[Wheel of Fortune] At that crossroads, I chose the other way.

Do you believe in parallel worlds?

I wonder what kind of life the version of me who made a different choice at that time is living.

In my last Note, I casually bragged, didn't I?

Even though my husband is so precious to me now that I feel like I might hyperventilate just thinking about him not being here,
our love story was not straightforward.

This page is about the moment right before we met,
the moment the [Wheel of Fortune] began to click into place.

I decided to go abroad on a working holiday.
However, I didn't even know what the term "working holiday" stood for.

Taking advantage of being held back a year in school, I wanted to try things I had always wanted to do,
so I moved out of my parents' house and lived in a share house for about half a year.
Two of my housemates at the time had just returned from working holidays.
I asked them what this interesting-sounding "working holiday" was all about.

A-chan said, "The Japanese people who come on working holidays are all spoiled idiots who go through agencies. I felt it was pointless because they just hang out with other Japanese people ┐(´∀｀)┌".

I see. So if you go through an agency, you're an idiot (　ﾟдﾟ)
(*This was just one person's opinion at the time.)

B-kun said, "Sydney is boring because that's the only place Japanese people go ┐(´д｀)┌".

I see. So Sydney is boring (　ﾟдﾟ)
(*This was just one person's opinion at the time.)

Based on their advice, I decided to go on a working holiday to Australia, but I chose not to register with an agency and decided to go to a different country for language school.

I didn't know that this choice would force a hard mode upon me, someone who couldn't speak English well and had only ever walked on a paved path.

There is probably plenty of information on YouTube and blogs now, but 10 years ago, it was standard to use an agency to arrange flights, accommodation, and language schools, and anything else was a thorny path.

But, if I used an agency,
it would apparently be a stupid and boring working holiday (　ﾟдﾟ)
Not even knowing what I should be researching, I took my friends' advice at face value and proceeded with my preparations without really understanding what I was doing.

I got information that language schools in the Philippines or Fiji would be cheap, so I narrowed it down to Fiji, a country I had never heard of, and continued my research.

To think I chose it just because I'd never heard of it...

And then, somehow, I managed to arrange my Australian visa, a language school in Fiji, and my flight from Japan to Fiji.

I felt a strange sense of unease.

The language school in Fiji. Was that really the right choice?
It was just when I was about to transfer the payment within the deadline, but
I suddenly felt a doubt about whether a language school in Fiji was the right path.

Maybe it was because the contact person was a bit pushy with their sales.
Maybe it was because I had no idea where Fiji even was.

I decided to look up reviews that hadn't even crossed my mind before.

[Fiji language study abroad review]
I don't want to provide incorrect information to those considering studying abroad in Fiji, so I will omit the details of the reviews.
After seeing these reviews, I decided I didn't want to study abroad in Fiji!

Actually, there was a cafe nearby where I could get information about working holidays without registering with an agent.
When I went there and told them the whole story,

"There is also New Zealand."

they told me.

And they gave me materials for a language school and a homestay.

Exhausted from continuing to research things I didn't understand,
I just followed their instructions and processed the application forms and everything else
that they presented to me.

...If I had just registered with an agent from the beginning, I wouldn't have had to go through all that trouble...

But this was when the [Wheel of Fortune] began to turn.

The language school where I met my current husband was exactly the one from the materials the person at the cafe gave me.

Click, click, click, click.

My [Wheel of Fortune] turned in this way.

If I had been with an agent, would I have gone to New Zealand?
If I had gone to the language school in Fiji, would I have met my husband?
I wonder if the version of me in that parallel world is happy now...

There are times when I think about it.

When did your [Wheel of Fortune] turn?

By the way, it seems like anyone can learn to read tarot cards.

I also used to think that you couldn't read tarot unless you had special talents like psychic ability or intuition. It seems that's not the case.