Nara (May 14-15)

On Monday I arrived in Nara on a beautiful spring day. Taking the regional train from Osaka was very easy. Yes, I can confirm that it’s true – trains arrive exactly to-the-minute, I proved it personally! After leaving my bags at the guest house I started my walk through the huge park with all its temples and gardens. For me the most interesting part was observing hundreds or even thousands of school kids in their uniforms. Someone told me they come from everywhere in Japan to visit the temples. Obviously these kids have the task to talk to tourists and deploy their English knowledge with the help of a small booklet. In fact, the most important part of the interview is not the questions but rather the photo shooting at the end. I seem to be an interesting target for the kids because of my outward appearance. I didn’t see any other tourists being interviewed.

In Nara I had amazing lunch (Udon noodles in Japanese style curry) and in the evening I went to my first Japanese Sushi bar. I was surprised that it it almost identical to the Sushi bars we have in Europe. At least they don’t cheat on us and sell food which is not authentic like it happens with the Chinese restaurants.

Yesterday the weather was very bad. In the morning I continued the sightseeing tour but I had to stop in the early afternoon as it began to rain heavily. I spent the rest of the day sleeping. In the nights I don’t get a very good sleep because of the dorm rooms, the only affordable option in Japan.

The evening turned out to be very nice. I met Tommy from the US who has been working for four years in a Japanese company in Tokyo. He told me very interesting stuff about the working culture and living in Japan in general. We went to a Sushi bar in the evening (the same that I had been to before) and this time they had a special promotion offer for draft beer. Actually I wouldn’t have noticed because of the language barrier but thanks to him we found out. The beer was amazingly cheap (105 Yen, normally it’s three to four times more), so we took advantage. We continued drinking in the guest house where we also met a French couple, a guy from the Czech Republic and other Japanese people. It was a nice group and we could have continued until late. Unfortunately in Japan the rules are strict so we had to stop the “conversation” at 23:30.

What really impresses me in Japan is that everything has a sense, even if this sense is not visible for us as Europeans at first sight. One example: In the Sushi bar there were plastic baskets on the floor. I asked Tommy what they are for and he told me that they are for putting your bag inside, so it won’t get dirty on the floor. Amazing! Someone is thinking for you, similar to staying with mum.

This morning I continued to Kyoto with hangover. Just this: The photo shootings with me continued!