Three months have passed since we came to Cebu. I am living healthily without getting out of condition. And then in this month, many friends who were getting along with and respected went back to their countries, so I feel lonely among new students. In addition, I miss them.

And also this month had two big events, Christmas and New Year. It is the first time I have spent on Christmas and New Year in Philippines. I could spent time different from Japan.

Christmas and New Year are an events for family in Philippines, so almost people go back to their hometown.

On New Year, I went to Olango Island near Mactan Island with my friends. We went there by boat. Since it was bad weather during New Year, we couldn’t do any sea activity, but we took a motorbike, went to a floating restaurant and ate seafood. Near midnight, they had a lot of fireworks. We watched fireworks from outside of hotel. They were very beautiful. I was impressed by them. And then, we jumped right after change a date from 2016 to 2017 and shouted “Happy New Year!!”.

The next day, we went to a park. It had a heavy rain at that time so, we couldn’t move to the next destination. After the rain stopped, we ate lunch, and it was Filipino food. And then, we come back to our home. I was very tiring, but I could have nicer New Year than before.

Through I spent time during New Year in Philippine, I’ve noticed that Filipinos makes some noise, follow superstitions, eat many food with their families, and the most exciting part is the fireworks display. It was indeed a very fun experience for me.

This weekend, Sinulog festival will take place in Cebu. It is the most famous festival in Philippine, so I’m going to join it. I want to enjoy and challenge many things during the rest of my stay.