"Guess I really had to go there in person after all.”

Not being fluent in English, I was not enthusiastic about going on an overseas business trip to the Philippines, even though it was only four hours from Tokyo, but I was half-pushed by the atmosphere
around me that I had to go, and so I made my first trip.

As expected, I could not communicate clearly on my own.
The food was greasy, the roads were congested, the air was stagnant, and many places could hardly be called clean.
However, as I became accustomed to the chaos, inconvenience, and appropriateness of the situation
and began to feel the friendliness of the people, my feelings changed.

In the end, I traveled there every month for three months after my first business trip, staying for a total of 15 days.
My English was as poor as ever, but I was at least able to engage the hotel staff in small, casual conversations before I was shown to my table at breakfast.

I found myself completely fascinated by this country of mingled muddiness and purity.