When I was very young, I was walking on the street with a friend on a windy night. I noticed that the moon in the sky was moving quickly. I was fascinated and said to my friend “Look, the moon is moving so fast!”. Then my friend said “No, the clouds are moving fast”. That is correct of course, the moon never moves so quickly that it would be visible. I felt quite embarrassed.
I think that such optical confusions exist sometimes. For example, when the train I am travelling on is stopping at the station and there is another train in the opposite direction starts moving, I get the sensation that my train is moving as well. Have you had such experiences?
I think that I am not able to face away from the direction of travel on trains or buses. I have heard however, that this is a deception of my eyes because the outside scenery is coming from behind and is moving to the front which my eyes find uncomfortable. It is said that when one closes the eyes, one cannot exactly sense the direction of movement. I tried it and I think it could be true.
I find the diference between visible and actual things very interesting. When I experience such a thing, I try to enjoy it.
During dinner I like to watch TV. Recently I noticed that TV programs almost always feature shows with criminal contents. I can say that I am in fact a cautiously fearful person and even cannot stand seeing my own blood and when I get an injection I turn my head to the other side crunching my teeth. If I am directly affected by something, even a small injection, often I am able to react. Such a self can watch dead people while having dinner. Since when have I become such a cold hearted person? Do I no longer feel other people’s pain? Then I remembered a scene from a film.
In this film the main character is a mermaid turned human. She watches TV for the first time. She just saw a tragic scene in a film and she is shocked, shows a lot of compassion and starts crying. Her human friend, a man, calms and consoles her by explaining that this violence on TV was not real and in fact just acted.
Nowadays we are overwhelmed by films, TV shows, etc. depicting accidents, violence, and many dead people in everyday life. Also because of the news, the internet, etc. every day we are touched by reports about accidents, violent crimes, etc. I think if we have too close contact with tragedy then over time we lose human feelings such as fear or compassion. This aspect should be considered in the development and production of media so that it does not become too overwhelming.
Of course watching dramas, films, art, etc. enriches our lives and it is good to be informed about the world. Nevertheless I think those who offer and those who receive, like the mermaid having just become human, should not lose our naive and natural hearts and compassion.
Vienna is a beautiful city. There are so many historic buildings, monuments and also many different styles of architecture such as Baroque, Biedermeier, Jugendstil, etc. In the city there are also nice parks with lots of green. Those people who like taking pictures will surely be happy about this. Personally I do not overly enjoy taking pictures but because there are so many beautiful and interesting things exist in Vienna, I get strong motivation to take pictures with my smartphone camera. Thereby the duration of my walks gets much longer than originally planned. Since Vienna has so much to offer, everyone can easily find their own personal favourite photo object. I noticed however that it is indeed difficult to avoid trashcans being in the picture! I have to say that there are really many many trashcans in Vienna. That may be one reason why the city stays so clean and I must think about those people attending to those trashcans doing a very good job and so I get a feeling of gratitude. It may be a difficult to completely avoid having a trashcan in the picture but I think it should remain like this.
In my homecountry Japan on the other hand there are very few trashcans on the street. When I am in Japan I find it unfamiliar in this respect. Also my Austrian husband sometimes complains that one must make an effort to look for a trashcan. That does not mean Japanese streets are dirty. I believe there are roughly two reasons for the limited number of trashcans on the street. First, because of terrorism. I think like this because of an Austrian friend’s opinion. Shortly after the gas attack in the Tokyo subway she visited a friend in Tokyo. Together with that friend she went to an open air festival and had some street food takeaway. Then they found nowhere to put the trash and carried it around all the time. That Japanese friend of hers noticed the decreased number of trashcans. After that terror attack it was meant to prevent dangerous substances from being hidden there. Second, strict separation of garbage. Nowadays in many countries garbage is separated for recycling such as plastic, paper, metal, etc. and this is a sensible thing to do. Also in Japan there are rules how to separate garbage and this is good. Since the introduction of strict rules the disposal of household waste has become quite complicated. There are specific weekdays for specific items starting in the early morning until about 8:30 AM and the waste has to be put in a special place in the neighbourhood. Incombustibles and incompatible waste can only be disposed of once a month. If you sleep too long you cannot throw out the garbage! Also people like us who cannot return home for a long time have to make a plan when to throw out the last trash because there must not be anything left when we leave. This is one thing that makes a stay in Japan more difficult every time. I suppose not only for myself but any people think it is strenuous or they missed the deadline and so they started throwing away their household trash in public places. Maybe to avoid this, many public trashcans were removed.
Eevery country has its own system of waste disposal. I think each country should try to diminish pollution of the environment as much as possible. Personally in Austia I have less stress in disposing of my waste which is quite agreeable to me.
I like to laugh. When I was younger, I even more often liked to laugh and once I started it was difficult to stop.
I used to take the bus to go to highschool. One day I saw something funny through the window. I do not remember what it was but I could not prevent myself from laughing. My laughter was quite loud and my friend sitting next to me, not having seen what was funny to me, was quite surprised by it. At the next red light when the bus stopped, the driver came to me and told me to stop laughing. Shortly after I noticed that in front near the driver there was a disabed person who was making body movements due to some illness. I suppose this person could not control himself and therefore moved around a lot. I understood that the driver thought that I was laughing at that person.
I was very depressed and at home I told my father about it. Then he told me that in public there are many different people. Maybe someone just lost a family member, lost money, etc. There are many different people in many different situations. Therefore one should think of others and avoid doing exaggerated actions or too loud conversations, etc. I understood well and since then I make an effort to be careful about that.
Nowadays because of the spreading of the internet, some people want to do things and also involve others in it in order to post it on the internet. Maybe this person did not have bad intentions. Of course it is wonderful to live happily and with joy. But one should respect that there are people who cannot take part in it. Only being happy and joyful is not necessarily helpful in all situations and for all people.
“Danshari” I suppose is a Buddhist word. But nowadays in Japan this word is used in the sense of “throwing away unnecessary things”. Many people recommend to do “danshari” as the best way to clean up and also it is said to bring good energy. That may be true but I rarely throw things away. Especially those things which I received as presents I rarely throw away because this person thought of me and made an effort to get this present for me. I want to cherish that person’s intenttion and heart and I do not want to discard this present. I have some friends who like to throw things away and if I have to, for those people I mostly give them food and other perishable items as presents. I find it to be a waste of energy to choose things for them because later they will most likely throw it away anyway. One day I woud like to have a big nice glass cupboard to put all those things (except food) that I have received during my lifetime as presents including my souvenirs and memorabilia in there as long as live.
Friends! Good relationship with others is a wonderful thing. No matter if it is humans, animals or plants… I think friendship is a kind of trust. That is very precious.
Close to where I live there is an aprtment with many cats living there. Since it is on the ground level, those cats are very visible when they come to the window. This place is quite well known in the area and many people make photos and/or videos of those cats. I often pass by that place with my husband and about five years ago a construction site blocked our usual route and so for the first time we noticed that there were cats living there. That day the window was open and behind a metal fence there sat a cat. My husband, who is actually more of a dog person, wanted to gently reach out and touch that cat. I had had some experience with cats because in Japan some stray cats used to come to visit us. I said “We are seeing this cat for the first time and also between humans we don’t necessarily touch them during the first encounter. We must respect it and not touch.” Then we thought we saw in the cat’s eyes some particular glance toward us. We said that those eyes were beautiful colour just like Whiskey.
Since that day, when we walk in this direction, we always check if they are there and we noticed that there were about seven or eight cats living there. Over time we noticed their colours and fur patterns and we started naming each one of them. Although there are so many cats there, only the one with the Whiskey eyes became our friend. When we call out for him, quite often he will come out to see us. Of course it is a cat and will not come as fast as a dog would but we always say that he is almost like a dog. We should mention that we do not at all feed him anything. When we call out for him and the window is open, he will often come out and if his mood permits, we may gently touch his head, ears, chin, cheek and even his belly. If he is already outside when we call for him, he will respond with a “meow”. When the window is closed, he will also often come out, sit behind the glass and we get a feeling that he means to say “Sorry, I cannot come out!”.
It has been like this for about five years. In the meantime we have also gottn to know the owner family and we have become friends with them as well. Because of this cat my husband now also has a little experience with cats and it is fun to pass by that window. My husband and I always talk about how it is wonderful that friendship goes beyond even species. This friendship, which the Whiskey-eyed cat gives us is so precious. We feel his trust toward us and we are so happy.
Today (May 27th) is my mother’s birthday. Her real birthday is March 11th but back then in Japan it was not as strict in terms of documentation, it was in fact possible to choose a different birthday for the records. Her name is actually “Sajiko” but the Chinese characters are pronounced “Sachiko”. But my grandmother always used to call her “Saji san” (My grandfather died when I was three years old so I do not know what h sd to call her). My father on the other hand used to call her “Shime”. I asked him why but he did not respond. Many relatives also asked about it but my father never revealed his reasons. The only possible thought that comes to mind is that my mother’s maiden name was “Shimeno” and that it was derived from that. “Shimeno” family are not our blood relatives because my mother’s father (grandfather) was adopted by Shimeno family of Kochi as a child. This grandfather was the first son of a painter called Toraji Ishikawa and a woman named Shizu Takigawa from Tokyo. Sadly, Shizu passed away quite young and the painter was also very young at that time. Therefore his son, my grandfather, was given up for adoption. My mother’s mother (my grandmother, who raised me) is from a town called Ino in Kochi prefecture. When she was a child, she suffered a family tragedy but she did not know about it until later in life. When she was very young, her father had a fatal accident. Her mother married again. Her mother gave birth to my grandmother and a younger brother and also the man had children from a previous marriage. My grandmother did not know about this and she had a very good relationship with her parents and siblings. Sadly, her only blood-relative brother died during the Second World War. When she was quite young she gt married to my grandfater and gave birth to an only daughter, my mother. It could be said that to my mother’s knowledge she had few blood relatives .
Recently I heard from someone that someone is spreading rumours that I am not my mother’s real daughter. This is extremely vicious and unforgiveable. Should it ever be required, I can instantly show my birth certificate. Of course there are few relatives on my mother’s side and also my mother passed away in 2011 but it must not be allowed to spread lies about my family. The love and relationship between mother and child is something special and strong. I cherisch my mother and I lover her. I am also part of her existence.
Congratulations for your birthday, Mother, I will live strong also for you. I will fulfill your wishes.
I love Milka chocolate. There are new cover pictures on milk chocolate bars. It says “Milka presents Gerda, Katja and Moocha…” How cute! I get a feeling that the chocolate contains their milk. I thank them and I will cherish the taste. I love all flavours but my favourite is marbled Katja chocolate!
“England!”. At a café in Vienna, I spoke that word many times. My Viennese friend corrected my pronounciation and said “England”. Back then I had just started to live in Vienna and my German was not yet that good. I did not understand why she corrected my pronounciation and so I ever more forcefully responded with “England”. And so she also responded with “England”. Finally we had to give up. Much later I noticed that in German the letter “E” is pronounced differently from English, more like “A” in this case. I knew that well but the spelling of the word was the same and so I had the self-suggested memory that it had to be pronounced the same as in English.
Also some day at the language school for beginners, which I had been attending at that time, my teacher corrected my pronounciation of the word “Schinken” (ham). I thought maybe my voice was to soft and so I more loudly said “Schinken”. My teacher in turn responded with “Schinken”, going back and forth. Some colleagues started to laugh and finally we gave up. Much later I noticed that my pronounciation was “Sinken” instead of “Schinken” (with -sch). If I had looked at the spelling, that problem woud have been solved quickly. I thought “Sinken” and therefore my pronounciation was correct. Only after I got home did I realize that I misspelled the word.
I think that if in both cases those people had more diligently explained the spelling, for example by writing it down, we would not have had such confrontations. If someone has dificulity in terms of pronounciation, one has to pay attention to where exactly the problem lies. Sometimes that pronounciation does not exist in their native language. In that case, there should be some specific practice. In this my case however, it was my self-suggested memory of mixed up spelling with another language.
Self-suggested memory does not only exist in language but also in many situations in life. I believe it is important to always be receptive to learning without the fear of making mistakes. In my opinion thereby we learn and also later we can contemplate those memories and laugh at them.
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