In Washington, DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. About 3 minutes: The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk. At 6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again. At 45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32. After 1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all. No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He...
The by far most important means of public transportation in Japan are the trains. Aside from Tokyo and Osaka) the subway lives a shadowy existence and many times is even outclassed by the buses. Incidentally Hiroshima is the only town with a tramway.
The delightful thing with this concept is the fact that the trains are nearly always precisely on time: If the board display "Departure: 17:08 o'clock", well you better be sitting in the train at 17:08 or else its gone, however it doesn't leave one minute before either. Such a refreshing difference to our train system.
One fact is confusing the first few times: There's not one train line but thousands and thousands of them and nearly all are independent from each other and parts of different companies. In spite of that they all cooperate perfectly, the harmonize in a manner of speaking.
The delightful thing with this concept is the fact that the trains are nearly always precisely on time: If the board display "Departure: 17:08 o'clock", well you better be sitting in the train at 17:08 or else its gone, however it doesn't leave one minute before either. Such a refreshing difference to our train system.
One fact is confusing the first few times: There's not one train line but thousands and thousands of them and nearly all are independent from each other and parts of different companies. In spite of that they all cooperate perfectly, the harmonize in a manner of speaking.
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