Month: July 2016
I have a Russian friend in Tokyo who thinks we are crazy to drive and camp here. She kept saying that it is really dangerous….that Russians are violent and she will fear for our lives!
I hope it’s not controversial to say that Russians are rather brusk on first meeting. No one smiles; customer service is non-existant (I’m not exaggerating – you are treated with utter disdain); the language is harsh; the men are heavy set and strong; the women stern and the Russian ‘stare’ is unwavering. After spending so long in Japan, it’s an absolute culture shock.
I should forwarn you that you won’t come away with any mystic Eastern insights on the meaning of life (You’ll need to read Herman Hesse or Kahil Gibran et al for that.) Merely, a small insight into life on board the Korean-run ferry ‘Eastern Dream’ that sails between Sakaiminato, Japan and Vladivostok, Russia, via Donghae, South Korea.
And to be honest you won’t learn much about that either.
Here’s a map of the final route we took in Japan.
At school I sometimes do an exercise with the children where you recount a story or an experience in 20 words or phrases and then you have to reduce that from 20 to 10, and then finally whittle it down to only 5 words/phrases that sum up the story/experience. You have to be quick and go with the first words and not think too much about it. So Captain and I did one the last morning of our seven day drive around Japan. I’ll do his first and then mine 🙂
The first week of our trip was also our last week of our 5 years spent living in Japan. So, it was a week full mostly of excitement, but also tinged with a bit of sadness that this will be the last we see of the place we’ve called home for the last 5 years.
Here’s an edit of the video we shot over the week!
So our time in Japan is nearly at an end. After 5 years living in Tokyo we are moving on to the next chapter. I have LOVED living here. As an expat/foreigner/gaijin/immigrant – Tokyo offers so much. I felt it was now time to put my musings about my time in Japan into some written form. I hope its not too crass to divide these into two sections…and do please take these with a large pinch of salt 😉
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