Student Ambassador Sayuri Okuda has spent the last month exploring Cairns as the winner of the Take Me to Cairns Competition. Sayuri won a study trip to Cairns valued at over $8,000 in the competition for Japanese-based students.
Sayuri has been in Cairns since late June and she has made the most of her visit to our fabulous region since with the competition which was supported by Tourism Tropical North Queensland.
After living with a Banora International Group homestay family initially, Sayuri is staying at Cairns Sharehouse for one month while attending English lessons at Cairns Language Centre and You Study International College. She’s also enjoyed some work experience shifts at Cairns Wildlife Dome and visited the Cairns Student Hub and learnt about Aussie BBQ’s at the social event the Hub holds each month on the Esplanade.
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Sayuri was very impressed with all the activities and events organised by Cairns Student Hub.
“The Cairns Student Hub has been organizing many events and workshop regularly such as Ukulele, Spanish, IELTS, resumes and taxation. The Hub is a perfect place for meeting other international students and most workshops are free,” Sayuri said.
“I went to a BBQ party at Esplanade with lots of international students – it was so much fun!”
In her spare time, Sayuri has been exploring the region, enjoying some of the best attractions from Port Douglas to the Tablelands. Phew. What a busy month!
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About Sayuri Okuda – winner of Take Me to Cairns Competition
Well-travelled Sayuri calls Takamatsu, Japan home. She has travelled to many parts of the world and recently spent two years living in Vancouver, Canada. One adventure took her to Costa Rica where she stayed on a remote farm for two months taking care of crops and farm animals where running water and electricity was limited. Sayuri said that it wasn’t easy but she learnt a lot of significant life principles.
“Getting to know people and culture are one of my favorite parts of traveling. Besides traveling and working, I do love being in nature, such as going hiking, or running and doing stand up paddle boarding,” she says.
While studying in Canada, Sayuri says she was fascinated with learning and experiencing everything, but as a student her funds were limited so she couldn’t always share her experiences with others.
When she returned to Takamatsu she founded a language cultural exchange group called Setouchi-Sun as a means for her international friends in Japan to learn about Japanese language and culture in a friendly social environment. But she found that many of her Japanese friends enjoy meeting international travellers too so it’s a terrific opportunity for people of all cultures to learn about language, cultures and customs while making new friends.
She is keen to share her experiences from Cairns with her friends all over the world and encourage them to travel to north Queensland to study.
Follow Sayuri on Instagram at @sayuri360jp and the Student Hub at @cairnsstudenthub