I’m back!
I had four wonderful weeks in Europe, visiting numerous friends in Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands. My friends took me shopping – I desperately needed winter clothes and shoes and a new watch – we spent a huge amount of time eating, drinking, and chatting – the longest session took until 4:30 in the morning, accompanied by three bottles of prosecco – I got to know their kids – who quite surprisingly seemed to like me; I’m not good with kids at all – and we went out, for lunch and breakfast, to the movies, the library in Wolfenbuettel, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam… The highlights: Two birthday cakes, and, in Gmunden, the museum for ceramics. Sanitary ceramics, that is. Mostly toilets, to be precise. I loved it! In those four weeks I got showered with sweets and attention – it was wonderful – thanks to all of you!
Well, I’m back in Japan, five kilos heavier than before. I missed the biggest snowfall of the last 50 years or so (which does annoy me quite a bit) but at least I now have decent clothes to withstand the cold – and it feels especially freezing now after the central heating all over the place in Europe. Unfortunately I have caught a cold a few days before my departure, so the flight was less than pleasant, but by now it has almost passed. I will wait to see my Japanese until I have fully recovered though.
As for my future plans, well… I’ll tell you on Friday.
Nice to be back!