How has your engagement with Asia enhanced your life personally?

The first time I visited Japan on a three week home-stay trip at 15 years of age I was instantly intrigued. A curiosity and passion for the Japanese language and culture was ignited in me.

I have travelled extensively throughout Japan and more widely in Asia to China, Vietnam, Cambodia, India and Malaysia. I get excited when I'm in Asia - the smell, the spectacle, the way of life.

Having spent more than six years living, working and exploring Asia, it really is my other home. It is also through being away from Australia that I've come to reflect on my own cultural background and way of life.

How has your engagement with Asia enhanced your life professionally?

Upon graduating high school and university, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew it had to relate to Japan and learning languages. Post-university I spent four years in Nagano Prefecture on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program as an Assistant Language Teacher and Coordinator for International Relations.

After returning to Australia I studied translation (Japanese) at Monash University and worked for a Japanese green tea company.

While my current work for the Victorian Government does not have a direct focus on Asia, I am sure the skills I acquired from my experience abroad have shaped my view of the world and allow me to relate to the multicultural communities I now work with on a daily basis. I also continue to study Japanese and visit Japan as often as I can, most recently as a leader on the 2010 Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowships Japan program.

Do you have a story about your engagement with Asia that you would like to share?

While on the JET Program, I spent some time in rural Sarawak, Malaysia, assisting on a building project with an NGO called Habitat for Humanity. The disadvantages faced by the family whose house we were helping to build was mind boggling - there was such hardship, compared to the hustle and bustle and comparative wealth of the Tokyo I had just left. I have come to realise there are many facets to Asia. There are so many stories, so many faces and there is still so much I am waiting to discover.