5 Weeks is Over. / 5 Hafta Gecti, Gitti.

I've arrived in Amsterdam bang on schedule yesterday afternoon. The flight was smooth most of the time and all went well. It's just that we've noticed being back in the country, since my attendant light was on for almost half the flight and no one cared. I will miss Japan deeply for customer care.

This daytime flight meant that I had 7 hours of extra daylight. My body told me it was 10.30 in the evening, and the clock showed 15.30. I tried to stay awake as much as I could, but fell asleep at 21.30. I woke up very early, after 8 hours, but managed to get 3 more hours of sleep. I'm tired but not jetlagged. I even worked today.

It's good to be back to Michiel. It's also good to be back in my home, all very tidy and clean. Michiel has really put the effort to welcome me and I appreciate it so much.

I deem this trip a success. I stayed and returned safely. I've managed stuff pretty alright. I've learnt more about Japan, more about the way the world is, and more about myself, including my strength and limitations. I've met some cool people and hopefully we'll keep in touch. Who knows, I might have learnt some more Japanese as well. 

I think I'll let it sink in a bit more before I write a final post on this blog about my reflections on the whole. Thank you everyone who's read, commented here or wrote e-mails. It was fun for me to share the experience this way and I think I'll do this again sometime...

Amsterdam'a dun ogleden sonra, tam planlanan saatte indim. Ucus sorunsuz ve iyi gecti. Ama ucakta bile nereye dondugumuzu farkettik; benim yardim icin yaktigim isik ucusun yarisi boyunca, ben bikip da kapatana kadar yanik kaldi, kimse de gelip sormadi bir sey mi istediniz diye. Japonya'yi musteri hizmeti konusunda cok arayacagim.

Gunduz uctugum icin 7 saat fazladan gunisigi gordum. Vucut aksam 10.30 oldu derken saat 15.30'u gosteriyordu. Uyanik kalmaya calistim ama 21.30 gibi devrildim. 8 saat uyuyup erkenden uyandim ama neyse bir uc saat daha uyumayi becerdim. Jetlag yok ama yolculuktan halsizim. Hatta bir de isbasi yaptim bugun.

Michiel'e donmek guzel. Evime donmek de guzel. Michiel gercekten bana guzel bir hosgeldin demek icin calismis; evi tertemiz ve tertipli buldum. Oyle hosuma gitti ki, basimdan eksik olmasin valla.

Bu yolculugu basarili sayiyorum. Gittim, kaldim, dondum tek parca. Isleri, halleri fena idare etmedim. Japonya'ya hakkinda pek cok sey ogrendim. Dunyanin kac bucak oldugu konusunda da. Kendi guclu yanlarimi ve sinirlarimi daha iyi tanidim; kendimi de biraz daha iyi tanidim yani. Ilginc, guzel insanlarla karsilastim, umarim iletisimi surdururuz. Kimbilir belki biraz daha Japonca bile ogrenmisimdir.

Sanirim bu deneyimi biraz daha yedirip, yerine oturtup son bir post daha yazacagim ve genel izlenimlerimi paylasacagim. Okuyan, buraya yorum birakan, e-mail ile destekleyen herkese tesekkur ediyorum. Bu sekilde paylasmak benim icin de hos ve eglenceli oldu. Bir dahaki sefere yine yapabilirim...

Children's Day / Cocuk Bayrami

 Since I have a little time before departure, I should just write down all I can. I'll be adding a video or two to this post later on.

5th of May is Children's Day in Japan, traditionally Boys' Day actually. We really hoped we could find an event where children flew their carp kites (Koinoboro), but we couldn't. So we went to see two events at two temples. The first one was a ceremony with archers. plenty of them were women. After a long prayer and explanations we saw them do their thing.

Ayrilmadan biraz vaktim olduguna gore yazabildigim kadar yazayim diyorum. Bu posta sonra birkac vidyo da eklerim.

5 Mayis, Japonya'da Cocuk Bayrami. Aslinda geleneksel olarak Oglan Bayrami. Biz de cocuklarin sazan baligi seklinde ucurtmalarini ucurduklari bir etkinlik bulmak istiyorduk ama bulamadik. Onun yerine iki ayri tapinakta iki ayri etkinlige gittik. Ilki okcularin seramonisiydi. Bircogu da kadindi. Uzun dualarindan ve daha uzun aciklamalardan sonra gosterilerine gectiler, biz de izledik.

 

After that we went to a temple up north to see a traditional horse race. The ceremonies and explanations were again very long, it had interesting rules we didn't understand much about, despite the explanations in English. I got a sunstroke.

Ardindan kuzeyde baska bir tapinaga gidip geleneksel bir at yarisi izledik. Ilginc kurallari olan bu yaris da pek seramonili ve uzundu. Ingilizce aciklamalara ragmen kurallari pek anlayamadik. Basima da gunes gecti.

At the Hotel / Otelde

We've had our coffee and said our goodbyes. I received a Sahshiko set from Chica as a present, which I'm super delighted with. We even got to see Aikachan again, and that's a good way to start a day.

Once I got back to my room to take my luggage down, the cleaner was already in.

Everything went according to plan until Kansai Airport. There I've found out that some chocolate melted in my bag and smeared on stuff. Fortunately, stuff was not my passport. I got my luggage weighed and it was just over 20 kilos, I'm glad.

We then found out that the shuttle was not available for another 3 hours and the taxi cost more for the 10 minute ride than the 1 hour 45 minutes ride from Kyoto. So we took the train and a taxi. We've checked in to the hotel and checked in for our flight as well. From now on we'll try to relax as much as we can...I'll go discover the onsen facilities now.

Kahvemizi icip vedalastik. Chica bana Sashiko seti hediye etti, cok da memnun oldum. Aikachan'i bile gorduk, gunumuz guzel basladi yani.

Valizimi indirmek icin odama dondugumde temizlikci girmisti bile. 

Kansai Havaalanina kadar hersey yolunda gitti. Oraya vardigimizda cantamda kalan bir cukulatanin eridigini, cantamdakilere bulastigini farkettim. Sukur pasaportuma degmemis. Valizimi de tarttim, 20 kilonun az uzerinde, pek memnun oldum.

Ogrendik ki shuttle 3 saat daha yokmus, taksi de 10 dakikalik yol icin Kyoto'dan (1 saat 45 dakikalik mesafe) daha pahaliymis. Biz de once trene bindik sonra taksiyle otele geldik. Gelir gelmez internetten ucus icin de check-in yaptim. Bundan sonra rahatlamaya bakacagiz. Simdi gidip hamama bir goz atacagim.

Leaving Kyoto / Kyoto'dan Ayriliyorum

I'm leaving Kyoto in a couple of hours. I'm all packed and have about 30 minutes before I go and meet Claire and Chica for one last cup of coffee together. 

We'll take a taxi to the shuttle service and then travel to Kansai International in Osaka. We'll take a shuttle or a taxi from the airport to th hotel (10 mins away)We'll stay the night in an onsen hotel and leave early in the morning again with the shuttle. The flight is scheduled for 10 a.m and we're due in Amsterdam 14:55. Let's see how I take such a long day.

I'll try to squueze in one last post about last Wednesday once I've checked in to the hotel.

Just now I'm feeling somewhat sad. I think I'll miss this city.

Birkac saat icinde Kyoto'dan ayriliyorum. Valizimi toparladim ve 20 dakika sonra Claire ve Chica ile son bir kahve icmek icin bulusacagim.

Shuttle servisine taksi ile gidecegiz, ordan da Osaka'ya Kansai Havaalanina gidecegiz. Vardigimizda ya bir taksi tutup ya da yine baska bir servis ile otele gidecegiz. Otel, havaalanina 10 dakika mesafede ve kaplicali.Sabah da shuttle ile havaalanina gidecegiz erkenden. Ucus yarin sabah 10'da, Amsterdam'a inis de 14:55. Bakalim o kadar uzun bir gunu nasil kaldiracagim.

Otele girisi tamamlayinca gecen Carsamba ile ilgili bir post daha yazmak niyetindeyim.

Simdi biraz buruk hissediyorum. Sanirim ozleyecegim bu sehri.