This story is about John, an 85 year old, retired, Norwegian diplomat, who unlike his name, is one of the most interesting man I’ve ever met. John and I met on a slow, wooden boat that was leisurely floating on the Mekong river from Thailand to Laos. This slow boat journey takes two days to get you from a small village called Huay Xai on the Thai- Lao border to the cultural capital of Laos, Luang Prabang. At 85 years young, John opted to travel by this slow boat instead of the convenient train that gets you there in four hours. If this weren’t already fascinating enough, he was traveling with a beautiful 60 something, Korean woman with whom he shared a platonic friendship and a common love for travel. They were both in fulfilling and loving marriages, their spouses simply didn’t enjoy travel like they did. “I need to explain at every guesthouse that we need two separate beds” John laughingly told me, “they always think we are a couple”.
“And where are you from?” he asked me, as I was getting comfortable on a bag of sand as my seat in the front of the boat. “India” I said, and thus started our beautifully long conversation. In a short time, I learnt that John was a very well travelled ex-diplomat who lived in different countries across the globe while he worked for the Norwegian embassy. We chatted about the beauty of cultural differences, the joy of exploring cuisines in each country, and how Asia is wildly different from the Western world. He was funny, a wealth of knowledge, and I thoroughly enjoyed absorbing everything I was learning from him.
After a while, I cheekily asked him “What is one travel experience that you’ll always remember?” which is when he launched into a story that today’s generations will never experience. “Well Mia, let me tell you about the first time I travelled to Japan” he started chuckling.
When he was in grad school, John and his Japanese colleague excitedly jumped in when they got an opportunity to travel to Japan for free. As completely broke graduate students, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for them. Norway exported minks to Hokkaido, Japan and their job was to take care of these animals: feed them, clean their cages, and the likes. In return, they got a free private plane ride with all their meals included. They were thrilled! When they finally landed in Hokkaido, young John was stoked to be in Japan for the first time. After carefully completing his job, John and his colleague happily filled their hungry stomachs with sushi and sake. The company that they were traveling with asked John if there was anyone in Japan he would like to visit. John remembered that in his early teenage years, he had a pen pal* in Japan that he shared many a letters with, and thought it would be nice to give her a call. Thanks to the extremely structured Japanese systems, he was able to procure the phone number of his pen friend who lived in Tokyo.
Without hesitation, he dialled the number and soon enough, his pen pal was on the other end of the line. To John’s utter surprise, she didn’t speak a word of English although all her letters were in beautiful, flawless English. John didn’t speak any Japanese either. Needless to say. the conversation remained short. “I’m sorry to disturb you, I hope you’re well.” John said before he hung up. After enjoying some more Japanese delicacies and visiting a few sites in Hokkaido, he was on his way back to Norway.
In a couple of months, he received a neatly written letter addressed to him from Tokyo. It was his pen pal asking him if he really did call her from Hokkaido or if it were all a dream. Laughing, John replied to her letter that he did, in fact, call her and that he didn’t realize that she didn’t speak English. And thus, restarted a pen friendship after all those years. After exchanging a few letters, John noticed a change in the tone of the letters. Confused, he sought the help of his Japanese colleague who started rolling with laughter. He swiftly explained to John that his pen pal was seeking more than a friendship with John, and was interested in starting a romantic relationship. Unfortunately for her, John did not feel the same way and the pen friendship came to a quick end.
After John finished his story, we shared one of the most stunning sunsets over the Mekong river. I wondered in silence what must’ve happened to the girl in Tokyo who fell in love with a handsome Norwegian boy some sixty years ago. I imagined that she moved on to have a sweet little family of her own and as she grew older, left the busy streets of Tokyo, and move to a quaint little town in Kyushu. As our boat started to dock in Luang Prabang, John held my hand and said “I hope I get to see you again, Mia”. I gave him a big hug and waved goodbye carrying my backpack along the shore of the river into the beautiful country of Laos.
I hope to see you again John, if not, I will soon write you a letter.
*Pen pals are people who regularly write to each other, particularly via postal mail. Pen pals are usually strangers whose relationship is based primarily, or even solely, on their exchange of letters
