Jade
Goldsmith / Art Designer
I've been wandering around a lot of countries, and I've been to almost 50 countries since 2020, when my record stopped.
I've lived in Japan, England, Germany, France, Switzerland, and now I find myself back in Northern Germany, where I once lived and am now settled.
I am a goldsmith by trade, exhibiting my own jewelry and objects at trade shows and exhibitions in Eurasia.
I also used my experience to coordinate and consult for trade shows and events in Europe.
I am currently studying religious studies/religious anthropology at a local university in Germany, after a new virus changed my world.
8.5.2023
DAYS/ Jude Column
Blue sky in Hanseatic city
University student in Germany, a break for now
The school building that houses the Department of Religion (this picture was taken last fall)
Since the spring of 2020, when society changed drastically due to Corona and my work dropped drastically, I have been re-entering university to study religious studies.
Thanks to your help, I managed to continue working and studying at the same time after Corona settled down, and now all I have to do is write what will become my thesis.
I went to college at a school affiliated with this local university, so when I came to realize that this is where I had been going to school for a long time since elementary school, I felt a lot more "alma mater" than I had expected.
I started studying only because I had nothing to do, but I learned so much more than that.
In fact, I think I learned more socially than I did in my studies.
I had never thought about it before, but it seems that most of the people who work as teachers or in the teaching profession have never been out in the "working world," as it is generally called.
Many of them became teachers after completing their university studies, or continued their research and entered the teaching profession, and many of them are friendly people who have grown older as students.
I also found that many of them had entered Corona in the same semester that I began my studies, which made me think that people think in the same way.
In the beginning, I often felt confused because all lectures were given by Zoom, but thanks to that, I was able to get used to life using Zoom.
Without the university seminar, I would never have had the opportunity to present a presentation on Zoom.
Perhaps I was lucky in that I have always loved and used PCs, Macs, and smartphones.
I also like to use apps that seem useful and try out different ones that I need, so I was able to share what I knew with the group assignments as long as I knew what I was doing.
When I was too busy with work to participate in group assignments, I would just prepare the platform and participate in the easiest part of the assignment, and they would even thank me for it.
After Corona settled down, the school cafeteria reopened again, and I noticed a gorgeous increase in new eateries, cafes, and places that made freshly baked pizzas that had not existed during my college days.
The office is also close to the college, which was really helpful and often took care of me during lunch and breaks.
I was able to enjoy my time in the Corona Disaster thanks to the university.
Now that the university has come to an end, I wonder what I will do now, but at any rate, I have been able to spend a few years studying again, on top of having the home office as my office.
Fortunately, the world is still on summer break. I will try to reboot myself little by little.
The park in front of the school building, the path to school from the old days, is already clogged with too many memories.
4.10.2023
DAYS/ Jude Column
Blue sky in Hanseatic city
Since April, a bit of a heavy heart and a weekend in Denmark
Today is the third weekend in March and daylight saving time has begun in Europe.
It is not very warm yet, but in northern Germany, where the northern latitude is high, it is bright until about 8:00 p.m. It is the most beautiful season, with the sunset time getting later day by day toward the summer solstice from now on.
I love the dynamic changes of the four seasons, which are different from those in Japan, where the seasonal changes are more gentle.
But for many years now, there has been a movement in Europe to abolish daylight saving time.
It seems that this is a matter that is being considered in all European countries, but I think it has already been almost 10 years since I heard the news that "this is the last summer time".
It has already been almost 10 years since I heard the news that "this is the last summer time".
After the Corona riots that lasted for about three years, such talk has completely disappeared from the public mind.
Well, as a person who likes bright summer time, I am glad that daylight saving time continues.
I am thinking carefree, "Wow, it's so bright now that daylight saving time has started, I'm so happy! I would like to graduate from the university in the next semester if possible.
However, I am now feeling the revenge of the time when I had a sleepless thought that I would slow down a little and study more slowly just one year ago. I get very busy.
I am a student now, but work still comes first. Life is important.
And now that Corona is all settled, I have to go to all my lectures at the university.
I miss the easy-going lectures at ZOOM.
Fortunately, the office where I work and the university are only a 10-minute train ride away, but it will be a few months of going right and left around the triangle of home, office, and school.
In layman's terms, it's a self-inflicted wound, because last year I took classes in a much more relaxed manner.
I felt like I was wasting my long spring break, which I had spent so slowly and lazily, in anticipation of the new semester, which was making me feel heavy just thinking about it, so I got off my heavy back and went to Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, over the weekend.
Copenhagen is the closest foreign capital to northern Germany, so it was a bit like going from the Kanto region to the Tohoku region.
For a few days, I was able to relax in Copenhagen at the end of winter, when spring comes even more slowly than in Germany.
I will welcome April with a renewed spirit.
9.5.2022
DAYS/ Jude Column
Blue sky in Hanseatic city
Deutsche Bahn 9€ ticket and German summer
By mid-August, summer vacation is almost over in northern Germany.
This year, Deutsche Bahn is offering a flat domestic fare of 9€ from June 1 until August 31 for now.
At the current exchange rate as of August 2022, the price is about 1,200-1300 Japanese yen.
Of course, you cannot take the Shinkansen-like express train called ICE, but if you purchase a "9€ ticket," you can use regular trains and almost all buses for one month.
Of course, the 9€ ticket was introduced in anticipation of the summer vacation, but since the Corona had prevented people from going out much during the summer vacation for several years until last year, this year people not only in Germany but all over Europe are enjoying the summer migration of peoples and summer vacation.
When the Deutsche Bahn is running a 9€ ticket campaign, people from neighboring countries as well as from land-locked Europe are flocking to Germany to enjoy their summer vacation.
The 9€ Deutsche Bahn ticket is very attractive in these days when the price of gasoline is rising so dramatically.
Hamburg is not only visited by people from Germany, but also from France, Denmark, Holland, Poland, and, since English is often spoken, from the U.K. and the U.S.
The train stations are more crowded than usual and you hear many languages.
When I say that stations and trains are crowded in Germany, some Japanese people sometimes try to mount the argument by saying, "Yes, yes, I know, but the crowding in Germany is not as bad as that in Tokyo during rush hour.
But this is not true. The type of congestion is different.
In Japan, no one would bring a bicycle on a crowded train.
In Germany, there are.
Some people take their bicycles on the train to commute to work, but what increases this time of year is the number of people who take their bicycles on the train to go on vacation.
Some people carry a large backpack, some have pots and pans, trekking shoes, and even a tent attached to the bike.
If they have dogs, they bring them along, too.
That's why the trains are crowded.
Getting off anywhere you want and cycling from there is a great way to spend a vacation, and one that many people look forward to.
You can spend many days in summer in the meadows or on the beach, no problem, as long as you pitch a tent somewhere, build a fire, and cook straight away.
Of course, there are many people who load all of these things into their cars and head out, but this is not the first time that people have loaded their bicycles onto a train and headed out.
I myself do not like camping, but there are a certain number of people in Germany who like camping.
If you are going to be camping or camping somewhere, it is of course easier to spend your vacation with the tools you are used to and have handy.
The other day I was searching the Internet for a new toaster.
I prefer a toaster that can be placed horizontally for toasting ham and cheese, as opposed to the European style where the toast is placed vertically.
There used to be very few toasters that could place bread horizontally, but recently there are more and more of them available on the Internet.
I was a little surprised when I found a model that looked good and read some of the comments, including one that said, "I can take this size with me on vacation.
I have lived in Germany for quite a long time now, so I am not surprised by most things.
I am not surprised by most of the customs that Japanese people are surprised by in Germany, but on the contrary, I am surprised by most of the customs that Japanese people are surprised by in Germany. But when I read many comments about taking this toaster on vacation with me, I was surprised. I was indeed surprised.
Even now, when the 9€ ticket is being offered, I have yet to see anyone riding the train with a toaster strapped to their bicycle.
This is one of the reasons why I say that "stations and trains are crowded in Germany".
I would like to mount a challenge to Japanese people next time if I have a chance.
4.5.2022
DAYS/ Jude Column
Blue sky in Hanseatic city
The topic of Ukraine and national security and my pompous and intense discomfort with it.
With the start of daylight savings time, it is about time for the buds to start peeking out from the trees.
As is probably the case in Japan, Germany has been talking about Ukraine and Russia since the beginning of March instead of Corona.
As for any direct changes in our daily life, I guess it depends on the state, but in northern Germany, the prices of goods in supermarkets seem to have gone up little by little.
As for gasoline, it is generally expected that prices will continue to rise for some time to come.
Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, I have read in the news that more and more people who have been following the news and gathering information about the situation there and the evacuees have become tired and a bit depressed because of the continuous dark news from Corona to the war.
It seems that there are a thousand different attitudes toward the war.
I wonder if it is a point that people like me, who do not actively watch the news, feel carefree and guilty, or if it is possible to get mentally ill from reading the news so much.
Since the end of the Cold War, defense and military spending has continued to shrink, even in the case of Germany, but after the example of Ukraine, I am getting on a roll and saying out loud, "Defense, when it becomes necessary, is already too late.
This seemed to be an opinion that I could not take seriously when I talked about it with acquaintances in Japan before, and my internal antennae detected that the topic of national defense and military affairs itself was a "dubious idea" atmosphere, and since then I have not talked about military affairs, war, or national defense in Japan.
I thought that the opinion, "Of course it would be better without war, so there should be no army and we don't need military spending," was a bit different and a bit confusing to me.
I think this is similar to saying, "It would be better if there were no diseases, so there is no need for tests and no need for research.
Even if you don't want to be sick, you will be sick, and even if you don't want to be at war, you will be at war.
Peace is based on the sacrifices made in wars.
To use the analogy of health, I think that it is because of the efforts of scholars who are constantly researching diseases that we are able to stay healthy and cure illnesses.
Of course, it would be better if there were no wars.
But right now, "it just so happens" that media around the world are reporting abundantly on the topic of Ukraine, and there are always wars and conflicts on the planet.
I actually don't understand why they don't pay attention to that and "only" Ukraine is specially reported in this way day after day.
Basically, I watch the news in a carefree and indifferent way.
But I can't think, "Oh, I'm glad that the place where I live is not directly related to the war.
I can't look at someone who is sick and say, "Oh, thank God it wasn't me. I'm so happy" or "Thank God it wasn't me" when I see someone who is ill or when I see someone whose house has been burglarized.
I am quite surprised at the number of people who say, "Thank God there is no war in my country," when they hear about the recent situation in Ukraine.
I often hear these words from Japanese people (to be honest, I have only heard them from Japanese people), but it makes me feel a strong sense of discomfort.
I could say that I am just very cynical about it, though.
And then, as if to push me further, they say, "I'm glad I'm Japanese," or "I'm happy to be Japanese.
What is the appropriate response to this kind of situation?
I am happy for you, and I wish you many years of happiness as a Japanese"?
Of course it is important to be proud of your country, and I am proud of my very Yamato (Yamato) roots.
Yet, I do not know what is the true nature of this strong sense of discomfort that is welling up inside me.
In a way, the words of these Japanese people are more intense to me than the news of the war, and I feel like I am going to be depressed (← not to that extent, sorry I heaped).
Peace" and "health" are both costly to maintain, and it is always important to "prevent" them on a daily basis.
This is the same for all countries.
The first step to protect our country is to be self-sufficient in our own country without relying on other countries for national defense, energy, and food.