The reason why I love traveling

Two months ago, I traveled to France and Greece. It's too short a vacation but I enjoyed my travels very much. During my travels, I visited many great architectural sites and I learned many things from them. I will try to write about my travels.

However before talking about my trip, I would like to talk about an impression I had when I came back to Narita Airport in Japan. I was surprised because everywhere it's so clean and the trains are so punctual, but little bit noisy.


Clean
In Japan,it's so clean everywhere and the clothes which people wear are also clean. I felt everyone wear new clothes. When I came back to Japan, I was a little bit tired and had a big bag which was packed with 10 days worth clothes, so I felt that I'm visitter form a poor country.

Punctual
When I was waiting for a train to my hometown in the airport station, I was surprised the train pulled into the station just a minute before schedule and opened it's doors just 5 seconds before it.
I felt it is too punctual, No one cares about being a few seconds late, at least in France.

I heard someone complaining that Japanese people are always busy and not relaxed. I think the punctuality makes Japanese people busier. In Japan, If you are late, it directly means that you weren't ready. There are no excuses because public transportation is always punctual. If public transportation are not punctual, you always have a good excuse.

Noisy
I said that clothes which people wear were clean, but I felt some cloths didn't fit the owner's character in some cases. A young girl had a very expensive bag, A young boy was wearing pants which were too tight, An old man was wearing a very vivid color jacket. It made me little bit weary.
In the station the staff continually announced situations, "The train is coming" "The train is starting" "The next train is coming" I can't understand the reason why the staff announces everything despite every train is completely on schedule. I tried to remember my travels in quiet but I couldn't.

My travel was only 10 days, but I was awoke many things about my country. Traveling gave me many things not only about foreign countries but also about my country. This is the reason why I love traveling.

How to brush up ideas.

These days Rakuten and Uniquro decided to make English their official language. The news provoked widespread discussion because those companies were very famous growing companies in Japan and many Japanese were not good at English.

Many Japanese have talked about merits and demerits of making English the official language.
I'd like to talk about a merit of learning English that I found.

Last week I had an English lesson, at the lesson we discussed about architecture. My teacher asked me, Which is better for you design the old type buildings like temples or new modern buildings. I instantly answered "new buildings" without giving a reason. After I tried to explain the reason.

It was not easy for me. Because I had never been asked a question like this. However finally I found the reason. While explaining it, I found an answer and a deeper and fundamental question what is design for me. (I will talk about this some other time.)

I was surprised that I found a new and important idea through this conversation. It was a rare case even if it in Japanese. In many cases good ideas come into my mind while I'm alone.
I think there are two reasons. One is the teacher. My teacher asked me with good questions. When I get stuck, she summed up my idea and added new questions to shift my reference.

The other reason is English. It is easy to understand to compare to Japanese.I know many Japanese words and phrases. I remember all words with some scenes, memory, related words. When I am thinking about something in Japanese, my thought is unconsciously influenced by phrases I know.

For example, I had a pet dog named Gin, it means silver in English. When I heard the word silver, I am reminded of my pet, so I like silver accessory and encourage silver medal athlete.

But I have only a few images or memories about English words.
It means that I am not good in English but at the same time I'm completely free from word images like Gin

If language is a tool to frame my idea, It is natural that the tool influences the idea. Different tools make different ideas. I think there are some possibilitied to reach different conclusions using different languages. People who can speak two languages, it means he or she has two ways to brush up ideas. This is the merit I found. What do you think about this ?