Along the Rail

Part of this story had been on my profile page some time ago due to a beta-student's suggestion that people might be interested to know my story along the rail. But, after a while, conducting a rough research on Cafetalk, it seemed to me that none of the teachers who are listed on top by Cafetalk have other than qualifactions matters in the first paragraph, let alone stories about travel. So I decided to rewrite my profile page once more.

However, I still would like to tell my story. Here it is.

I'm someone who is crazy about anything running on rails. I have purchased a Japan Rail Pass a couple of times and have always made the most of it. Here's one example.

I have run the rails of Japan from the most northern JR Station in Wakkanai 稚内駅 (Hokkaido) to the most Southern JR Station in Nishi Oyama 西大山駅 (Kyushu)

Speaking of northernmost, there's another thing I'm very proud of (myself).

When I returned to work, even a Japanese expat didn't believe me. He said, "That kind of onsen must have been designed for foreigners only."

"No! On the contrary!" I protested. "It seemed that, I, was the only foreigner there. I heard everyone speaking Japanese. No other language. If this onsen was meant for foreigners, why would all announcements, notices, ads, etc. be written in Japanese only?"

"The onsen must be very quiet then," he insisted.

"Again, on the contrary!" Phew. Why should I tell a Japanese about their own country?

While I was busy concentrating on capturing the first sunrise of the year, I heard an announcement through a loudspeaker. Although I had missed the first part, I understood that something was being handed out for free. Free! Yay! I rushed to where the voice came from. And... wow. I was just right in time. "Here you are. Finished. You are lucky," said the man who handed me this keychain. I have always kept it in the drawer next to my bed. I never want to use it for fear of losing it. This is something money cannot buy. Even if I gain Japanese citizenship, there will never be anything like this.

Besides Japan, my epic railway journeys are:

Trans Siberia from Moscow to Vladivostok
Trans Mongolia crossing 2 borders. First border: Russia - Mongolia. Second border: Mongolia - China.
Circum Baikal: Along Baikal Lake in Russia
Silkroad by train (in China) from Xi'an to Kashgar.
In New Zealand: Northern Explorer, Coastal Pacific, TranzAlpine, Taieri Gorge Train

Now, what's your story? I would love to hear yours.

Through stories, we can improve our language learning a great deal, because it was stories that formed languages.