ItalianoGACKT Official blog update. Translation below:
Arrived in Ukraine.
I arrived earlier than expected.
It feels like I arrived in the blink of an eye.
If it’s that close then there should be more European tourists though.
Most of the time, when I tell Europeans that I’ll be going to Ukraine,
they’ll definitely say
『Why??!!』.
There must be a reason why they avoid this country.
It was pretty slipshod, where we had to go down to the runway, walk, then climb stairs.
I don’t quite get the flow but
well, this is something that often happens in other countries too so
at this point, it’s not surprising.
The inside of the airport is more disorganised that I expected.
Without knowing which way we should be heading,
everyone moved on while looking at where the people around them were going.
Then, immigration.
In this time’s round-the-world trip, the thing that pisses me off the most happened here.
No matter which country’s immigration you go to, the mood isn’t that great at customs right.
There are also quite a lot of officers who look at you as if you’re a criminal.
Of course,
there are also counties which go 『Welcome!!』
and receive you with a smile.
For some reason, more than half of the Asian countries simply stamp your passport
without a change in expression and with a sullen look, and without saying a word too.
With just a little smile added,
the impression of the country and the locals will be a lot better though.
When I touched on this in the past,
people who pointed out 『That’s of course, GACKT-san!』 even appeared.
They said that in the first place, you can’t work with a smile!
Frankly speaking, that’s not the case.
When you look around the world, there are many countries where their people add a smile.
Since I’m someone who has visited over 50 countries and all kinds of countries around the world,
I don’t think I’m oblivious.
It’s definitely not commonplace to be sullen.
It’s just that
for some reason, the personnel many Asian countries,
such social-communist countries,
and those countries with historical remnants are often exceptionally sullen.
Well,
I’m used to sullen personnel but
this time, the level of level of sulkiness is at it’s strongest.
As expected of Ukraine.
It’s a record high level of sulkiness.
A plump male immigration officer sat diagonally,
clicked his jaw, then made the gesture for me to hand my passport over.
『Hey hey, you… Don’t give me that attitude…』
I got annoyed and the words unintentionally came out but I still endured here.
If I lose it here it’ll be immature of me.
It could be that he had something bad happen to him and he’s in a bad mood now.
Oh well,
I’ll be the bigger man here… I told myself,
and took out my passport with a smile.
Then he sloppily took my passport and opened it.
He looked inside, and stared at me with all his power.
Then he looked inside again, then stared at me…
He repeated this around 40 times.
Does he really have to inspect the same page this much?
『Does something change if he looks at the same thing this many times?』
Unintentionally, the words came out again.
Ah, I said it!! I thought, but it looks like he doesn’t understand English at all.
Instead of calling him sullen,
it looks like he’s looking at me with an ugly expression, daring me to do something.
Is this a new way to make people laugh?
Is this funny in Ukraine??
Or is he trying to fit into some kind of role???
“Bacchin”!!!!
Finally, with all his strength, he shoved the stamp down so hard that it could’ve made a hole in the table.
『Ahahaha. That much strength〜〜〜??』
And the last bit of perfection.
Just as I thought he was going to close my passport,
he hurled it towards me.
『Are you KGB!!!!!』
I have absolutely no idea what kind of role he was playing but
he had none of the basic behaviours for a person at all to begin with.
I unintentionally laughed and said this at his exceptionally ugly attitude
『Are you stupid…』
My inner thoughts completely leaked out.
『Regrettable…
If I lost it here it’ll be hard going from here.
I have to smile…』
While saying that to myself, I entered a taxi
and headed to the city.
As I neared the city, I could see some residences but
I suppose it’s because of the remnants of the Soviet Union
that I can quite strongly feel the socialist style in the buildings too.
When I entered the centre of the city, the historical buildings finally appeared but
I can’t deny the disorganised atmosphere.
The old buildings are mixed halfheartedly with the new ones,
and I can honestly say that it’s definitely not beautiful.
『What a waste…』
I entered the hotel and checked in.
This time’s hotel is one with a good ambience but
it seems like it’s the first hotel with such a concept in Ukraine.
At the front desk, they asked me with a smile 『How was your trip here?』.
As it was a rather beautiful smile, the difference between this and earlier was so huge that I laughed.
I spoke a little about what happened at the airport, and they said
『Ah〜〜〜〜….』
with a strong nod,
and it seems that everyone who visits this country will encounter that initially.
They said that it’s something like a bad habit so I should ignore it.
『Hーmm…』
And without being convinced, I decided to walk around the city.
I didn’t really feel this in Estonia but in Ukraine anyway, there are many beauties who catch my attention.
Anyway, disregarding that this may a luxury street, there are a lot of people with beautiful facial features.
It’s no wonder that many of the world’s models are from Ukraine.
However, there’s something that bothers me.
No one smiles.
It looks like everyone doesn’t make any expression, or rather, they have a cold expression.
I wonder why they don’t smile at all…
It seems like their smiles disappear at this point.
I wonder if it’s a problem with education…
I met a Ukrainian friend and we came to a shopping centre.
I discovered a rather interesting scene.
There are a lot of brands in this shopping centre.
And luxury cars are lined up in front of the shopping centre.
There’s a ticket cutting machine,
and it looks like the car has to stop for a moment for the ticket to be cut.
However,
there’s a man, who looks like a cleaner, who keeps staring at the cars.
Weird…
As I watched him for awhile, the man directed the cars that came into the car park,
then leaned against the wall to continue staring again.
When I asked my friend what that was about,
he said that he’s a person who’s watching to make sure the cars don’t get stolen.
I asked, do the cars still get stolen in such a high-end area?,
and he said it’s that there are guys who will steal the tires too.
What the hell is that…???
And there will be security glaring about in all the shops.
This is also because some person with unknown intentions will occasionally come in and do weird stuff.
Ahahaha.
How hilarious.
I asked, what do you mean by weird stuff in such luxury shops?,
and he said with a straight face that there are people who will suddenly turn violent too.
What do you mean by suddenly turning violent…??
This country is too complicated…
Anyway, we decide to have our meal early.
With regards to the taste, it feels like 【they’re doing their best…】.
This is within expectations.
It’s definitely not bad.
After the meal ended, I looked at the price but it was priced rather well.
Instead, I was surprised by this.
『It’s amazing that this taste comes at this price…』
I mumbled, and gave them my card.
Then they started swiping my card and asked for my signature.
Then,
they started swiping my card again so I asked
『Hey hey hey hey, why are you swiping it twice??』
and
the staff tried his best to explain in English but
halfway, he gave up, shrugged his shoulders and said this.
『Welcome to Ukraine!』
What the hell is that!!
This country is too complicated…
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA