Xinbeitou Historic Station

　　This is my third visit to Taiwan. A wave of nostalgia overtakes me every time I visit Taiwan. The indelible scenes from my childhood are dotted across the country. The atmosphere of the stations on the Pingxi Line, which I visited in 2013, was reminiscent of old Japanese stations. I was surprised, and it dawned on me that Japanese people had surely lived there. While I recorded these trip memos in my blog, I can't read them now as my blog was unfairly shut down. I dropped in at Xinbeitou Historic Station, which was originally built when Taiwan was a part of Japan. It has now been converted into a railroad museum. The museum is located at the gate of Beitou Hot Spring. I was awed by a sense of familiarity from exhibits such as authentic railroad cars, photographs, and maps. My fondness for Taiwan grew by leaps and bounds.

 

 

 

 

(Vocabulary)
Pingxi Line  平渓線
Beitou Hot Spring　北投温泉

　　台湾は３度目の訪問になる。台湾に来ると懐かしい温かい気持ちになる。子供の頃にみた日本の原風景のような景色があちこちに残っているのだ。２０１３年４月に初めて台湾に来たときに立ち寄った平渓線の鉄道駅の雰囲気が日本のまさにそれだったので驚き、確かにかつてこの地に日本人が住んでいたのだと実感した。この旅行の記録もブログに残していたのだが、理不尽なサービス停止により今はみられない。
　　今日はまず、新北投駅に立ち寄った。１９１６年、台湾が日本だった時代に作られた駅で、今は鉄道関連の展示やギフトショップがあり、ミュージアムのようになっている。北投温泉にはMRTの真新しい駅が作られていたが、そのすぐそばに日本時代の駅が残されていた。展示されている列車や、展示物、写真には初めて来たとは思えない懐かしさを感じた。また、さらに台湾が好きになってしまった。

Hotel Sunroute Taipei

　　After a smooth flight, we arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on time. While I was there, I got two Easy Cards for my wife and me, since I'd heard they are very convenient. We immediately headed to our hotel by MRT (the subway in Taipei). We successfully changed trains at Sanchong Station and arrived at Zhongshan Elementary School Station, which was close to our hotel. The Easy Cards were very handy, and gave us the feeling we could go everywhere we wanted in Taipei. 
　　We stayed at Hotel Sunroute Taipei, which was affiliated with a Japanese company, and had a good reputation with Japanese tourists. Our initial thought was that if we had any issues in Taipei, the hotel staff would help us out; however, there were only a handful of few people at the reception desk who spoke Japanese. Anyhow, it was ok.
　　I found some signboards shown below in this entry between the station and our hotel. I saw them everywhere in the streets during our stay in Taipei. They indicated air-raid shelters. I grasped the looming danger of war. My wife wanted to have a rest in the hotel, and I went out to explore the area. I found a boisterous night market. There was a slice of good old Japan.

　　　　　　

　快適なフライトだった。飛行機は台湾桃園空港に到着。初めての空港で不安だったが、まずEasy Card(悠遊卡)を購入。事前の調べで大変便利だと聞いていた。さっそくMRTで予約しているホテルへ向かった。三重で乗り換えて無事ホテルのそばの中山國小駅へ到着。Easy Cardは実に便利で、もうどこにでも行けるような気分になった。
　ホテルサンルート台北に旅装を解いた。日系ホテルであり、困った時には日本語でいろいろなことをお願いできるだろうと思ったから。でも日本語が使えたのはフロントスタッフの一部のみで地下にあるレストランではまったく通じず。まあ仕方ない。
　駅からホテルへ向かう途中で防空壕への案内板を何度か見かけた。この後も台湾滞在中にあちこちで見かけた。戦時中なのだと言うことを実感した。ホテルで休みたいという家内をホテルにおいて一人でホテルの裏手を散策した。夜市が賑やかで、古き良き日本があった。

Trip to Taiwan

　　I booked our first flight to Osaka the day I was flying to Taiwan. Upon checking my email just before turning in the previous night, I found an email from ANA (All Nippon Airways) informing us of the cancellation of my flight due to an equipment scheduling issue. Something must have happened to the aircraft during the last flight to my city. Even so, I was lucky to find the e-mail the previous night. If I had learned about the flight cancellation that morning at the airport, I wouldn't have caught the next flight from Kansai International Airport(KIX) to Taiwan. Immediately, I sprang into action and searched for an alternative route to KIX, and I got up about 4 o'clock and got on a train around 5:00 a.m. I changed trains to the bullet train at Okayama Station. At last, I was able to catch the booked flight to Taiwan. I had a good impression of EVA Air, so I used this airline to fly to Taiwan.

　　

Welcome Party

　　The Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) is the assistant of school teachers in compulsory education. The Japanese government recruits them from English-speaking countries. Most Japanese do not require advanced English skills as long as they live within the country, so their English level may not be optimally and practically developed. The government hopes to change this situation and familiarize younger generations with the language.
　　By the way, a coordinator for international relations (CIR) hailing from Rothenburg ob der Tauber works in the town hall. He holds weekly volunteer German lessons, which are part of my routine. The other day, I was asked and agreed to attend the welcome party of a new ALT. While I did not have the opportunity to talk with her, the party was a sociable evening with a pleasantly reserved atmosphere, featuring a traditional performing art exhibit.

(Aug. 19th)
Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) 国際交流員
https://jetprogramme.org/en/

Shut Down of My Blog

　　I've been writing my blog in English for over 20 years. Apart from some exceptions, Japanese people don't get a lot of chances to use English. Personally, I can understand English literature, but speaking and writing are not my forte. That's why I started writing blog entries regularly in English. Some native English speakers have gone out of their way to correct my writing. I aim to become proficient in English, as it is the global lingua franca. I struggled to acquire English skills to pass my university entrance exam, but I realized that they easily fade if I don't use them for a long time. I learned German, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese, but they—especially Mandarin Chinese—are in danger of fading from my mind.
　　My blog, which I have been writing for more than 20 years, contains my reflections from those days, notes of my trips, everyday struggles, as well as many pictures. It has great personal value. I was thinking of making it a book, but the blog service was closed abruptly without any notice. I was stunned into silence. 
　　A few months passed before I put my thinking cap on. This tragedy of mine might be a part of "Dan-sha-ri", which is hard to translate into English, but it can be roughly translated as "decluttering". If I were to suddenly pass away in an unexpected accident, my family will worry about what to do with my blog entries. Keeping it active requires a small monthly cost. Deleting my blog from the internet might make them feel guilty. Therefore, maybe I should delete them myself. What I wrote in the blog is still in my mind.
　　I came to this conclusion: the blog service’s sudden shutdown forced a kind of Dan-sha-ri on me, something I couldn’t do myself.
　　From now on, I'll start writing new blog again to keep my English and other language skills.

２０年以上書き続けたブログサービスが突然終了

使っていたのはサービスはTypepadです。有料サービスだったので安心していましたが、内容をダウンロードすることもできず、突然のサービス停止。２０年以上の記録は諦めました。泣けてきました。

２０年以上、英語でブログを書いてきた。日本では一部の人を除き英語を使う機会は少ない。僕の場合、読むことはできるが、話すことと書くことは苦手である。それで、英文を書き、オンラインでネイティブにそれを添削してもらうという形式で英語を使い続け勉強してきた。英語は事実上の世界共通語であるから。使っていないと言葉は忘れてしまう。恐怖に似たものがあった。ドイツ語も朝鮮語も中国語も勉強したが、今やその知識は消滅の危機にある。

２０年も書き続けたブログはそのとき時の自分の考えや、旅行の記録、日常のありふれたこと、それに付随する無数の写真、などが詰まったものとなり、自分の財産の一部であった。そのうち、本にでもまとめようかと思っていたが突然、ブログサービスが閉じられてしまった。しばらく呆然としていた。

数週間後、考えを改めた。これも断捨離の一部だろうと。物への執着を捨てること、これが断捨離。自分の死後、これを残しておくと家族は処分に困るのではないか、少額とは言え毎月維持費が掛かる。ならば自分の手で処分しておくべきと。書いたことは自分の頭の中にある。それで良いではないかと。むしろこのシャットダウンのお陰で自分でできない断捨離をすることができた、と考えるようにした。そして、また新しく書き始めることにした。