An Acquaintance From Germany

　　When I traveled to Freiburg in Germany and Italy with my second daughter last year as one of the members of the friendship tour organized by Matsuyama City, I met a young guy who worked in the DB, the German railway company, at the reception party held by the Freiburg-Matsuyama Association. He was going to visit Matsuyama in a year at that time and actually came to my hometown on 0ctober 2nd. It appeared that he had begun learning Japanese with a Japanese just after the party.
　　His travel plan was to stay in Matsuyama City all the time for two weeks and make day trips around there. I offered some sightseeing plans to him, like a karst landscape, Spa resorts, a huge active volcano and small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. He chose the islands without a second thought so I took him on a day trip to go around the inland sea utilizing a ferry service and more than ten bridges. On the last night of his stay in Matsuyama I took him to a small restaurant which serves traditional cuisine of Japan, specifically in Kyoto, but it might have been a wrong choice. He was twenty some years old and must prefer meat to vegetables. Kyoto-style traditional cuisine hardly uses meat except fish. Anyway, he looked to have enjoyed his stay. Nothing beat it.