On December 3rd I finally turned 18. Back home in Australia this means I'm a full fledged adult. Gaining the ability to drink, smoke, vote, and a million other responsibilities I'm sure. In Japan it means I'm allowed to marry haha.
Japan's age of adulthood is 20, meaning most of the things Australian kids do to celebrate their coming of age are off-limits here for me. Interestingly enough, I am old enough to go to clubs and gamble in Pachinko parlours (Most other forms of gambling are illegal), but not anything else. My birthday started off lacklustre. I didn't feel like I'd turned 18, and it was a school day to boot.
A lot of people just had no idea it was actually my birthday, although I had received some really nice midnight emails from friends wishing me the best, and one of my closer friends at school went to the effort of buying a present, which made me really happy.
It got better, I guess. By the end of the week I had eaten 3 different cakes from different people, each with my name written on a sign made out of chocolate on the top. They were really delicious, and it was the first time I can remember receiving a personalised cake like that in a fairly long time. So to get 3 in one year was amazing!
I am 18 now. The change didn't happen over night, I think I've slowly becoming more and more like an 18 year old adult over this whole year. If I had spent this time in Australia, I feel like I might have been able to drink and all, but I probably still would have had the mindset of a kid.
About Me
- Kaspar
- 京都市, Japan
- I am currently living in Kyoto, Japan for 1 year as an exchange student. During this year I'm attending a regular Japanese high school and living the life of a local. This is where I hope to talk about some of my experiences.
3 comments:
Good to see that you can gamble & marry in JP,but it begs the question...at your wedding reception, do you drink juice while everyone else get's trashed??! hmmm.
Bet you can't wait to go to the valley, get s#*t-faced, throw up in the pot plants on Brunswick st. Mall, get thrown out of a club by a bouncer, punched by an E'd-up bogan, harrassed by homeless people/drug dealers/transvestite hookers, then have the pleasure of standing in a cab queue for an hour as the sun comes up, with a thumping hangover!!
bet you juuust caaan't waaait :))
J+B+H
20 yrsold here in canada too... ididnt feel much changes after turning 18 as well! baby bro, happy 18!
love chrissy
woooooooo!!!! woooooooo!! 18!! woooooooo!!!! woooooooo!! 18!!
Post a Comment