In 2008, I received a 2-year scholarship to study in Japan from Matsushita/Panasonic International Foundation (MIF) along with 7 others. Because MIF brought us to several sponsored travels in Tokyo and Kansai region, I have to say that these group of people are dear to me. I especially became very close to Mei and Prabhat. I still keep in touch with them through e-mails and calls and we constantly chat online. Aside from the scholarship and the degree, people like them are the most important treasures I found during my stay in Japan.
2 weeks before our graduation in June 2010, MIF brought us for a final visit to their Panasonic Headquarters in Osaka and present our lessons from the past 2 years and future career plans. It was moving since it will be our last time together as a group in Japan. We had plenty of time before the start of our formal presentation so we decided to drop briefly at Nara and see some renowned temples there. 1 of us didn’t join the trip since he was nursing an operation and the other 2 went around Osaka instead. I bought this postcard from a souvenir shop in Nara and while on board the train to Osaka I asked them to write a note for me in their own languages. It was really beautiful knowing that each handwriting is a part of their identity.
To my fellow MIF scholars, thank you for the great adventure!
I find my most prized souvenirs are the ones that were free or obtained under special circumstances.
From Cambodia, a scrap of paper that began it’s life as a note in Khmer for a cafe employee but a fellow traveler and I split it down the middle, using the reverse to exchange contact info and so we each have half the sentence w/contact details on the reverse.
From Prague, a receipt from the doctor who helped me when I had tonsilitis and laryngitis – all in Czech, he thought it would be useful, I could send it to my insurance company to reimburse the $14 dollars I’d paid him – don’t think he had considered the cost of having it translated, so I never sent it in and it’s one of my favorite things.
I agree with you Maria that these are better souvenirs than expensive stuff for plain showing. Meaning above all. :) Thanks for sharing! By the way, it’s good decision to keep the receipt than reimburse the $14. Hehehe
Isn’t it lovely to recall significant events in our lives and the people that helped make them so? I like the idea that you have their handwriting, such a personal part of them.