Ramblings, Rantings, News and other stuff from Franky on the Philippines
I am honestly shocked
Its already 3 months i am back from Japan… I have yet to sort out all my images, have to write thanks and hello’s to people back in Japan..
But what me shocked most is how much I was able to do in Japanese back then in Japan (writing, reading, talking japanese) and how less is left of it…
It just shows me more and more, that if i want to raise my language skill to another level I probably need to live there for a while…
I am at Narita Airport back in Tokyo now, and my flight goes soon… the last impressions of Japan were fleeing landscapes through a Trainwindow..
So, check back for updates from Germany…
Well.. it seems to be the time to pack again and to go back to Tokyo, to catch my flight home to Germany..
I will have a relaxing day today in Hiroshima.. buying some Omiyage (presents) to bring back, and to pack later my stuff and head to the night train I already booked 3 weeks ago.. That one will bring me back right to Tokyo during the night, and I will then board around 2pm Friday afternoon my flight back to London and from there to Stuttgart..
Was it a relaxing vacation..? well for me, yes it was. It might not be everybody’s cup of tea to run around in big cities for three weeks for a vacation, but I really love to go under in the Urban jungle.. On the other hand I had lots of time to hike and to see spots I wanted to see…
Sorry for the lack of pics here, I forgot my camera today at home and couldn’t transfer them to my website.. I will replace the maps on Saturday with the pics I decided to have here, so please check back then..
And shortly after, I hope to upload all of my pics to the website and to comment some of them..
You might ask how many pics i shot in Japan.. I counted them this morning, I shot 2200 pictures in the last three weeks.. So for those who get a life presentation, bring some time with you.. it will take a while.. *evil grin*
I have to say that all Japanese are very friendly.. I only recognized about two or three times that there was a bad sentiment towards foreigners near me.. An old geezer once caughed in the direction of any non asian person he saw..
But I have to say, in Hiroshima people have been the nicest so far.. I was talked to on the open street how I am, where I come from, if I like Hiroshima and so on, and that several times..
And Yesterday a whole class of girls (middle or pre school I think, htey where in uniform, but had yellow caps..) talked to me while sitting on a bench what my name is,
where I come from and if they can take a picture togehter with me, which they did then twice.. their teacher was laughing the whole time.. I had a really good time 
But I think, the friendlyness gradualy gets better, the less foreigners are around..
In Tokyo, or in Kyoto, they are so used to foreigners, it doesn’t matter anymore..
Here it seems a foreigner, and being german too, is still something special..
to have something lighter than yesterday, I decided to pay a visit to Myajima, which is an island near Hiroshima… on this Island there is one of the three red gates standing in the sea, which are famous around the world, and count towards to the most-photographed items in whole Japan..
So I wnet there by train and ferry, and it was a really beautiful sight. The Gate is in front of a huge shrine, which in itself stands on the beach and therefor in the sea during high tide.
Then I decided to go up the islands’ mountain with a cablecar, and had a wonderfullt view there over the sea and the other islands. But to get on top of the mountain, I still had to go around 100 meters (~300 feet?) up.. too bad that the path first got down around 50 meters..
So after walking through a forrest for an hour i got up onto the mountain, where magically an inn with a coke-vending machine apeared..
now it has to be said that the path was really a path.. not a cemented pavement or something.. I still wonder how they fill up that vending machine..
Then I thought to give it all and hike around the mountain to get down on the other side back to the town.. well this hike took about 3 hours but it was really nice.. I just wonder how one would want to get up the stairs and paths to the mountain, I found it difficult to walk them down..
On my way I passed another shrine, an gate, which didn’t exist anymore, and a buddhist temple..
That was a really beuatiful view, because coming down the mountain it looked like hidden in the forrest, detached from the city, and really peacefull.. like if you find a small paradise in the middle of wilderness..
Coming back to town, I noted that it was now low tide, and I could have walked to the gate, but I neglected that in favour of getting my ferry, because otherwise i would have been late for dinner, and I promised to be back at 7 pm..
I will be staying with the familiy of a friend of my japanese Teacher here in Hiroshima…
I had mixed feelings about this, as I didn’t wan’t to impose on those people.
But on the other hand, arrangments were alreay made, and it will be a nice change staying with a japanese family for once.
And they are really nice.. Yuko san is very nice as well as her husband and gave me a warm welcome.. but I have the feeling that Sumie-sensei (my teacher) told them only to speak japanese with me…
I visited the Atom-bomb dome and Memorial park today in Hiroshima.. The Park and the memorial was ok, but in the attached museum it was devasting..
I never saw so many people sniffing with teary eyes, myself included, witnessing the exhibitions displayed there..
You get a really good feeling for how horrible war is and what a devasting weapon the bomb is..
anybody who thinks that the bomb is a good or even acceptable solution, should pay a visit to Hiroshima and the Memorial Museum.. you will come back as a changed person..
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