episode-5

" Ficus racemosa " tree at 64 Nguyen Luong Bang, Dong Da District, Hanoi
You have taught me very important thing.

I found the house.
I would like to make a visit to my neighbors before starting the interior work.
What should I do?

I made a pamphlet in Vietnamese with a title "ARIGATOU Cafe” and "Sennensha Vietnam Company’s Business Description" and set out some Japanese snacks and walked around to greet them.
When I actually tried it, I couldn't figure out where the doorbell was.
Some occupants are absent. Even when I was able to get someone to come out, I only knew “xin chao” (hello).
A foreign stranger as me, standing in front of their house, will just scare them off.
I wish I could go inside and have them look at the Vietnamese catalog. But I feel like it would take them too long to figure out that an advertising, design, and IT company is going to be created nearby, and a cafe will be opened with it.

The owner was absolutely right to tell me don't cut the tree. I owe him a lot.

I wondered if there's a better way to get people to open up to me.

In front of the cafe, on the left side, there is a large tree.
When we moved in, the owner and his wife reminded us, "Please don't cut down this tree.” The tree is called " Ficus racemosa ".
It is believed to be a tree that brings good luck and good fortune in Viet Nam.
The fruit is also used as food. In addition, people also display it on the altar during Lunar new year holiday.
This tree must have been there when they built the house.
It must have been a tree full of family memories.
The fruit of the tree is green like in the picture, with a diameter of 1cm~1.5cm.
This green fruit is quite famous in Vietnam.
You can even eat them. When ripe, they turn purple, the color of wine.
This tree is a tricky one. Leaves fall from the tree, and the fruit falls and rolls around.
When the ripe fruits fall to the ground, they stick to the ground.
It makes me curious. There are not only fallen leaves, but also dust piled up.
Let's clean it up!

I bought a broom at the market and started immediately.
One day, I walked into my room in the middle of sweeping, and when I went outside to sweep again and I found a "long handled broom" propped up against a tree on the street. "What?”
I bought a broom, but I found it difficult to use because I bought a broom with a short
handle. “??????”
Is anyone watching me? Who is watching me? "Why is there a broom with a long handle?”
"You know, you're such a big man, it's hard to clean with a short-handled broom, isn't it? Why don't you try this one?"
After some deep and profound thought, I decided to think like this.

I immediately went to the market and bought a broom with a long handle.
After that, every time I went to Hanoi, I decided to clean the front entrance of the cafe, the back entrance, the street, and the parking lot for the customers.
When I started, I could feel the change in the way my neighbors and people walking by looked at me.
When I say "Good morning!” They smile at me and I feel very good.
Some companies in Japan often clean their offices in the morning before starting their work.
The Japanese Sennensha company had not conducted this.

Vietnamese women can be very modest. They can be shy sometimes. She quietly left the broom for me.

I had no idea that cleaning could be such a great catalyst for communication!
I was surprised that people of Hanoi that I met in the morning were so open to me.
Unfortunately, the person doing the cleaning (me) has a body and face that are far from making a good impression. In short, I am rugged.
And I can' t speak Vietnamese.
The more I do, the more people come up to say hello to me, little by little.
Grasp the handle of the "long broom" and scrub the ground with all the effort I can muster.
It's getting cleaner by the moment.After a while, I start to sweat. It's refreshing.
Thank God for the Ficus racemosa tree.