Letter 32
Thursday 13.09.13
It has been a day of resting and time to do some maintenance. New brake shoes
have been mounted at the rear. The mattres has been under water. A lot of holes.
"Now they know how many holes it takes to fill....." The glue is drying, and
we'll have to see...
I got the computer working with the net here. I checked the TCP/IP set-up on
Nori's computer. It was SO simple. Mine was set to use definite addresses. When
it was set to find out by itself, it did. YES!!!
My shorts has been in the washing machine, the more severe stains had some dish
washer first.
And I've made the plan for the rest of the trip. Kyushu has been cancelled,
they're having too many typhoons (and I don't have the time).... The new plan
includes 4 times train and 2 times ferry. The first ferry would be across the
Tykyo Bay the day after tomorrow, which means I go to Futtsu tomorrow. Then the
Izu Penninsula, around Mount Fuji and by train to Kyoto, where I'm gonna stay
for some days. Further on to Wakayama from where I take a ferry to Shikoku (the
smallest of the 4 main japanese islands). I go around there for about a week.
Then across the bidges over the Inland Sea and on to Hiroshima. From Hirosjima
by train back to Kyoto and across The japanese Alps back to Tokyo and Tone. (2
times train). The last night I'd better stay in Narita near the airport, so I
have no chance of accidents on the way to the airport.
Tone is a strange town compared to european towns. It's divided into different
parts with fields in between. According to my map it should have less than
10.000 inhabitants, but I think it's around that. There are no stores in this
part, but a restaurant, where father takes me for lunch. It's just a simpel one
with 4 tables. We are served 5 small spring rolls and fried rice. You start with
blending the sauce out of 3 ingredients: soya, oil and acid? The rice is fried
with eggs and something green and something red. It looks delicious - and it is.
Afterwards we have something I believe to be tea with ice in high glasses.
Father pours "syrup" and "milk" in. It's coffee. Ice coffee. But I've had that
before...
Later we go to buy an extra can of gas in a "Homecenter". It's big. The biggest
I ever saw.
After we've come back, I learn some sentences from the father. A systematic
attempt to find out the structure of sentences, much better than what the
guidebooks offer. Now I can say: "You are a teacher" (Nori) and "I was a teacher"
(me). Even "Are you a teacher?". I'll save you for the actual japanese
words.
.
We are going to eat sushi tonight, I've heard.