nihongo ga hanasemasen
nope, i don’t speak a word of it. if i could just have them at konnichiwa, it’d be ok! as it is it’s been the longest most amazing two weeks of my life:
- met a guy on the street in kamakura, literally: we were walking past each other outside this surf shop– and talked for an hour standing there and got invited to crash at his place. then went inside surf shop and met the owners, his friends. then went down the road towards the beach, and met this other couple and their two kids, also his friends. they cooked dinner for us. this was my, fifth day in japan?
- day 6, still in kamakura, met a japanese couple in a chinese food shop– and chatted sitting on a park bench, and then got invited to their house for dinner, and randomly this was state-of-the-union tuesday. so watched, and talked about, the state of the union. oh and got invited to crash there if i missed my last train home.
- found the house my grandfather was born in, in aizu-wakamatsu; and met the woman who lives next door now, and takes care of the house… had tea with them at 8:30am.
And it’s only been, two weeks tomorrow. Pictures, still haven’t re-learned how to post them up here. Will have to play with gallery and get that going. But for now, it’s a trickle of randomness, that’s going to semi-track how i’ve been walking around the world. And semi-help to share the discoveries I’ve made. Namely, that everybody’s fundamentally the same, no matter where the hell they live. And whatever their culture might be, we can do worse than learn a bit about it and respect it a bit more than we do. Even I am guilty of failing in both regards, even while here, and it’s been a humbling experience. Will have to do better. Will strive to show that experience, up here in front of all, for the betterment of all us citizens of the world.
