こんにちは

Hi! My name is Joyce, and I'm 18 years old this year. I live in Melbourne, Australia.

   I have 8 people in my family: my parents, older sister, 2 younger sisters, 2 younger brothers, and me.

   My oldest sister’s name is Melissa, and she is studying her 2nd year of Pharmacy in Monash University. After me, there is my sister Jedidah, who is slightly taller than me, and will be 16 years old in 2 weeks. She is in Yr11 this year. Then there's my youngest sister Faith, who is in Yr10 and will be turning 14 years old.Joel is my little brother in Yr8 – he is the only other person in my family learning Japanese at the moment, and will be 13 years old this year. The youngest in our family is Elisha (pronounced Eee-lai-sha), who is still in grade 4 in primary school. He loves reading and playing computer games.

   But If you think my family is big, my mum’s family is bigger – there are 12 people in her family (her parents, 4 sisters, 5 brothers)! However, her oldest brother died 4 years ago in a car accident. Having so many aunties and uncles in Malaysia means that I also have many cousins – there are about 80 cousins in total so far, and more to come (my youngest uncle just got married this year). But If you think my family is big, my mum’s family is bigger – there are 12 people in her family (her parents, 4 sisters, 5 brothers)! However, her oldest brother died 4 years ago in a car accident. Having so many aunties and uncles in Malaysia means that I also have many cousins – there are about 80 cousins in total so far, and more to come (my youngest uncle just got married this year).

    My many hobbies include playing computer games, gardening, playing the piano and violin, and reading adventure novels. However, due to the amount of homework I have been receiving recently, there is no time for all this. I t is quite sad.

    It takes approx. 1 hour to travel to and from my school in the city, using car, train, tram and walking. I also use the bus in the afternoons to get home from the train station, which means that the total time used on transport is about 2 hours a day.

These are my two very successful sunflowers, growing in the backyard. This is the MacAllister River that runs alongside Paradise Valley, where we go to every summer for camping.

CHURCH　is:

A big part of my life. Everyone in my family has a role in the church:

・    my parents are the pastors

・    Older sister is a worship leader, back-up singer and pianist

・    I play the violin during praise and worship, or do back-up singing

・    My first younger sister plays the cello, or does back-up singing

・    Youngest sister plays the drums or piano

・    Biggest little brother plays piano or guitar

・    And my youngest brother is an usher

Every Saturday, we have song practice at about 4—6.30pm for the praise and worship session on the Sunday, and then youth group at 7.30—10pm. The service on Sundays is from 1.30—4pm, but because we need to set up before then, get to church at ~12.45pm. Because of all this, weekends at my house are always very busy.