I was taking pictures of sakura down the river when a stranger stopped by and said hello. Her name is Aya.
Aya is a stylish elderly woman. She speaks English.
She introduced me to one of her friend who was stretching his body near by. The man has an amazingly smart figure for his age (obviously from regular exercise).
I don’t remember his name. But he was doing research on the Katana (Japanese sword). I wish I could find such interesting job when I’m his age.
Below are some pictures I cut from the footage I shot that day. I haven’t had time to edit those clips yet :(
Aya was using the traditional foldable phone. It’s so cool!
One thing let to another, Aya started showing me around the area.
Following behind Aya, we were talking about life and men. Apparently we both agreed on so many things regarding the topic. Aya is like an older version of me :)
She also taught me the word はなふぶき (hanafubuki) and the story behind it.
Although it feels like we can spend the whole day chit-chatting, we have to split to go back to normal routines. Aya and I exchanged phone number and said goodbye.
I continued filming near the river.
and took a small break with sandwich (as always).
Quite happy with the footage I got, I headed to the station to get home. On the way to the station, I heard someone calling me from the back, guess what, it was Aya :). Apparently she was sitting inside a shop near by and saw me passing by.
Her friend - the shop owner was away to collect some necessary items. During that time, Aya took care of the shop for a while, so I stayed and joined her.
Aya continued to enlighten me with cultural and informative stories. She told me that this town is one of the best places to live for single mothers.
Next, she took me to a classy-looking cafe shop, run by her another friend.
It seems like Aya is friend with the whole town.
Aya was such a profound and open-minded woman. She had been through a lot in her whole life and yet still embraces each day as a new adventure. As opposed to my intermittent sluggishness, Aya always seems to be restlessly enjoying her everyday life. I bet everyone round her would feel the same energy.
Hope we’ll see each other again.