The very first time I met her, she was standing outside my airplane gate at Perth airport. I liked her at a glance, because of her friendly smile.

“Hi.”

I said,

“Nice to meet you.”

She waved her hands violently,

“Hi, Maya!”

I smiled involuntarily. It was unusual, I usually wasn’t this friendly and open when I meet new people because I’m really shy.

We got in the car and drove to Lottie’s house, as she hosted me while I was staying in Australia. My English wasn’t the best, but Emma was very patient, and tried to understand what I was saying.

Oh shoot! I totally forgot! You probably don’t know about us! I’ll introduce us now.

I’m Maya. I have straight black hair, and I’m always wearing a scarlet headband. My body isn’t very curvy at all, and I don’t like it. My friends often say I’m really shy, graceful and gentle.

Emma is who I stayed with in Australia. She has very, very long golden blonde hair that does down to her bottom. Her eyes are a clear, pale blue and she has VERY long legs. She is an ambivert, meaning she can be very outgoing at times. She is very optimistic about everything and makes everything fun.

So, looking at us you may think that we’re nowhere near similar. That’s not true. We’re both very imaginative, and we both crave new experiences. We both also LOVE chocolate chip cookies! They’re our favorite!

In the month that I stayed in Australia, we became very, very good friends. Went to Perth Zoo and saw Kangaroos and Emus, along with other really amazing animals that I couldn’t see in Japan. We visited Rottnest Island, and we got to see quokkas, as well as go on a glass-bottomed boat to see all sorts of different fish. We went to the beach every day, but the last day of my stay was the most memorable. We picked up two beautiful little matching shells when we walked along the beach and sat down to make seashell necklaces while Lottie’s mum and dad cooked up steak and sausages for what they called a ‘barbeque on the beach’.

We both understood that they would connect our hearts together forever. Emma’s hair looked strawberry blonde in the sunset and for the first time in my whole visit, she looked really sad. Her eyes seemed to have turned grey, and large tears down her cheeks. Tears trickled down mine as well, and we threw ourselves into each other’s arms and cried. The sun set over the ocean, both of us in each other’s arms.