08.17.07
Akemi-san at the flea market
It is quite possible to speak Japanese in Helsinki during the summer. There are tourists that are interested in personal communication, that need help or the like. It is up to oneself to just make contact. For a Finn it is hard, but is it any easier for the Japanese? And a foreigner gets so much more of a trip when a local drops a few inside hits. This is Akemi and her friend, shopping for Moomin pins in Hietalahti. Maybe I should become a city sherpa? At least I speak a few languages… and I do know historical Helsinki a bit… that is always an idea, too.
Akemi lives in Kyoto, which is the place to be for someone interested in traditional arts, like me… not bad if I get a personal sherpa over there, if I ever have the chance to go. The experience is indeed very different if locals are taking you to do everyday things or invites you to their home. (Here I could have used his/her, but I put in plural instead, and got rid of the problem.) It is something money can’t buy. I am SO thankful to all that have helped me abroad, or showed me something not intended for tourists, invited me home, guided me or just talked to me. I want to pay something back. I asked my senseis in Japan, what I could do to repay them. They urged me to establish a culture center or some organization that would provide foreigners what I have received. I must admit a Japanese cultural center is often in my mind with some ideas already forming, and I’d very much like to promote the idea. I should have some of the qualities needed for the job, too, I think. Other japanophiles, how do you think?
