[Greek text]
Πας και χαζεύεις τις ευχές στο ναό στο Ουένο [τοπ τουριστική γειτονιά] και ωπ, σκάει το ποζέρικο καλλιτεχνικό ποίημα του Κυριάκου. Kudos στο ζεύγος που ταξίδεψε μέχρι ‘δω πέρα, αλλά τι ζητάνε, δε θα καταλάβω ποτέ. *εθνική υπερηφάνεια*
(άμα είσαι στην άπω ανατολή, ε δε θα σκεφτείς ότι μπαρκάρεις σαν τον καββαδία?)
[English text]
All shinto temples in Japan sell rectangular wooden planks, on which you write a wish, and hang it on a wooden frame next to the temple. I guess it is not guaranteed that your wish will be fulfilled, but it never hurts to put some faith in it (Feng Sui, pure auras, etc etc). In most temples you can see all kinds of wishes, for health, money, work. In Kawagoe, in Saitama, you see wishes about finding the love of your life. In Shin-Okubo (Korean town), people wish to attend their fav K-pop band’s concert, or meet their most beloved idol singer in person. In Akihabara, the nearby otakus wish for their favorite anime to get a second season extension. I wonder, what will you see in Ueno? Ueno is a popular tourist spot with the Zoo, big parks and the Ameyoko fish market. The first factor is the key one, and I was happily surprised when I saw a plank written in Greek. No wish unfortunately, only some lyrics from a poem of Nikos Kavvadias[1]. It was enough to make me smirk.
[1] Nikos Kavvadias (Greek: Νίκος Καββαδίας; January 11, 1910 in Nikolsk-Ussuriysky – February 10, 1975 in Athens) was a Greek sailor, poet and writer; he used his travels around the world as a sailor, and life at sea and its adventures, as powerful metaphors for the escape of ordinary people outside the boundaries of reality. from wikipedia
belleelene 