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Ever heard of a Quokka?

Published on by ashleybmuirheadLeave a comment

Have you ever heard of a quokka? Yeah, me neither.

Let me set the scene first: I took a day trip to Rottnest Island with my dad, who came all the way from America to visit me! Although his time here was short—only a week—I think we made the most of every moment, with one of the highlights being the quokkas. The ferry ride from the mainland to the island takes about an hour, which was just the right amount of time for me to squeeze in a quick nap before the day’s adventure began. The ferry wasn’t too crowded, and the calm ride gave us a chance to relax and enjoy the ocean views. As soon as we arrived, the excitement kicked in. We rented bikes to explore the island, a perfect way to cover the scenic spots and soak in the beauty of the landscape, which actually looked somewhat similar to Colorado, with low lying shrubbery and sandstone formations. Riding around, we passed pristine beaches, rugged cliffs, and tranquil bays—each spot more stunning than the last. But the real treat came when we encountered our first quokka. We decided to sit down for a little lunch before we did some more biking, just when a woman behind me told me to “look under the table”. Low and behold, a little quokka came up to me to say hi (and also try to get a bite of my lunch)!

Basically, quokkas are often called the “happiest animals on Earth” because of they always look like their smiling (chubby cheeks and all). Native to Australia, quokkas are small marsupials about the size of a house cat, with round faces, fluffy fur, a long bald tail. They’re like a cross between a rodent, a cat, and a kangaroo (if you can imagine that). As said earlier, they mostly inhabit small islands off the coast of Western Australia, with Rottnest Island being the most famous spot to see them. Despite their cute appearance, quokkas are nocturnal and herbivorous, munching on grasses and leaves at night.

Because they live on such a remote island, they have no natural predators. This means that they are super friendly and show absolutely no fear of tourists. Not only did we see one while I was eating my lunch, but we also had a few wonder up to us while we were stopped looking at the beach scenery. I was told that it can be somewhat hard to spot a quokka because of them being nocturnal, but I’m happy to report that this was not the case for my trip.

Besides the quokkas, Rottnest Island truly exceeded all my expectations in terms of natural beauty. The island is a little slice of paradise, with crystal-clear waters and breathtaking landscapes at every turn. One of the best parts of our day was going snorkeling at Little Salmon Bay, a charming, sheltered cove that was teeming with marine life. The water was a little cold because the sun was hidden for most of the day, but it wasn’t too bad. As we swam out to explore, we were surrounded by vibrant coral reefs, all teeming with an array of colorful fish. We had so much fun diving down to get a closer look at the ocean floor, picking up various seashells, only to be surprised when a crab or creature poked out. We also found a few sea cucumbers and conches. Don’t worry, we made sure to return everything to its rightful place in the ocean after we were done admiring it.

I’m really glad that my dad took the time to fly out to see me. I was really cool to show him a slice of my Aussie life, and I think he loved every second of it. He even told me that I should move out here when I’m done with school. Now that is something I wouldn’t be against 😉

It’s the Little Things

Published on by Katie SandovalLeave a comment

This week has been fairly simple. It felt like I didn’t do much, yet, at the same time did a lot somehow. This week I spent more time in my room, either getting things done or just taking it easy. Every now and then, I’d visit a small, lesser-known shrine near my dorm, and one day, my friends and I went up to the observation deck at Kyoto Tower—which had an amazing view!

That said, I realized I’d been spending more money than I expected this early into my time in Kyoto. So, this week, I tried to be more mindful. I stayed in more often, looked for free or low-cost places to explore, and even bought groceries so I could cook simple meals instead of eating out all the time. Even though I didn’t go to as many touristy spots, I still did quite a bit.

Although not necessarily visiting places, this week was when class registration opened. There are two registration periods, advance registration, the one that opened, and general registration, which will be open this coming week. The advance registration also had two stages. In the first stage, I applied for three classes but only got into two. During the second stage I applied for another two classes—and luckily got both. I say luckily because when a lot of students register for a certain class it becomes a type of lottery system, and it chooses which students attend the class at random. While I now have four classes, with general registration coming up, I’ll need to think about which classes to keep and which ones to drop so I meet the required credits for both Doshisha and for University of Denver.

Aside from that, campus was really lively this week because of club recruitment. For three days, there were a lot of clubs and performances to recruit new members into their clubs. I went with my friends for two out of the three days, and we were surprised at how packed the campus was—it was the busiest we’d ever seen it. At first, I personally felt a little overwhelmed, but once we started walking around, I was having fun looking at all the clubs there were. Students were handing out flyers and happily explaining what their clubs did. Some even spoke English, but we tried replying in Japanese, which kind of surprised them, and they would always say our Japanese was good. Everyone was super friendly, and we had a lot of fun just exploring and watching the performances.

By the end of the first day, we had so many flyers—some even doubled or tripled of the same ones! We went back on the second day thinking we might see different clubs, but most were the same as the first day. So, we skipped the third day, but overall, it was a fun experience and a good way to learn more about campus life here.

Lastly, my friends and I joined a picnic event where we got to meet both Doshisha students and other international students. We were split into groups and introduced ourselves in Japanese. It was a bit tricky to understand each other at first, but once we understood, everyone got excited. A little later, our group split again, and I was with one of my friends and three Doshisha students, all second years. They were super friendly and asked us all sorts of questions—why we came to Japan, what was our favorite Studio Ghibli movies, and more. They were not afraid to ask questions, and even though my Japanese isn’t perfect, they were always so happy when I answered, which helped me grow comfortable talking with them.

At one point, we played a type of trivia game in English which were trick questions. Even though they were hard to figure out, everyone had fun guessing. Our group didn’t win, but afterward, we started chatting with other groups. What started as a group of five eventually grew to nearly thirteen people. The picnic lasted about three hours, and by the end, I was really glad I went.

So, even with a slower pace, this week was definitely one of the most memorable ones by far during my time in Kyoto.