Visiting my Father's Cemetery
On the 31st of December, 2006 I took Hankyu Line from Juso. I was heading for Sannomiya where I was supposed to meet my wife. We were going to visit my father's cemetery in Tarumi. I was sitting reading a German textbook related with a Christmas-Child in Nuerunberg. From Nishinomiya station two blonde women got on the train. They spoke English. So, I gathered they were Americans. Then one decent blonde woman sat near me. All of a sudden I recalled reading the book "UnDuchables" which Ruth gave me. It reminded me of an article about on-board acttivities of the Dutch people.
-Quote-
"Select your reading material to impress whoever happens to sit near you. It is obligatory that the person(s) sitting near you spend a considerable part of the journey studying your reading matter. Depending on the mood, they may do this while holding up their newspaper as if they are reading it, by casually glancing up from their book or by just blatantly staring. It keeps them happy-they are studying free of charge."
-Unquote-
At first I thought that they wouldn't care about me, since they were talking each other. On top of that I am reading a German pamphlet; The Americans wouldn't have the slightest idea what I was doing. I took it for granted that they wouldn't understand the German language.
In the meantime the decent American woman spoke to me hesitantly. "Entschludgen Sie mich bitte! Waren Sie einmal in Deutschland?" I was aghast when she spoke German. After exchanging a couple of greeting words in German, we talked each other in English. I said, "Incredible! You speak good German! Where did you learn it?"She answered, " I leanred German in Heidelberg. I had a nice time over there." I joked around, "Did you have a lot of German boyfriends?" She just smiled but shook her head. Finally she said, "Anyway it's a good idea that you pay tribute to your father's cementery at this time of the year. It's a good custom in Japan." The train pulled in Sannomiya and we said Good-bye. I thought of my father. He passed away on the very 31st of December in 1989.
-Quote-
"Select your reading material to impress whoever happens to sit near you. It is obligatory that the person(s) sitting near you spend a considerable part of the journey studying your reading matter. Depending on the mood, they may do this while holding up their newspaper as if they are reading it, by casually glancing up from their book or by just blatantly staring. It keeps them happy-they are studying free of charge."
-Unquote-
At first I thought that they wouldn't care about me, since they were talking each other. On top of that I am reading a German pamphlet; The Americans wouldn't have the slightest idea what I was doing. I took it for granted that they wouldn't understand the German language.
In the meantime the decent American woman spoke to me hesitantly. "Entschludgen Sie mich bitte! Waren Sie einmal in Deutschland?" I was aghast when she spoke German. After exchanging a couple of greeting words in German, we talked each other in English. I said, "Incredible! You speak good German! Where did you learn it?"She answered, " I leanred German in Heidelberg. I had a nice time over there." I joked around, "Did you have a lot of German boyfriends?" She just smiled but shook her head. Finally she said, "Anyway it's a good idea that you pay tribute to your father's cementery at this time of the year. It's a good custom in Japan." The train pulled in Sannomiya and we said Good-bye. I thought of my father. He passed away on the very 31st of December in 1989.
コメント
コメントを投稿