BLOG (PERSONAL) -- A Random Little Story About a 1-Yen Coin

This weekend I am pretty busy watching movies for Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). I don't go every year -- it really depends on what movies will be shown (that I know of) plus my schedule. I didn't even know that Weathering With You (Makoto Shinkai's latest movie) was going to be shown at TIFF this year until my co-worker mentioned it. I'm actually going to watch it later today. I'll blog about the movies I watched at TIFF for next week.

This week, because I don't have much time to blog, I decided to share a random short story about a gift I received many, many years ago. This might not be interesting for you!

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When I was in Grade 6, one of my friends went on a trip to Japan. She was also my classmate. When she came back, she told the whole class about her time in Japan and she brought back a souvenir for each of us: a 1-yen coin!

When I received it, I was very happy. I enjoyed collecting coins back then, so I thought it was the coolest thing. Whenever I thought about Japan, I thought it was too far away for me to ever travel to (please remember that I was in Grade 6!). So for my friend to bring back a souvenir for all of us -- I thought it was very kind and generous.

I put the 1-yen coin in my knapsack -- and kept it in my knapsack throughout the rest of Grade 6 and Middle School. And High School. And University. Whenever I got a purse / messenger bag, I moved the 1-yen coin to there. Whenever I travelled to Japan, I brought the 1-yen coin with me, but I put it in a separate bag just to make sure it wouldn't mix in with the yen I would use for spending.

To this day, I still have that 1-yen coin I received back in Grade 6. It's still in my purse / messenger bag. I know its face value is only 1 yen -- but to me, it is my first souvenir ever from Japan. So I will keep it with me for as long I can.


Thank you for reading!

For those who are also experiencing TIFF this weekend and next week, have fun! :)

For everybody, have a good rest of the weekend and till next time! :)