[#2] Leaving my 8th and 5th graders behind to go to Australia alone. The 9 days of "daily life" that changed my life

I am truly surprised by the many people who gave me "likes" and followed me after my first post last time, far exceeding my imagination. I have realized how encouraging it is to have people supporting me from the other side of the screen. Thank you!

This time, I would like to talk about a trip that became the trigger for me to seriously think, "I want to move to Australia!"

It was in June, when I used my paid leave before changing jobs.

Leaving my husband and my two children, a second-year junior high school student and a fifth-year elementary school student, in Japan, I flew alone to the Gold Coast in Australia.

It wasn't a flashy trip visiting tourist spots, but a "trip like living" where I stayed for nine days at the home of an acquaintance's family living there. Every bit of that casual daily life would go on to shake up my values.

■ A flow of time and comfort different from Japan

In the suburbs of the Gold Coast. With the sea and mountains nearby and the city center just a 30-minute drive away, a place where nature and convenience are perfectly harmonized, I felt the "rhythm of life" of Australia with my own skin.

What surprised me most was the difference in the flow of time compared to Japan.

The city starts moving early in the morning, and work and shops finish promptly in the evening. The formed society itself naturally becomes "family time" at night. For me, who had been working busily in Japan, that well-balanced life seemed so fresh and rich.

I was also fascinated by the "peace of mind" I saw everywhere in the city.
For example, when a pedestrian is about to cross a crosswalk, cars stop immediately. The pedestrian doesn't rush in a panic, but they just exchange a "Thank you" mindset with each other and pass by. That unique, gentle atmosphere where no one is irritated was truly comfortable.

The environment where public safety is good and children can play outside alone, and the atmosphere where everyone lives while respecting each other within the single order of "Australia," despite the gathering of multinational and diverse cultures.

With every step I took, the emotion of "Oh, this is nice" and "What a comfortable country to live in" kept accumulating in my chest.

■ A place where I remembered my own "core" while being chased by "roles" every day

Under that infinitely wide Australian sky, when I placed myself in the relaxed time, for the first time in a long while, I strongly remembered the feeling of "just Chitose as an individual."

I was born and raised as the middle child of three siblings. It might be a "middle child thing," but I have a bit of pride that I was the one who received the least amount of time and effort among my siblings (laughs). But thanks to that, I have naturally acquired the strength to "think for myself and choose for myself to live" since I was young.

As an adult, I welcomed my precious husband and children into that "self who chose for myself," and while taking on various jobs such as a teacher and manager, I have been piling up days with all my might.
Every role is something precious that I chose myself, and they are all dear to me.

However, every day in Japan tends to be filled with just "getting through" those roles.

When I stood alone in that comfortable air of Australia, the signboards on my shoulders came off, and I felt as if my origin deep in my heart—"the core of Chitose as an individual who thinks for herself and carves out her own life"—was waking up.

I didn't meet a new self. I just remembered once again in that place the precious "core" that had always been inside me.

And I absolutely do not want to let go of that dear core of myself for the next 40 years of the second half of my life. I have realized now that this strong feeling is what is pushing me toward moving to Australia.

■ Differences in educational philosophy I learned after returning home

Even after returning to Japan, my feelings for Australia didn't cool down; in fact, the more I researched, the deeper they became. In particular, what moved me as a parent was the 'difference in educational philosophy.'

Japanese education, if anything, has an image of aiming to raise the overall level 'equally, broadly, and shallowly' for everyone. On the other hand, I learned that Australia's policy is to 'let the child dig deep into what they are interested in and develop their strengths.'

For my children, who are in 8th and 5th grade and are about to establish their own identities, wouldn't such an 'environment where individuality becomes a strength' be a wonderful gift for their lives? And I, too, wanted to live my own life freely in that place once again.

My mind was completely made up.

'I want to live in that country with my whole family.'

…And so, that was the passionate story inside my head. From here, the stage finally shifts to the reality of our 'living room.'

(Next time, I will share my family's real reaction when I finally started muttering 'I want to go' in the living room!)