Day 4, 5, 6, 7: the difference

there's one huge difference between me and my dad.  this difference often causes me frustration and stress, while it makes my dad feel like he's always causing trouble.

to sum it up, here's (what i think) the two takes are on eachother:

Yuta: "gosh, dad's sooo lazy and unaware about things...that's why we end up having to change our schedule to wait for his India tourist visa!  it even caused us an extra 6,000 yen to get us into Korea. dad, shape up a bit and think ahead."

Toshi: "gosh, Yuta is sooo anal.  it's a journey!  why can't he just take it chill and go with the flow?"

on Day 5, i got us the wrong tickets out of Ishikawa into Kyoto.

the ticket that i wanted was 30 minutes earlier than the one in hand, and when i suggested we should go back and change it, dad goes "eh, it's fine, lets just sit and wait at a cafe."

and so we did with my sister Julia, who drove us to the station.

after about 10-15 minutes or so, we see Julia's father-in-law (Akitoshi Asano) and mother-in-law (Rite) running into the station to try and catch a glimpse of us to say "good bye".  we had been in Ishikawa for 2 nights, but since Akitoshi was on a business trip, we hadn't been able to see him.

Dad, Rite, and Akitoshi

after chatting it up for 15 minutes, we say our good byes and head up to the platform.  as my dad and i were roaming around looking for our train number, a distinguished looking man, well in his 60's, asks us "i overheard you talking in the cafe, you going to Nepal?  i've been going there every year for the last 16 years.  i have contacts and information if you need."

so the man and my dad sit down during the 2-hour ride to Kyoto discussing our Nepal portion of the journey.  supposedly dad gained some really nice information.

Dad and Nepal-man

AND THEN IT HITS ME!

wait! so what if dad was anal like me, and we decided to take the earlier train, just cuz it seemed more "practical"?  then surely we wouldn't have been able to see Akitoshi, nor would the Nepal-man have caught us to give helpful information.

suddenly, i had this realization that lifted so much weight off of my shoulders.

this is dad's dream.  i am helping to make it happen.

i'm not the one in charge, nor responsible for anything that goes wrong.

we'll just go with the flow, and see what unfolds.

so glad that i had this revelation prior to departing Japan.

tomorrow we set off to South Korea.  a place that dad nor i have never been to.

a bit scared...but also that much excited.

some other pics from Day 4-7 (sorry, unedited):

with Tetsu and friends, Kyoto

Tetsu and fisherman, Kyoto

with Nina, Osaka

Nina, Osaka

Kokura Gion Taiko, Kokura (Fukuoka)

Market, Kokura

Market-street, Kokura

Smoking Lounge, Kokura