1:30 6:06 17:51 27.1 80%
・久しぶりでPhongよりメールあり、返信。
Hello Hiro and Yoko,
How are you? It's been a while since we've written, currently I am still in Canberra, sorry I haven't written for a long time and not keeping in touch. So, where to begin? Well I guess after I returned from Afghanistan, I continued working in Canberra and then I met a girl, so we started dating and then we were in a relationship for about a year. It was nice and traveled together too, but unfortunately things didn't work out and we separated, so I am single once more.
Work wise is still good, in July I was working over in the Ukraine for 3 weeks after the plane MH17 was shot down over there. It was an interesting place to work as it was in a conflict zone with the rebels fighting the Ukraine government to have a separate state... and the crash site was in the rebel held territory, so it was a difficult operation to be able to go in and search the site to get body parts so the family members of the passengers can have a funeral for their lost ones.
Ukraine itself is an interesting place, the capital Kiev is very nice in an old world Europe sort of way with lots cafes and of grand cathedrals... but as you travel more to the east and closer to Russia, the buildings become more grey and purpose build with big squares and statues of Lenin. I've attached a few photos with the first ones from Kiev - also a photo of the dish 'Chicken Kiev' which I had in Kiev. The second lot of photos are from the city of Kharkiv which is more to the east, so you can see the difference in architecture and the general feeling of the city as a former Communist country. Overall, it was a very a great experience to work over there, as the work was unique and Ukraine is a place I never imagined that I would go to.
So what have you two been up to? I see on Yoko's blog of some photos from Europe as well, how was it? I like the photos taken in Spain, I've never been to there before, but am interested in going one day. I'm also using the google 'translate' on Yoko's blog, but the translation still comes across as a bit strange.
Anyway, hope all is going well.
Regards
Phong
Hi Phong,
Yes, it’s been a long time. I’m very glad to hear from you. So you are energetically active as before, engaging in some international important activities.
Thanks for the interesting pictures. Yes, East Europe seems to be very beautiful with old architectures and ambience. Kiev reminds me of Budapest which I visited 49 years ago. They are really beautiful. I’ve past through Kiev once on the train from Wien to Moscow but it was at night and I remember nothing about it. Kharkiv seems to be a part of Moscow I knew but which I don’t like. Yes, they show the complexity and ambiguity of Europe.
Yoko went Europe with a group of OPUS DEI Catholic which I wonder you might know. It is one of the strongest and the richest sect of Catholic, which has networks in about 80 countries. She is not a Catholic but has a friend in that group and was invited to join the sort of pilgrimage tour from Madrid via Lourdes to Rome by bus. Lourdes is famous of its miracle spring as you know.
I’ve met a Canadian lady in the Sinhala class of Michael like you and I, but it was a year later. She is originally a Tamil and has immigrated to Canada with her family 30 years ago after the civil war had begun. She is actually a lady leader of the sect in SL and happens to live in a stone’s throw from our Rosmead apartment, renting a house with two Brazilians, one Mexican and one Spanish. One Brazilian lady is a third generation Japanese immigrant to Brazil. She and Yoko have become good friends.
Yoko will go to Japan for a while from 10 December, so you might enjoy Japanese photos in her blog.
We have moved to another apartment in Retreat Road, interesting name!, in Colombo 4 in this October. The rent is about 50 thousand rupees cheaper but the space is much larger than the Rosmead one and many necessities are close by like super markets, etc. A friend of Yoko is happened to be the wife of an English teacher of British council and she lives in the same apartment building. And thus she recommended the vacancy. We like the place and we’ve almost decided to make this place the final place in Colombo. This is our third place and we don’t want to move anymore.
As for me, I hired a Sinhala tutor and studied with her for one year and half but gave up. Not only because the language was difficult to master but suddenly I noticed that I must begin studying Tamil which is my last project to do in my life. I’ve studied Tamil in Japan before coming to SL. But as I’ve happened to be living in SL not India, I’ve begun to study Sinhala. But alas I must admit that I have no ability to master these two languages at the same time beginning from this age. I cannot run after two hares. So I’m going to concentrate on Tamil.
Anyway let us keep in touch more frequently.
Regards,
Hiro
P.S. I first thought that you’ve sent me the news of your wedding. Very sorry about the lost love. But anyway life must go on and there are a lot of good girls on this planet. In one of the pictures, you look slimmer. This is not by the lost love!!!! It is by the training and the hard work, of course!!!!!
・早朝洋子と散歩に行き、大雨に降られる。
・MobileのReloadその他買い物。
・月末の締め、明日の準備、Telecom, Kent, BMICH
