It’s a curious thing that even at my age, I still have new encounters.
After getting off the plane and boarding a bus, I casually overheard someone speaking French. The bus driver was saying in broken English, “No phone calls on the bus!” but I doubted the passenger could understand him.
An elderly French gentleman was talking on his phone. The bus was running late because of traffic, and the announcements were only in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.
For some reason, I became curious and asked him in French, “Where are you going?” He looked surprised and asked, “You speak French?”
From there, we struck up a lively conversation. I learned that he loves cycling, has been traveling around Asia, and absolutely loves Japan. He’s 81 years old, retired, and enjoying life on his own terms.
The weather is beautiful again today, so I’m sure he’s out cycling somewhere.
Then, when I arrived at the office, a group of Ukrainians was waiting for me. We had arranged to meet.
They were talking so casually and naturally that I was actually surprised and couldn’t help asking, “Is everything okay with the war?”
One of them showed me some photos and said, “A missile landed near our company! There was a fire, and debris went flying everywhere!”

“That’s amazing! I’m truly moved. Let’s meet again! Take care!” I said as we parted ways.

The photo shows the Ukrainian chocolate and a Cossack figure they gave me. Apparently, a Cossack is a type of soldier.
The pride with which they spoke seemed to reflect the harsh reality they are facing today.