I got up at 7 AM with terrible sleep this morning. I remembered that I woke up a couple of times and couldn’t fall asleep for about 10 minutes or so afterwards. I didn’t feel well, but I got used to this since I moved here. I spent my time in the same way as usual, with less focus. When I looked at the sky, though, it was the most beautiful view that I have ever seen here. I was glad that I could see the view on the last morning in Angouleme. For lunch, I had only rice and eggs left, so I ate them with salt, black pepper, and soy sauce. I believe that as long as there are those condiments, Japanese people are happy.
I spent time being ready to leave the dormitory in the afternoon. I went to a bank to take out some cash to pay for the rent right after lunch. Since I came here, I have been surprised by how strong the Euros are. I got used to feeling that dollars are very strong, compared to yen, so it feels so strange. On the way back, I bought a couple of chocolatine (chocolate croissants) and another type of croissant that I had never tried. After coming back, I packed everything that I needed and cleaned the room. There is a Japanese proverb, “Tatsutori ato wo nigosazu”, which translates into “It’s an ill bird that fouls its own nest” in English. Simply put, you need to leave things better than when you came. As I grew up, my Judo teacher always told me that whenever we went to and stayed in other places to train. My mom still keeps telling me that. So, I swept the floor and made a bed. After completing everything to get ready, I went downstairs to start writing a blog article while eating the pastries that I bought, since I still had a lot of time until leaving there. The new croissant was not really good. The color is more black, and the taste is more burnt and sweet at the same time. I did not really like that. I will stick to the regular and chocolate croissants.
About 1 hour later, the American guy came downstairs and chatted with me. He is so a nice person that he said that he was going to the station together to say goodbye. I thought that it was very nice, but he said that it is normal to be with friends together to say goodbye in Mexico. I don’t know if that is true or if he said that just because he wanted to make me feel better, but I appreciated that, and we decided to go to the station together. We were talking about random stuff, but mainly about the cultural differences between the US, Mexico, and Japan. He told me the story that he felt difficulties right after he got to Mexico because of the language barrier. He thought that he could speak Spanish when he was in the US, which he realized was not true. I experienced the same thing when I went to the US. I thought that I could speak and have a basic conversation in English, but I had no idea what other people were talking about. And I was disappointed in myself. Also, he told me that when he went back to the US from Mexico, he was stunned that everything was so convenient and easy after he had stayed in Mexico for a while. i think that I will feel the same way when I get to Japan in two months. I haven’t gone back to Japan for more than 3 years, so I am sure that the feeling of Japan is going to be very different to the point where I feel I am a foreigner. Since we met in the same dormitory, we found that we had a lot in common. I can’t believe how lucky I was to be able to live with him, who came from San Francisco and spoke only English and Spanish in such a small town in France. We took a bus together to a station. It took us about 30 minutes. I was telling him on the bus that Teriyaki is overrated in the US. Teriyaki is not as popular as American people think it is. He did not know about that, either. We arrived at the station, and we still had some time until the train departed, so we went to a small convenience store where I bought a salmon baguette for me and a regular Coke for him. After about 30 minutes, we went to the assigned platform and gave a hug, and said goodbye. Without him, it would have been very difficult and different. I am grateful to him. I hope that his journey is going well, as well. He is leaving Angouleme 4 days later for Spain. I hope I can see him one day in the future.
The train does not have as many train cars as the one that I got on when I came to Angoulême from Paris, but the train was two stories. I thought that there was an assigned seat, but it turned out that I could have a seat wherever I wanted to. So, I decided to go to the second floor because there was no space where I could put my suitcase and backpack. I found. a couple of passengers, but there were many more empty seats. The train departed on time. While I was on the train and writing this diary, a blonde female train conductor approached me to check my ticket. After she checked my ticket, she asked me if I spoke French. And I said that I speak English, not French. I was not sure why she asked me that, and she was like, “Judoka?” and I said, “Yes”. I did not understand why she asked me that, either. I thought she liked Judo and looked at my cauliflower ears. In the US, the same things happened to me before. However, it was not the case. She told me that her son practices in the Judo Clubs where I was practicing and teaching, and she remembered me. I asked her son’s name, and I remembered him, too. What a coincidence is that!? I have been scared about how small the world has been. When I arrived at the station, there were a couple of Judokas who practiced in the same club. Also, I met two young girls who practice Judo in the same club at the Chinese buffet when I went there with the American guy. I just can’t believe what has been happening since I came to France. I hope that that’s a good thing.
Anyway, I have been writing this for almost an entire hour on this train, so I will finish here for today. I am on this train for one more hour until I arrive in Bordeaux. I am going to write the rest of it tomorrow because I want to take a shower and sleep after I arrive at an Airbnb. I finally left Angoulême, and I am excited to move on to the next trip in Bordeaux. I would like to say thank you to all of the people who took care of me in Angoulême. See you tomorrow.
