teddyursa
May 7, 2008, 23:32
First of all, I hope this is the right place to post about my experience in Japan. If not, Sumimasen :) to the moderators and please help to relocate the post to the appropriate location. Thanks.
----------------------------------------------
I had never thought of visiting Japan and if not for the unrest in Tibet, I would not have changed plans to do so. And I am glad that I have done so. I spent about 25 days in Japan - 7 in Kyoto, 3 in Nara and the rest in Shikoku.
When I arrived in Japan, I spoke no Japanese at all. Travelling in Kyoto was easy. The buses and trains are really organized. Since I could read Chinese, the Kanji was not difficult for me to understand. Getting to places were easy. Although I did not speak any Japanese, I did not have any problems finding my way again. Every time I asked for help, the people were surprisingly patient and kind. I would say they even go out of their way to help. I was trying to get to Tengaimon in Nara Park one day and went to a Japanese guy to ask for directions. In the end, he walked with me to the gate! And that was not even on his way.
I had similar experience in Shikoku. I told the bus from Nara to Tokushima and arrived around 9pm. I was absolutely lost. I went up to a Japanese (by now I could utter a few standard phrases in Japanese) to ask him to help me translate the directions given by the youth hostel into Kanji. The man got up, and went to the terminal to check the buses then saw the email I was holding, walked to a public phone, called the YH, took me to the bus, got onto the bus and told the bus driver to let me know when to get off. Then he left and would not even take the money for the phone call.
This is just one of the experiences in many. I felt so bad meeting so many kind Japanese and not being able to say anything except arigatou gozaimasu so I decided to buy a english-japanese dictionary. A woman saw that I looked lost - I think - and asked me if I needed help. She spoke little English so she called her friend and had me spoke to her. In the end she not only took me to the bookstore, helped me find the dictionary, she even bought me lunch. Imagine that!
So in the end when I left Japan, I had so many wonderful memories of Japan... the old woman in Oboke who gave me a onigiri because I walked by her house, the woman in Kochi who got me the dictionary, the lady biker in Ashizuri Misaki who gave up her YH reservation (Shin Hesa dera) so that I had a place to stay, another biker who took me camping and dropped me off at Okayama (he lives near Shin Hesa dera and when he found out that I was going there, he told me it was really boring... so he took me on his bike to Matsuyama, Oboke and then to Okayama for the big bridges, parks, temples, etc)...
I was totally amazed by my experience in Japan. Very often when I looked lost, someone would always come up to me and offer me help. Most of the Japanese I met do not speak much English and me, hardly any Japanese. Yet, by the time I leave Japan, I have left behind friends and took with me so many wonderful memories and miyage (everyone seems to want to give me something - what culture!) from so many people.
There are many nice things about Japan (environmental consciousness, orderly, clean, etc) but the best part is the people I have met. I did not recount all of the stories here... this is just a small part. Every day I felt so touched by the people I met there.
And thanks to everyone who has replied my earlier posts about Japan, making my trip possible and giving me a chance to experience Japan. Arigatou Gozaimashita. Honto tanoshiikata desu.
----------------------------------------------
I had never thought of visiting Japan and if not for the unrest in Tibet, I would not have changed plans to do so. And I am glad that I have done so. I spent about 25 days in Japan - 7 in Kyoto, 3 in Nara and the rest in Shikoku.
When I arrived in Japan, I spoke no Japanese at all. Travelling in Kyoto was easy. The buses and trains are really organized. Since I could read Chinese, the Kanji was not difficult for me to understand. Getting to places were easy. Although I did not speak any Japanese, I did not have any problems finding my way again. Every time I asked for help, the people were surprisingly patient and kind. I would say they even go out of their way to help. I was trying to get to Tengaimon in Nara Park one day and went to a Japanese guy to ask for directions. In the end, he walked with me to the gate! And that was not even on his way.
I had similar experience in Shikoku. I told the bus from Nara to Tokushima and arrived around 9pm. I was absolutely lost. I went up to a Japanese (by now I could utter a few standard phrases in Japanese) to ask him to help me translate the directions given by the youth hostel into Kanji. The man got up, and went to the terminal to check the buses then saw the email I was holding, walked to a public phone, called the YH, took me to the bus, got onto the bus and told the bus driver to let me know when to get off. Then he left and would not even take the money for the phone call.
This is just one of the experiences in many. I felt so bad meeting so many kind Japanese and not being able to say anything except arigatou gozaimasu so I decided to buy a english-japanese dictionary. A woman saw that I looked lost - I think - and asked me if I needed help. She spoke little English so she called her friend and had me spoke to her. In the end she not only took me to the bookstore, helped me find the dictionary, she even bought me lunch. Imagine that!
So in the end when I left Japan, I had so many wonderful memories of Japan... the old woman in Oboke who gave me a onigiri because I walked by her house, the woman in Kochi who got me the dictionary, the lady biker in Ashizuri Misaki who gave up her YH reservation (Shin Hesa dera) so that I had a place to stay, another biker who took me camping and dropped me off at Okayama (he lives near Shin Hesa dera and when he found out that I was going there, he told me it was really boring... so he took me on his bike to Matsuyama, Oboke and then to Okayama for the big bridges, parks, temples, etc)...
I was totally amazed by my experience in Japan. Very often when I looked lost, someone would always come up to me and offer me help. Most of the Japanese I met do not speak much English and me, hardly any Japanese. Yet, by the time I leave Japan, I have left behind friends and took with me so many wonderful memories and miyage (everyone seems to want to give me something - what culture!) from so many people.
There are many nice things about Japan (environmental consciousness, orderly, clean, etc) but the best part is the people I have met. I did not recount all of the stories here... this is just a small part. Every day I felt so touched by the people I met there.
And thanks to everyone who has replied my earlier posts about Japan, making my trip possible and giving me a chance to experience Japan. Arigatou Gozaimashita. Honto tanoshiikata desu.