Majority of our students participating in the exchange programs in Asia are between 18 to 26 years of age – although we occasionally get students that are way past their 20s and even 30s. We haven’t set a maximum age limit for applying so even if you were around age that most people would consider you elderly, you are more than welcome to apply! This interview is about someone who might be still a little too young to be accepted to study in our programs, yet already has more experience on international studies than many people 20 years older than her can say they have. Tune in and meet Misa!
Meet Misa! Here she is wearing her yellow school uniform.
AE: Hi Misa, how old are you?
Misa: Six.
AE: Do you know how long you have lived in Bali for?
Misa: Four years. I moved here when I was two, and I remember moving here from Japan, my home country.
AE: Do you go to school here?
Misa: Yes. I go to an international school with kids from many different countries. Most of the classes are in English but I also learn Mandarin Chinese, Indonesian, and Balinese. Japanese is my mother’s tongue, and I can speak five different languages.
Despite her young age, Misa speaks more languages than most of us.
AE: Wow! That’s impressive! What language do you usually speak with your friends?
Misa: (Looks up to her mom Sayaka, and exchanges a few words in Japanese to make sure what the question was about.) If I’m with Japanese friends, we speak Japanese. But with Indonesian friends: Bahasa Indonesia and Basa Bali.
AE: What is your favorite food?
Misa: BREAD! I love bread! (Misa was slightly confused about the question, and later on we found out she thought we meant what does she like to have for breakfast. Her favorite food to be eating any time would be grapes.)
AE: What hobbies do you do after school?
Misa: I go on dancing classes. I like to dance hip-hop, and modern dance. I also love swimming.
AE: That’s fun! Is dancing your favorite hobby then?
Misa: Umm… No! My favorite thing to do is being on computer. (Misa’s mom interrupts saying “Oh my god! Don’t Say that”, and mentions that Misa doesn’t really spend that much time on a computer.) Misa then adds that she likes origami too, and we hear that she can make amazing swans out of square pieces of paper..
AE: Now you are small, what do you want to do when you grow up?
Misa: I want to go to Japan! I also want to study English, and travel to Europe and America. After my studies I want to join the Idols! I want to be a famous singer and dancer!
Off to school! We wish Misa best of luck in her future travels!
AE: One more question… If your mom could take you anywhere you wanted to go in Bali, where would you like to go Misa?
Misa: (Misa has been a little shy all through the interview, and speaks in Japanese with her mom about the options briefly…) I want to go to Lombok! I like Lombok because my friend Cha-Cha is from there.
We would like to thank Misa and her mom Sayaka for doing the interview, and wish Misa all the best in her future endeavors! We are very happy to see that the younger generation of Asia is excited about traveling, and studying internationally too! We also need to add that Lombok isn’t exactly in Bali, although it only takes 30 minutes to fly into this little paradise island from Bali. We at Asia Exchange love visiting Lombok too, so Misa’s answer was more than acceptable 🙂
