
What it's really like17:37 in the full recording
We already know the mayor
How two hours in a coffee shop turned into an introduction nobody planned.
Listen to this chapter
Transcript
- MichelleWe really wanted to meet some people.
- On the last day that we were there, we went to a little coffee shop, and the owners are
- in their eighties, a husband and wife. And he just kept bringing me these photo albums
- of old Yubari and the trains, all the history. So we sat there for a couple of hours
- just going through all this stuff. And then as we were leaving, they asked where we were staying.
- And I said, oh look, we're going home now, but we bought a home, so we will be back.
- And she sort of just grabbed me and pulled me over to meet this man.
- And it was the mayor. I already know the mayor of the town.
- JapanoMaAmazing.
Transcribed from the recording. Lightly punctuated for reading.
On their last day in Yubari, Michelle and Elliot visited a small coffee shop run by a couple in their eighties. The owner brought out old photo albums and spent a couple of hours showing them the town as it was: the trains, the parades, a theme park, a population that once reached 120,000 and is now around 3,000.
As they were leaving, the owners asked where the couple were staying. Michelle explained they had bought a home and would be back. The wife took her by the arm, pulled her across the room, and introduced her to the mayor.
And it was the mayor. I already know the mayor of the town.
Could you live outside a major resort?
Michelle’s experience, told in her words. Not a cost promise, legal advice or a general claim about risk.