Continuing my journey from Kurama to Kibune :)

It is hard to describe the feeling forests in Japan give off. It feels a bit like getting swallowed up by nature and nature absorbing your thoughts as you walk down the paths. As if you're a red blood cell carrying oxygen through the veins of a giant’s body :)

Kurama is famous for the exposed root systems of some of the trees that are growing on the mountain. It has a very otherworldly feel to it and even more so to Japanese as the afterworld that is described in the 古事記 (Kojiki :) and 日本書紀 (Nihonshoki or Nihongi :) is called the 根の国 or lair of the roots/Rootcountry. It is a place that is dirty to Japanese in a spiritual sense as it has a strong association with death (this is meant to be about the 根の国 not about Kurama and Kibune ;) In the 古事記 and 日本書紀  the mention of the 根の国 is most notable in the story of 伊弉冉尊 (Izanami :) who gave birth to 火之迦具土 (Hinokagatsuchi :) who burned her during birth, causing her to die of her injuries. Her husband (and brother (It’s complicated)) 伊邪那岐命 (Izanagi :) wanted to see her again and went down to the 根の国 to see his beloved wife again but she refused to show herself due to her being burnt and hence disfigured but despite her pleading he managed to catch a glimpse being shocked to see her like this he ran away while she was chasing him which ended in him blocking the entrance to the 根の国 with a large stone and her cursing him telling him that she would kill 100 humans each day and him vowing to build 1000 birthing houses (meaning having 1000 newborns) each day.

So as you walk down the mountain and towards Kibune you feel a bit like returning to the living :) Especially once you walk by the famous restaurants whose most notable feature are their decks that span the stream of a small river which are very enjoyable during summer and refresh you with delicious food and the wonderful surroundings (^-^)

Upon saying goodbye to Kibune i was charmed by the small cute stone figure someone made on top of a switch box at the station :) I like these small details about Japan :)

I dearly miss being in Japan...

This is actually the second time I wrote this article (^-^;) I lost my connection the first time before posting and lost everything I wrote there...

Anyway I’ve started restoring an old drill press for my workshop and feel like fate hates this machine (^-^;) The German postal service broke it during delivery. I managed to fix most of the damage but the motor is sadly too far gone because the shaft got bent too badly :,( So I ordered a new motor, a drill vice, a drill chuck and a replacement belt. I got the wrong motor (7.5 kW instead of 0,55 kW), the wrong drill vice (100 mm instead of 63 mm), the wrong drill chuck (B16 instead of B10) and the wrong replacement belt (6 mm instead of 8 mm)... This is quite bothersome but I plan on pushing through it and this weekend I was able to rebuild the spindle :)

This month there is a lockdown in Germany meaning that I can't go swimming and that I’m spending most of my time at home and working from home. It gets kind of lonely and I've been wishing to have a cat again but it would be difficult to care for it once I start going to the office again (-_-) I have kind of given up on trying to find a girlfriend now. I’m athletic, intelligent and kind (according to others) yet I seem to be only good enough as a shoulder to cry on and to sort out their troubles but not for more and to be honest I’m tired of it. I’m always helpful and do my best. So hearing someone complain about there not being any good men out there feels insulting and dishonest. Most of the time I get told that I’m too short at 1,74 m (5ft 7″). So to keep my sanity I’ll stay away from dating and concentrate on my friends and family :)

I hope the lockdown will work out and end by the end of November as I miss swimming at the pool a lot... Usually I would go there 3 to 5 times a week and swim for at least an hour so i’m feeling a bit unbalanced due to a lack of exhaustion... (as weird as that may sound).

I wish everyone as great a time as possible during these trying times and sweet dreams (^-^)/

In Kurama in 2011 :)

Kurama is a nice little place to the northeast of Kyoto that is famous for its temple and a patch in its forest that has bare roots crowding the floor, creating quite an eerie atmosphere. It is a great way to feel far away from Kyoto despite still being in Kyoto :D I enjoyed these small escapes a lot about Japan :) It is a bit like taking a Mini vacation. This seems to be all but impossible in most places in Germany... This is due to the nature of german geography that is fostering the growth of cities into ever vaster suburbs which is just impossible in Japan due to its geography that is keeping the growth of cities at bay. <=hence the crowded appearance of Japanese cities. So while you can get into the mountains to recharge and to just get away the perspective in Germany is much more bleak... You can take a walk in a park or in a “forest” (only 3 percent of the forests in Germany are natural forests) yet you cannot find places like these... I just cannot help but feel like things were subdued and like things are off. I still enjoy going out but not to the same degree and ever since I’ve been exploring Japan things have felt more bleak here. This is also down to the Japanese landscape forcing you to change perspective all the time but always rewarding you with fresh views and pleasant outlooks and landscapes :) I enjoy this so much every time I’m in Japan :3 I also enjoy the great care Japanese take of their environment :)

Kurama and the destination of that journey, Kibune are a great example of all these things :) You leave Kyoto and the train gets gradually absorbed within the mountains and the forests, you get out in a small town (still part of Kyoto :D walking towards the forest and walking up the winding roads leading to the top of the mountain and the temple passing by small shrines. 

The feeling of getting tired of walking but going on because everything around you feels so rewarding to see and smell :3

I miss being in Japan and yearn to return to this country and to see my friends again (;_;) Sadly Corona has severely impacted my plans and will probably keep me away from going to a friend’s wedding in Nagoya (;_;)

I’m sorry my article is not so cheerful... I refrained from writing due to me being very busy and feeling disappointed in the outcome of the past months. Many people blame politicians for tighter rules now but they are the ones whose lack of self discipline caused the number of infections to spike yet again...

I need to sift through my photos in the meantime until things calm down to cheer me up :) I have a lot more photos and things I experienced that I want to write about.

I hope everyone is well and not too afflicted by the whole situation right now :)

In the meantime I wish everyone a great time with sweet dreams (^-^)/

About my hiatus :)

Long time no see... It has been a while since I published an article here...

A lot has happened and I think I cannot look at my blog the same way I did... I’ve been to Japan again last December and it was wonderful. I’ve spent a lot of time helping my friends and a lot of time visiting a neurologist for some troubles I’ve had for as long as I could think. It took a lot of time off of my schedule that I had to work hard to get back.

For a long time I had to fight with that feeling of being alien and not being able to fit in. For as long as I could think a lot of things just went over my head and I couldn’t fathom some things that happened around me. I cannot share a lot of things people around me think and talk about. There has been this suspicion that I’m autistic for a long time now so last year I decided to bite the bullet and get an appointment for a diagnosis.

It took 7 month of waiting for me to get to my first appointment. I chose a reputable neurologist/psychologist because I’m not a fan of “I think I have XX and just need a doctor to sign the diagnosis I made myself.” because if you want to improve your situation an accurate assessment of your current status is kind of paramount. I had several, hours long appointments that were quite costly but to me it was worth the time and money I paid for it. It was a very interesting experience too. There is a lot of testing and there are a lot of questions being asked to make sure it isn't something else causing you these troubles. There are a lot of things that can cause similar symptoms that are not autism. So carefully getting to the bottom of things takes time and multiple appointments to make sure that a bad or a good day didn't impact the diagnosis. I had to get a MRT too to make sure it is not brain damage that is causing the symptoms. I’m happy to declare that my brain is okay :) I’m however impartial to the diagnosis of autism/Aspergers.

I’m very happy I did this. The diagnosis allows me to get adequate help should I need it and it helps me understand my surroundings a lot better. The neurologist had a great analogy for my situation too: Autists have a different operating system running their hardware. Stimuli get processed in a very different way and there is no filter or automation happening that could help you with even simple conversations... Hence the seeming inability of autistic people to do smalltalk... Imagine the hell that human interaction can be, having to think of every sentence you say because you cannot do it casually or automatically, not being able to read the mood, knowing that you disappointed or hurt people without any chance of preventing it in the future... To many people this sounds weird and like I’m not even trying... I’m and the Neurologist told me I’m really well adapted but there are limits to how well one can adjust. Basically “normal” people have a social autopilot that handles a lot of things for them and autistic people don’t. We can never really relax in a social event because we get battered with details that we can't filter out. It’s tiring and yet I wish it wouldn't be tiring... because I wish to share things with friends and people. It took some time to get things sorted and deal with this experience.

I’m fine and in some way I felt liberated and happy I finally know what is up.

I had to weed out some connections that caused me grief and think of many things that happened in the past. A lot of things make sense now :)

I had an accident too this year breaking my left arm (;_;) and some stuff on my bicycle... I had a strained neck too... the surgeon didn't want to believe how quickly my bones healed (°_°;) The crack that ran through 75% of my Ulna wasn't visible or detectable anymore after 3 weeks...  The accident happened while I was riding at 40 km/h on my bicycle and touched a curb with the wheels... It happened after a long long day at work right when the whole COVID19 thing started to take off in Germany. I couldn’t get lunch at work and had spend the whole day on water with a empty tummy... I was tired, hungry and worn out. I just wanted to go home and didn't pay enough attention...

Anyway I’m fine now :) My bike is fine again too :)

However because of this a lot of tasks at work were piling up and when I came back I had to do a lot of stuff trying to get on top of things... Because I work at a company that makes medical devices the current situation kind of overwhelmed the company as well... basically we get as many orders per month as we used to get within a year... This is incredibly challenging as our suppliers often can't keep up with the demand but I’m very happy to report that everyone of them is doing their best to keep up and to stay on top of the whole situation :,) I’m happy i can do my small part in saving lives and I think that a company where people stick together and try to do their best in trying times is incredibly valuable :)

Last year, while travelling through Japan, I once again noticed how awful tourist spots have become (-_-) Japan is close to my heart and I like the country and its people a lot. Many tourists behave badly, not out of ill intent but out of ignorance... Japanese value quiet, peaceful and clean behaviour but a lot of tourists seem to be unable to behave this way... They litter, leave toilets behind that are disgusting, are rude, don’t pay attention and seem to think Japan is a theme park. I like this country and I’m saddened that other foreigners tarnish the image of visitors and are taking advantage of incredibly kind people who welcome you as a guest :,( I felt bad that I wrote all those articles that might have inspired this kind of people to go to Japan :,( I want this kind of people to stay at home. You're ruining it for everyone else. My friends cheered me up a lot. Still the sight of drunken tourists puking on Takao-San in Tokyo or yelling loudly in a group at a shrine, throwing their cigarets and garbage on the streets in Kyoto, running through the streets while yelling or necessitating the fencing in of neighbourhood shrines because some dippshit thought it would be fun to put graffiti on them makes me incredibly sad. I’m sorry for the negativity but this has been troubling me a lot.

I received some questionable messages too... I’m a guy but some people seemed to assume that I’m a Japanese girl for some reason... 

Anyway I kind of came to terms with things and will start writing again.

I hope people will become more respectful over time :)

I’m sorry for the rant I put in this article m(_ _)m I felt like I had to get it off of my chest because this has been bothering me a lot.

P.S. if you think autism is caused by vaccines, being autistic is better than being dead or to suffer from the consequences of an otherwise preventable disease. You do not “get” autism, one of the conditions that has to be met to get a diagnosis is that you had to have symptoms right from the start. Things that can cause similar symptoms are brain damage, PTSD, ADHD (you are born with that  too and cannot get it) and certain medications. These however are different from autism in that they have to be treated differently. Hence the focus during diagnosis on making sure not to diagnose one of the other things as autism. I showed symptoms for as long as I can think back. 

I hope you’ll forgive me for my long absence and won't change your attitude towards me :)

I’m still me albeit more confident and accepting of myself since I don't need to pester myself with questions like “why didn't i understand that.”, “Why can't I do that?”, etc. :)

Thank you to everyone who read through all of this :) I wish you a great time with sweet daydreams (^-^)/

Continuing my journey through Meguro :)
Somehow I didn’t expect too much of Meguro (Meguro =black part of the eye :) but I ended up liking it a lot :) 
Meguro is more like a residential district than a touristy place but I came to like these places a lot and to prefer them to busy touristy places :)
That day I was very fortunate in coming across a Matsuri at Otori Jinja :)
The mood was relaxed and pleasant and I just enjoyed being around :) Moments and places like these are why I enjoy walking around in Japan so much :) I hope to get back to a regular writing schedule again soon. I will write a bit more about why I took a hiatus from writing articles in another article soon. In the meantime I wish everyone a great weekend with sweet dreams :)

Meguro :) The name Meguro means pupil or the black of an eye :) Apparently this district got its name from a Buddha statue situated at a temple within the precincts of the district. :)

I went there to meet some friends but since they have a small child we couldn’t spend too much time together and parted ways after eating lunch but they told me to go to a nearby shrine to enjoy Matsuri :) Since I’ve been told that Meguro is a blant residential district, I didn't expect much when I came there but it somehow grew on me as a place that seems very enjoyable and convenient to be in :) I mean the there are so many tightly packed homes, stores and restaurants that this seems like a very convenient place to live in :) Plus there are nice places that let you relax like Otori Jinja that can be seen in the photos above :) Despite the dense population everything seems clean and pleasant and somehow quite good :) I saw so many families there that it felt like a place I would enjoy living in too :D

It exemplifies the qualities I enjoy about Tokyo :) Being able to escape things without leaving the confines of the city, cleanliness and a ever changing landscape :3

In some way this small shrines festival felt like a blessing to me as my dream is to live in Japan for at least 2 years and experiencing small things like this festival :3 So even if my stay was temporary and I had to leave some weeks later I could still enjoy something I had been looking forward too :3

This shrine is a great example of how even small things get treated with care in Japan :)

I really wish I could have gone there with someone special that I have yet to find (^-^;) although my habit of walking a lot might be very exhausting to most :D I walked an average of 22 km during the month I spent in Japan (^-^;) Still having someone who would keep me company for at least part of the way would be very welcome ✽(′ॢᵕ ‵ *ॢ)✽ஐ

I will visit Japan again next week :3 I can't wait to see my friends again and to exploring new places I haven't been to yet :3

I wish everyone a great weekend with something to look forward to (^-^)/

Pedestrian bridges at Ueno station in Tokyo :)

Due to the non the seeming non existence of graffiti and vandalism in Japan nice things like these can exist for all to enjoy :3 Also littering! Littering is a very annoying issue in Germany :,( Basically everyone is ruining everybody elses time by not caring about what they can do and instead thinking about what others should do instead.

Anyway I find great pleasure in small things like these :) On hot summer days the gentle sound of these makes you feel refreshed and relaxed in this busy place that is Ueno :)

I will return to Japan in December and go to Germany again on Christmas Eve :)

My wish to stay in Japan has grown stronger again even after a lot of people repeatedly told me how awful it is to live in Japan (most of these people being Germans). I don't know if I can ever make it... My schedule has been very busy recently and I’m well aware that it will get harder to do so the older I get... Still from the bottom of my heart I do feel like I could do well, provided I could find a decent enough job to provide for myself and potentially for a family... I’m single now but my dream is to have a family (^-^;)

Anyway I wish everyone a great new week with sweet dreams and something to dream about (^-^)/

On my way back from the Shitamachi museum :)

I decided to take a detour back to Asakusa, walking by Shinobazu Ike (despite its semblance to a field of plants it is actually a pond full with Lotus :) It looks wonderful during July/August when the Lotus is blooming. I do like the fleeting feeling this place has during that time of the year when there are fresh Lotus buds alongside the ones that are in full bloom and the ones that have lost their petals some time ago :) It is a lot like society, every facet of life being around without any one of those facets being able to exist just by themselves.

I was very happy I took this detour as I was fortunate enough to come across a small summer festival that took place right next to the pond :3 It seemed like a festival that some people in the neighbourhood organised. It had maybe 8 stall of which the biggest one was selling dishes and cutlery. I decided to buy some Kakigori from a stand that seemed to be run by a boy and a girl who seemed to be about the right age for high school :) He was really nice and tried his best but his girlfriend just lazed around next to him and seemed to be annoyed having to deal with this small stall :D I really enjoyed my Kakigori that day, sitting at a bench next to Shinobazu Ike taking in the evening mood and the gentle warm breeze that flows through the narrow streets of Tokyo and gathers in places like Ueno Koen :)

I encountered a friendly cat that guarded some gardening tools :D

The streets running parallel to Yamanote Sen (the main subway line running around the centre of Tokyo :) are quite busy and there are many shops selling all kinds of things :)

Further up north, in the more residential districts there is much less noise and the area feels very quiet and peaceful :) I enjoyed walk back through the narrow streets that were framed by many small houses :3

This week is the first one in quite a while that I’m not too busy at... The past few weeks have been quite stressful but things are looking to be okay soon :)

I will go back to Japan again next month :3 I cannot wait to see my friends again and to eat delicious food again as well as to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere in Japan :) To be honest I’ve had enough of the fighting and talking but not acting going on in Europe...

I wish everyone a great time with sweet dreams (^-^)/

Saying good bye to the Shitamachi museum :)

I’m sure I will return to this place in the future (^-^)

Above you can see a basic dwelling from the 60s to 70s in Tokyo :) The cramped homes of that time are quite famous and in some way Tokyo is still one of the most cramped places in Japan. Which makes it all the more amazing to me how little crime there is and how Japanese who move abroad seldomly understand that you need to lock your home when you leave it as this is unnecessary in Japan (^-^;) I think I only know one person who was the victim of a burglary with the burglar not taking anything valuable...

I enjoy going to places like these as they help me understand a lot of things about Japan :3 I wish I could spend a longer amount of time in Japan getting to know what life dislike there and trying to take in as much as possible of the atmosphere and mood :)

Recently these feelings of wanting to go to Japan have been growing stronger due to my Japanese language exchange partner as she is a very pleasant person to be around and I’ve been able to learn a lot more about Japan :)

I wish everyone a great weekend with sweet dreams (^-^)/

Something that's on my mind

During the past 3 weeks I’ve been very busy due to 2 friends getting into trouble with their landlord. Which forced me to spend a lot of time on the issue at hand. Basically ever since my friends signed the contract for the flat the landlord became kind of a shady character... Telling them right after they signed the contract that they could kiss their security deposit good bye while telling them to pay the rent for all of those month in full and that he will not deducting the security deposit from the rent. He went on to lodge various people over Airbnb in the flat along with my friends (2 Japanese women), who were to scared to complain. This was already bad enough but he brought in some plants too and those were infested with flies making the flat a rather unpleasant place to be in which became obvious by one of my friends obviously not getting a good nights rest for most of the nights she spent there. One day she asked me to come along because he had been very loud and threatening on one of their previous encounters. So I came and waited with them for over 3 hours for him to arrive. We tried calling him and texting him after an hour. He just replied that he’ll come when he sees it fit and threatened with dire consequences should we write him any more messages. After 2 1/2 hours we asked again where he is and got a very threatening reply saying that we wouldn't like witness the consequences should we happen to send him another message. When he arrived he was already fuming and screaming and I’m certain that, had I not been there he would have hit one of my friends. So I stood in-between trying to calm him down but he started pushing me around, screaming all the time. It became so bad that he threatened all of us with violence. So one of my friends called the police. The police forced him to open the basement so my friends could get their stuff out. They kicked him out of the flat too. Still we spent a ver uneasy night as he had sent threats that he’ll return and he admitted to having been in the flat a few times without my friends permission. Not that this seems to have mattered to him as he had kicked both of them out at one point to have some fun with his girlfriend... We organised some safe places to stay at for both of them and moved out the next day. Visiting a lawyer and cancelling the contract for the flat. He is not accepting my friends cancellation and demanding more money...

So that's where we’re basically at. My friends are so scared of Germany now and of the lack of safety that both of them will leave Germany next week...

I really do miss the safety and gentleness of Japan and I will miss my friends a lot. It is amazing how little can be done and that his behaviour will have no consequences for him besides losing his rent for the time he cannot rent out the flat. At this point I really wish I would have filed charges against him but one reason for skewed German crime statistics is that once you do the perpetrator will know your name and address making you a easy target for the perpetrator and his friends and family (had this happen to 5 people I came to know over time :(

Anyway I hope it will be over soon and that Karma will catch up with him soon.

My favourite display at the Shitamachi museum :3

The former entrance to a Sentou (Japanese bath house :) I like old wooden structures in Japan and I do enjoy soaking in Sentou a lot :3

The display is really just showing the front part with the counter and doesn't extend further back but I still like it a lot :)

I asked for permission to climb up to the counter and to take some photos from there. I was kindly granted the permission to do so :) It was interesting and a bit more sketchy than I thought it would be but at the same time it was super interesting and fun :3

Of course I did remove my shoes :)

I miss Sentou and Onsen :3 Although my next trip to Japan is nearing as I’ll return to Japan this December :3

Because I fell sick this week I’m working on my schedule for my trip to Japan :3

I wish everyone nice new memories and a great time (^-^)/

Although the aesthetics of this are not my cup of tea I can’t help but admire the skill that the maker of this card press has. It makes me happy to see how people are honing their skills :)

More from my visit to the Shitamachi museum :3

As stated before I do like this museum quite a lot :3 I got big luck at the small shrine in this museum :3

I especially enjoy looking at the furniture and analysing how it was made :) There are a lot of different techniques involved and most of them is made to hide the kind of joinery used to hold them together :) Another thing I enjoyed is trying to fathom why a certain solution was chosen to solve a problem :) Like why sliding doors? They take up less room and do not necessitate people to move out of the way in a crowded room.

I do have a softspot for Japanese light fixtures and how they are often installed in a kind afterthought way in old houses :) A little bit like they are just a temporary decoration added to a house that is more like a blank canvas in its basic philosophy (^-^)

The part of the house with the nice blue towel next to it is the toilet :) The bucket has a valve at the bottom the is actuated by pushing it to the side, allowing you to wash your hands. I liked the towel holder that had a 彼岸花 (Higanbana/Manjushage or Red Spider Lily :) cut into it :) It kind of makes it seem like a seasonal decoration as these only bloom by the end of summer/beginning of autumn :)

In rare circumstances you can even catch a glimpse of the joinery used to assemble the houses :)

I doubt the kind of candy shop where the back is like the living room of the owners home is around anymore. At least I cannot remember seeing one in a real life situation but I guess being able to afford more space enabled most shop owners to separate the business side more cleanly from the home side of life :)

I think Fusuma are pretty neat and I like how many decorate them :3 Like this one :) The cherry blossom design paper cutouts were probably used to repair the damage it got from small children or cats :D In some way it exemplifies how Japanese go about things getting damaged along the way. Patching them up well so they can be used but not trying to hide that things were broken, yet trying to repair it as well as they can :) I like that :)

I spent the weekend at my parents house and ate lots of delicious food and got to pet a cute cat that is living close by (*´ω｀*) I’m currently doing a lot of things, like helping at a tea ceremony demonstration in a museum :) it was fun but exhausting :3 The next weekend will be quite busy too as I will go to a Japanese language meeting to practice speaking Japanese, although my Japanese is not the best I enjoy practicing and learning Japanese :3 and I organised another Japanese language exchange meeting on sunday :) I’m looking forward to next weeks weekend because it bear the promise of not having any plans (*^-^*) I hope I’ll be able to relax and work on y few of my projects :)

I wish everyone a great new week with a lot of nice new memories and sweet daydreams (^-^)/

More from the Shitamachi museum :3

The attention to detail the people running this museum put into the displays amazes me every time :3 I mean it feels like they do enjoy arranging and researching. At least that is what I felt upon seeing the details of the exhibits :3

The small forge that is on display was quite interesting to me :3 It is rare to see something like this close up and it does look like you would just need to provide the fuel and to light it in order to use it :3

Everything here has a pleasant grittiness to it like it has been used shortly before you came to visit. The handles still being warm from the touch of their user. Yet things openly show that they come from a ver different period in time.

The last 2 photos show the workplaces of a dressmaker :)

It is like a time capsule and every time I visit it and step outside I find that many of the small details shown in this museum can still be found throughout Tokyo. Somehow the spirit persisted through all those decades that passed and continues to inspire new generations to make their environment rich and pleasant to be in :)

The past 2 weeks have been very busy... I had many projects to work on at work which ended up draining a lot of my energy (^-^;) Don’t get me wrong I do enjoy my job :) It’s just that a lot of things kept on piling up and quite often it was impossible for me to just work on one task. Still I managed to finish designing a few part and could switch to the procurement phase in those projects :) The company I’m working for puts quite a lot of trust in me (trust doesn’t come out of nowhere and I earned this trust over the past year by delivering good and well thought out solutions :) Somehow I ended up being the engineer responsible for 2 of our product lines :) I’m happy about this but I still have to grow into this role. So far I’ve done quite well. Also thanks to the books Skunk Works (a book written by Ben Rich about the department at Lockheed Martin and Kelly Johnson). What captivated me was their attempt at innovating while keeping to tried and proven technologies wherever they could to cut down on development costs. Now that I tried this a few times (I’ve tried to work like that before I’ve read the book but got punished for doing so at my university (^-^;) <=design wasn’t complex enough in my professors eyes. It would have worked and would have been easy to produce from mostly standard components but I digress. Basically I was given a week to finish changing a design and to verify its suitability for the task at hand. It was nothing spectacular but I stuck to looking at what we used in other devices, looking at the details of the designs we already have been using for years (dimensions, material properties, thermal expansion, corrosion risks, etc.), picked a path that would involve as little redesigning as possible so as to avoid impacting the device’s performance, then I built a few prototypes to verify what needed to be verified and then went on to make the changes necessary for ordering the parts in bulk. It was quite demanding and writing all those reports was a lot of work but I feel happy that more and more things bear my name :D It might sound strange but every time I design something and it gets adopted I’m happy to sign the drawings :) I mean it is a small thing but things I designed and worked on will get used to save lives around the globe :)

I found a new language exchange partner too :) I can finally practice speaking Japanese again :3

I wish everyone a great sunday with sweet daydreams and something that makes you feel like you took a step forward towards something you want to achieve (^-^)b

Shitamachi Museum :)

I have been wanting to come back to this charming and pleasant museum for quite a while now :D

As the name suggests (Shitamachi meaning low place) this museum is mostly about the daily life of ordinary people like craftsmen and simple merchants running small shops :) It is very charming to walk through the narrow paths between the small houses that are on display :)

The museum doesn't romanticise but rather shows pretty accurately what life was like back then and it has a very nice section with child’s toys that you are invited to play with :)

There are a lot of small details that might escape the viewer at first glance but that are very accurate and pleasant to see :) Over all while the museum seems to receive very little funding, it does feel warm and welcoming due to the lovingly maintained displays and the gentle and kind staff :)

It is a little gem of a museum right next to Ueno station that easily gets overlooked. It is like a lot of things in Japan that do get overlooked while they each offer a myriad of ways they could entertain the viewer or user depending on their perspective and experience :)

One pleasant thing is the classic Japanese post box greeting you at the entrance :) The first display I decided to put in this article is a Geta shop (Japanese wooden clogs :) They are a nice example of early Japanese industry as the wooden soles were cut by a sawyer specialising in this task, the ribbons holding your feet were woven by another craftsman and the sale and final adjustment were accomplished by the shopkeeper :) In case you are wondering what the wooden board and sticks are for, those were used to hit and soften the ribbons prior to adjusting them to the customers feet :) I admire how early on during history this teamwork was being established leading to all crafts along the line blossoming and developing in a nice way :)

I will write a few more articles about the displays in this museum soon :)

Today I gave the keys to my old flat back to my old landlord :) I hope I can get my security deposit back soon :3 I feel like a burden fell off my shoulders and I’m looking forward towards the weekend :3 Tomorrow I’ll take part in riding the Critical Mass bicycle thingy in Hamburg :) While I’m apathetic towards the political side of it I do enjoy riding on streets that would otherwise be too dangerous and busy to ride on :D I like to let myself fall back to the end and then race towards the front and then fall back again (^-^;) it is quite selfish but well, I do apologise for the inconvenience m(_ _)m

Recently I received a few messages asking me rather bluntly whether I would fancy having sexual intercourse with them (°_°;)  I’m a guy and I’m not into other guys.... I like women and I remember having mentioned that in the past (°-°;)

Anyway I’m enjoying my new home and slowly furnishing it ((((((((((っ･ω･)っ

I wish everyone a great time with sweet daydreams (^-^)/

I think this might be the entrance to a bathhouse :3

The backside of a shopping street :) Some might recognise the Fuurin (wind chime from the video I posted earlier ;) A friend once told me that my perspective is the perspective of Japanese people (^-^;) because most tourists don't take these paths and do not deem these places a good motive for their photos :D

Takoyaki :3 I like Takoyaki a lot :3

A hand carved sign for a shoe shop :o Seeing something like this made me very happy :3 I know it is a minor thing to many people but someone was sufficiently invested in their shop to pay for someone to make this nice piece of craftsmanship :)

A very interesting and tasty idea :3 Dorasofuto :3 It is like a Dorayaki and a Matchasofuto had a child :D I liked it a lot :)

I bought brushes again :D

I continued working on my new home last week and my parents came to visit me over the weekend :) It was a very nice week! Yesterday I went to a Japanese language event and practiced speaking Japanese :) I rarely got the chance to practice since I was busy moving and setting up my home... Also because I’m lacking a language exchange partner (-_-) Still I did well :) I sang some lines from Kuroneko Tango (a Japanese children's song :) which made a nice Japanese lady cry because her husband liked this song. This moment felt very precious to me. For some reason I do not remember too clearly I took off my glass and got told that I have beautiful eyes (*^-^*) I wish I would get compliments like that more often. Throughout my childhood and later adult life in Berlin I’ve been called ugly by seemingly everyone outside my family... At work in Berlin I had less than charming nicknames too... I mean they had little reasons to complain about my skills but somehow people had little desire to hold back when it came to insulting my looks. Japanese were the first ones to tell me I had a nice voice, that I express myself in a nice way and that I have nice eyes and looks. A friend in Berlin also told me that he could get every girl with an amazing ass like mine xD But one compliment by a friend won't mend what so many contradicted. I don’t mean to complain as I cannot change the way I look and just live my life but this kind of makes it hard for me to judge how I do come across because deeply engrained in the back of my mind if the suspicion that my looks do offend people. I do well and it is getting better but well it is an issue I do face. It’s also a reason I do dislike Berlin (^-^;) I feel like my character is well suited to spend time with Japanese as I do get some admiration for my skills as a craftsman and a teacher of those crafts :)

Anyway sorry for drifting off topic :D

I wish everyone a great new week with sweet dreams (^-^)/

Impression of Asakusa :3

I like that even close to the bustling tourist places in Tokyo there is a quiet place close by :3 Also Fuurin (wind chime :) are one of my favourite things during the sweltering hot summer days in Japan :3 I miss being in Japan.

I wish everyone a great week with sweet dreams (^-^)/ 

Welcome to the Shallow Gras (Asakusa :) :D

The smaller side streets in Asakusa often feature very narrow little paths between the buildings :3 Walking through these feels a lot like hiking through a manmade forest that is used to grow buildings instead of trees :D When the buildings reach maturity they will be removed and planted in another place to grow into hospitals or libraries :D One thing that struck me was even these places didn't smell bad and that people still tried their best to make them look as pleasant as they could :) It is one of those instances that signify the calm perseverance with which Japanese in Japan tend to go about things :) In Germany I would rather not go to or live in a place like this (considering the usual stench and dirty nature of similar places in Europe...) but I could well imagine living there in Japan :)

European but somehow very Japanese things :D The florists shop was so neat and tidy :3 I like Ducati motorbikes :) It is rare to find one in such a good and original condition in Germany :D A Belgian Bakery :) It was great and I bought waffles there that I gave to some of my friends :) The shop owner used to live in Belgium and took his apprenticeship there! His work is delicious and reminded me of my childhood and of visiting my relatives in Belgium ꒰ღ˘‿˘ற꒱⃛

The guy steering the excavator actually posed his excavator for me to take a a better picture of it :D I told them that I wanted to take a photo for my sister because she likes excavators and they were really enthusiastic about doing their best to enable me to take a clear picture :)

August is the month of the dead in Japan (Obon season :) which is my favourite season in Japan and Bari-San (the mascot of Imabari city in Ehime prefecture :) (his crown is a local bridge :) is scared of ghosts and Yokai (objects that became animate or different mythical creatures :) Also the young chick holding is holding a stick with a piece of Kanten (which is a gelatinous block made from Tengusa seaweed and is used to make Tokoroten (a kind of cold noodly dish that is best enjoyed on hot summer days :) Mischievous children like using this contraption to hold the Kanten against peoples necks to scare them :D So Bari-San will probably get the shock of his life when a cold squishy thing will eventually be held against his neck xD

A reusable postal bag with designs showing the silhouettes of famous sights in Taito-Ku (Asakusa & Ueno Area :) on one side and of Tokyo in general on the other side :) I really liked the design of this and the idea of not just sending something but also of sending the mood of a certain place along with it :) Although the reasons I had to send things in this were not so cheerful or nice as a friend’s mother had died the day before... So all I could do was send what I had brought as a gift in this manner. (-_-) it was like the final hit in a streak of bad luck for my friend and I do lack the words to describe how sorry I felt for her but I felt very happy to know that she has a sweet and supportive husband who would care for her.

I gave a Chashaku carving course (teaspoon that is being used during the tea ceremony :)  Somehow I ended up making a name for myself by doing what I like :D Although I got asked multiple times why I’m not married yet (^-^;) and why I don't have a girlfriend.... I would like to find a girlfriend and to marry and have a family but finding someone who is willing to put up with me proves to be quite challenging...

It was a very pleasant experience to share my knowledge and skills with others and the results turned out to be really great :) We used standard 18 mm cutter knifes for carving (although a 9 mm knife will do just fine too :) I was asked if I could hold a second workshop later this year and I agreed to that :) Hope it will be as much fun as this one was (^-^) I was quite happy that no one got hurt too although I had brought all the necessary supplies to tend to cuts (even deep ones) should the need to do so arise at some point throughout the workshop :)

I wish everyone a great time with sweet dreams (^-^)/