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From
Osaka to Tokyo
Adventures
of a French girl when she traveled to Japan.....By Pierre
Coda, Continued from: Disney
theme party
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was starting to feel embarrassed about my initial feelings about Japan.
With Monica’s help, I started to gradually discover aspects of
Japanese life that can never be explained in books.
In fact, I realized that there was no better way to discover a
country than to actually spend time with Japanese people – which is what
I did. While Monica was still
my primary source of getting the insights into Japan, I realized that I
could do my own research. Miho
was one person I had gotten close to.
After the birthday
party, she called me to thank me for the gift
but also to apologize if the group had caused me any embarrassment. I had not prepared myself for what actually happened at the
party, and neither did Monica know, and that is why it was shocking to me.
However, at no point, did I feel like not doing anything or
leaving. Towards the end, I
thought I was having a lot of fun as I cheered on as other girls did their
own shows. Miho wanted to
have lunch with me alone.
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 Meeting
one-on-one with Miho, I found that we both had several things in common.
More importantly there was so much we could learn from each other.
She had studied French in high school and spent one year as an
exchange student in Provence. Her
French was as bad as my Japanese but I was delighted to have someone as a
friend who would be interested in knowing more about France and I.
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From
then on I frequently met Miho and she introduced me to more of her
friends. We went shopping
several times and I went to several other theme parties – some not so
wild, but others even wilder, especially one that I attended on a trip to
a spa resort in the mountains. My
parents were pleased that I had found a life of my own in Japan.
Father was busy with his job and, like most Japanese men, he too was
working long hours. Mother
joined the small community of expatriates in the area and spent a great
deal of time with them and their ‘internationalized’ Japanese friends.
~
Miho
mentioned to me about a job opportunity in Tokyo when we met for lunch.
She was talking to her friend Yumiko who worked at the Tokyo
Metropolitan Art Museum. They
had been actively seeking a French national who would take on the job of
coordinating art exchanges with museums in France.
Miho suggested that I should try for the job and Yumiko can
facilitate the interview appointments, if I was interested.
~
As
I sat on the short flight to Tokyo, where I had never been before, I was
both excited and anxious. I was not even sure if I should
be on this
plane since my parents had expressed their skepticism all along.
They were not sure that I should seek a career in Japan or move to
Tokyo.
They wanted me to teach French to neighborhood kids and ladies.
However, I was getting increasingly excited about being on my own
and that too in one of the most exciting cities in the world.
I contemplated these conflicting thoughts, as I could see the vast
expanse of Tokyo Metropolitan area from my window seat on an ANA flight.
The pilot was well aware that most passengers on the plane had probably
never been to Tokyo before, so he pointed out all the major landmarks and
I looked wide-eyed – I was in a different world.
While Osaka is large city, nothing seems to match Tokyo.
Next part: Arriving in
Tokyo
How to plan a
staycation
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