Time to Say Goodbye

The Japanese people are the kindest people in the world. This morning when the Viking Orion docked at Beppu, the loudspeakers on the pier played happy, upbeat rock music in Japanese with a few great American oldies thrown in. Just now Viking Orion gave three blasts of the horn indicating we were leaving. All of the workers on the dock and in the passenger ship terminal, with quite a few local residents gathered on the pier to wave goodbye. The music changed to a plaintive farewell, and as they waved and the music played, I wiped away a tear.Read more