swallowed it before I could really taste anything. Others said it tasted vinegary. I didn’t take another one to confirm.
10. Went Camping
I went camping for the first time during Training Camp. I set up my tent by myself the first time and felt super accomplished haha. It wasn’t a bad experience at all, but again, it got tough once the temperatures dropped into the 40s.
11. Signed Up to be a Missionary For Nearly an Entire Year
I went on a mission trip before but it was only for about a week. Next year I’m going to be a missionary abroad for 11 months! I still can’t quite believe that this is about to happen! Now it’s only three days until launch! I’m so excited for this journey to begin.
Jessica
