Help Ilona Maher Experience Japan!!!

Ilona Maher Start Date: Mar 11, 2014 - End Date: Apr 9, 2014
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Volunteer Trip
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Tottori, Japan
  • Osaka, Japan

My Travel Story

by: Ilona Maher Start Date: Mar 11, 2014 - End Date: Apr 9, 2014
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Volunteer Trip
  • Cultural Exchange
Dear Friends and Family,
In April, I plan on going on a ten day trip to Japan, it is expensive and I need as much help as I can get. Japan is a country teeming with culture that very few get to experience. I want to be one of the people who do. I have always wanted to go to Asia, whether it be the Great Wall of China, the Namsan Tower in Korea, or the bustling cities of Japan. I have travelled to Holland, Canada, and some states in between but it is my dream to step outside the normal tourist boundaries and travel to a place like Tottori, that is beckoning for someone to experience it. Tottori is the smallest prefecture in all of Japan and is known for its sand dunes and beautiful scenery. While there, we will stay with host families, go to restaurants and historical sights. I am most excited to visit different high schools and learn about a teenagers everyday life. I will get to meet many new people who are interested in me, as I am in them. I will get to share my stories and ideas with student who barely speak my language. My friend Celena recently went to Japan and at her 5’3” height she towered over everyone. I will be an ambassador, not only for America but for tall, athletic girls everywhere. All my life, I have been watching anime (Asian cartoons) and reading manga (graphic novels). My friends and I tell each other about the new AKB48 (pop band) and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (singer) music videos we find. We keep up with the latest Japanese fashion trends and cultural movements. Whenever I hear of a new Sushi or Ramen restaurant in Burlington, my sister and I round up my mother so we can have some raw fish and slippery noodles. All these little bits of Japan are beautiful, but Vermont is not the same as the Ramen shops or Karaoke bars in Osaka. This trip to Japan means so much to me and with your help I can’t wait to be on the plane waiting to touchdown in a country I have always dreamed to go.
Sincerely,
Ilona Delsing Rosa Maher
(Soon to be an American Ambassador to Japan)
  • Tottori, Japan
  • Osaka, Japan