| Trip |
September 19, 2019
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| He was amazed by this country's people's kindness. His brother-in-law invited him to go to this country by his brother-in-law. His younger sister's husband had a lot of chances to travel to this country for business, so he kindly suggested to him that he should come with him sometime and enjoy eating good food, etc. with him. He asked him whether he could invite his mother along because she once said that she wanted to go to this country someday. The brother-in-law said, "Why not?" His older sister also said that she wanted to go. "In that case ...," his whole family decided to go together. It was a great trip! His brother-in-law coordinated a share house for his mother and the older sister in one room, while his younger sister and her husband was in another room. He stayed in a hotel because the share house wasn't big enough. But, he was happy because the ladies always socialized, and he liked being in a quieter space. This country not only offered good food, they also enjoyed several nice tourism spots as well as modern, stylish retailing areas. The public transportation system was cheap and convenient. In addition, every time when they used it, they were amazed by this county's people's kindness. His mother, who was in her 80's, was offered a seat every time by other passengers,  including young people. Looking at it, his brother-in-law said, "Their treatment definitely will give the tourists from abroad good impressions to this country. Why don't we offer seats to foreign tourists in our country?" "Only to foreign people?" They laughed. One time, when they went to a sightseeing spot, they asked for directions from a young female couple. They kindly offered to guide them to it. It was far, but the couple said that they wanted to go there someday, so this would be a good chance. They changed their schedule just for them! One time in a restaurant, they were looking at some other food plates in a corner after ordering. The restaurant owner noticed and came over and offered them some of the dishes for free! His brother-in-law said that this city was safer than his country, which was said to be one of the safest countries. Actually he saw young women walking alone at night. He himself he didn't feel any danger at all. Maybe it was related to their politeness and kindness. The only thing that he felt awkward about was the reception girl at his hotel. When he greeted her with "Good morning," or "Good evening," she just looked at him and nodded without saying anything. Shouldn't hotel clerks express friendliness? The fun time passed quickly. On the last night, he was about to enter his hotel after separating from the other members after dinner. Some guy who was wearing a backpack approached him and said something. The guy's face showed an urgent expression. He instinctively felt something bad, and said that he didn't speak the guy's language and hurriedly entered the entrance. He had no idea what the guy wanted, but he couldn't take a risk even in such a safe country. While taking a shower, he was thinking about the guy. "What did he want?" Maybe he might have lost his money and wanted to ask to borrow some. The next morning, he, his mother, and older sister thanked his brother-in-law and younger sister, and departed the city. The plane landed in his country safely. While he was buying tickets for the line called Airport Access Line, which connected the airport to X Central Station, he realized that three women in front of the ticket machines were talking with worried faces looking at the train line map on the wall. Their language was the language that he had heard on their trip. This was the time to return the kindness that they received. He approached one of them and asked, "Do you have any problems?" The woman replied that they wanted to go to X Central Station. He smiled and showed them his ticket. He said that they should buy this price ticket, he added that he was going to go to the same station. She thanked him and they started to buy their ticket. He was happy to be able to be kind to the tourists from that country. He, his mother, and his sister got on the train. Soon the women group got on the same car. The woman who he had spoken with recognized him and came over. He said, "Hello, again." They smiled but their faces were still stiff. The first woman asked him, "Aren't we supposed to transfer at Y Station?" She showed him her smart phone. It was in English and read 'transfer at Y Station'. He laughed and said, "No, no. You don't need to transfer. This train goes to X Central Station." She asked, "Directly?" He replied, "Directly. Can you see the train map on the wall?" She nodded. On the map there was shown several stations lined up. The first station was the Airport Station and the goal was the X Central Station, in the middle there was the Y Station. When Y Station was approaching, they were still talking in worried faces looking at their phones. He sighed and went to the first woman and asked, "Where would you like to go exactly?" She said, "We'd like to go to our hotel, that is located near X Central Station." He said, "In that case this train goes to X Central Station." "Directly?" she asked again. "Directly," he replied again. But when the train stopped at Y Station, they got off. He was speechless. They didn't trust what he said. After their got off, he was staring at the train map on the wall and realized what they were thinking. At the Y Station there was a sentence stating 'Transfer to Z line' and at the X Central Station there was the same sentence 'Transfer to Z line'. Between those two stations there was another line named Z line. And, for some reason, their software showed this course rather than the easiest route ~which was keep staying on this train. It was shocking that that nation's people didn't trust others. But to come to think of it, all people aren't all nice. A person is not always nice. Even good actions don't always give good result. He somehow felt relieved from these events. It's life. Trips and traveling become interesting with these various happenings! |
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*brother-in-law :義理の兄弟
*along :一緒に
*coordinate :コーディネートする
*socialize :おしゃべりする
*retailing :商業の
*instinctively :本能的に