This flight which departed at noon and arrived in Frankfurt at about 16:00 hours flew in sunshine all the way. The view of Siberia was also great fun for me. However, the 12 hour flight time was so long. The plane's speed looked slow on the world map.
My relationship to Germany dates back 37 years. German was an essential subject in most medical schools in Japan at that time. I had wanted to stay in Germany for research work after graduation from the school, but I had no opportunity to visit it and I came to think that I would never visit Germany in my life. However, the situation dramatically changed when I attended a reception party to welcome the official guests from Freiburg in spring five years ago. I visited Freiburg to see an acquaintance whom I had met in the party in autumn in the same year. It was my first visit to Germany. Five years have passed since then.
Around the time when Finland came up on the magnified map, beef braiser was served. It was also nice.
By the way, I was reading a German conversation book all the way after departure. My German vocabulary is considerably poor. I crammed for chatting with German people. When I went to a washroom, a foreigner who was sitting three rows behind me was reading a newspaper throwing his leg in the aisle. This phrase came out spontaneously, "Entschuldigung!", which means "Excuse me". My brain was successfully changing into German!
(Vocabulary)
My relationship to Germany ドイツとの縁、なれそめ
beef braiser ビーフブレゼ
braiser (少量の汁でゆっくりと) 〈肉・野菜〉 を蒸し煮にする
シベリア上空にて雑感：
ドイツは学生時代からあこがれの国。しかし、渡航は叶わず。ところが、５年前の春、フライブルクからの一行を歓迎するパーティーに呼ばれてから状況が一変。知りあいができ、その秋に初めてドイツへ。これが縁で次女のフライブルク留学、そして２回目、今回が３回目の訪独となる。フィンランドの上空にさしかかった頃、２回目の食事。これも良かった。またまた横の娘に睨まれながらワインを注文。飲み放題は辛い、、、(^_^;) トイレに向かったとき、後ろの外国人が足を投げ出していたので「すみません」と声を掛けた。無意識に自然に出てきた単語はドイツ語だった。(^o^)機内ではずっとドイツ語の一夜漬け(^_^;)
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