Goodbye Japan さようなら日本 sayonara nihon

You can fly to Europe from Japan non stop, though not from the South Island where we are, but if your cash is running low, then maybe $2,000-3,000 per person is too high a price, especially when you can fly via other East Asian countries for $500. So that's why we are travelling to London via Hanoi, Vietnam. The journey is split over two days, so that we fly during the daytime, and the children sleep in a proper bed.

We go to London to see Max-Alex andAlex-Max, friends and Nora's godmother Beyrouthahuit ( aka Nini).

The 2nd visit to Japan that ends today has deepened and broadened our knowledge and experience of the country. Flo has grasped that you can't find a restaurant easily just walking and window shopping, because a huge percentage is below ground in the underground cities, or above on the 4th floor or above. Lola has learned how to make kaisaki and search for good, affordable restaurants. Lennox and Oscar have deepened their obsession with pokemon, and Nora has fearlessly engaged with the locals, asking them many, many questions. I have slept for the 1st time in a monastery and got up at the ungodly our of 06:30 for prayers.

We all loved the food, at least most of us, most of the time, and we liked the ease of travelling on the bullet trains.

We saw more of the unique Japanese culture, but I am not sure we understood it that much more. Why have street food you can't eat in the streets? Why are 99.9% neat and tidily dressed? All the time, why do workers only wear white shirts? Why don't they like swimming in the sea? Why are there no litter bins? Why are there very few trees in cities? Why for such disciplined people is the city planning, a totally unplanned mess? Why are there 50,000 7/11 convenience stores, but very few supermarkets? How can small shops afford to have so many staff? etc. etc.

We don’t know, we don’t understand, but it's really good that the culture has been resistant to being overrun by Western culture. It's those cultural differences that make Japan so interesting.

Goodbye, Japan, or more exactly a bientot.Okumaya devam et