The Japanese Language Proficiency exam (JLPT), or 「日本語能力試験」as it is called in Japanese, was something I had been aware of since my teens. I always wanted to take it, but growing up in Newfoundland meant I knew it was something I would have to spend a lot of money on—the nearest testing location was, and still is, in Toronto.

To kick off 2017, one of the most unbelievable things happened to me—a Japanese TV crew visited my house in the UK to film me talking about my love for お好み焼き (okonomiyaki). It was part of my audition for the TV Tokyo program called 「世界！ニッポン行きたい人応援団」, or “Who Wants to Come to Japan?” as they call it in English, which invites foreigners with specific interests in Japanese culture to make their dreams come true with a visit to Japan.

Packing light has never been something I’ve been good at. Wearing one outfit twice in one trip rarely happened, but remembering how I felt when I struggled to lift two full-size suitcases (essentially my entire wardrobe) onto an escalator in the London Underground made me re-think how silly it all was.