Kyoto - Let's cook

Can't do without light, but without sound already 📺

Do you know those stands for the bathtub where you can put things on? Candles, books, that kind of stuff. And of course a laptop, so you can be entertained while taking a hot bath. I usually found it too risky; *splash*, there goes the laptop in the water.
But it doesn't have to be that way. With the help of an invention I hadn't even thought about until today. I wanted to turn on the interesting-looking bathtub radio. There's both sound and moving pictures. Wooow. 😂

What's cooking? 🍣

Yesterday while walking around, I saw blue nets in boxes on houses. One is his, of course. Two, that's spying. Three or more, that's tried and tested. I thought it was to cover garbage bags. Today I was proven right.

This morning, I'm attending the Bento Cooking Class. I enter the house with a cheerful 'Ohayo!' ('Good morning!'), three women in orange aprons greet me happily and in high-pitched voices. I'm on time; that's typical of Germans. 😅

I'm the first one, greeted by name. This usually means one of three things:

• I'm the only one today
• I'm the only Westerner today
• I'm the only solo traveler today

Usually it's the last one, just like today; nine others are expected. I'm not surprised that Americans and Aussies aren't so punctual. It wouldn't be the first time. Also, they can't even manage to say the simplest 'Arigato'. You can say whatever you want about prejudices, but they don't come out of nowhere. Yes, I'm talking about you, typical German tourist with your white tennis socks and sandals. 🤣
European tourists are still my favorites out of all. They know what it's like to have other cultures nearby, it influences their travel. I hear more Japanese phrases from the Euros.

I'm sitting next to a Belgian young woman and an older couple from California. At least I get along well with them. I get along best with Helen, the grandmother, we engage in lively and funny exchanges. It turns out her eldest is fifty. Okay, I honestly didn't expect that, I would have guessed she was fifty herself.

The connection to the Belgian woman becomes clear quickly; she is the granddaughter. Each of her four grandchildren gets a trip for three as a gift for their 15th birthday. Tanzania and now Japan have been checked off. Nice idea to get closer to your grandchildren.

We wonder if people here take the time to make bentos every day. Yup, Miro confirms. Bentos are leftovers from the previous evening, only eggs, rice, and fried chicken are made fresh.

Notice Boards 👨‍🏫

Not much else happens today. I pass by several notice boards. I really like the system of notice boards here. For example, you can find announcements about switching to plastic recycling.

Having those at home would have its advantages. If you have notice boards on every corner, you'll notice new information anyway. So you can more or less ensure that everyone will notice it.

You don't have to throw anything into people's mailboxes, which would just mean more trash.
You don't have to force people to constantly proactively get informed on websites or in the news.
And notice boards also have a 'social meeting point' character. I like this 'think regional, act local' charm.
Actually, there are more arguments for it than against it. More of it, please.