True Story: A Life-Changing Sunrise on Mount Fuji

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and it's time for a true story. True stories are episodes that, as you may have guessed, involve me telling a true story. Now, today's story does not belong to me. In fact, it belongs to one of my lovely listeners. That's right, I'm more than happy for you to send in your stories. So, if you have a story that you'd like to tell, it could be an interesting story, a funny story, a frightening or sad story. Whatever it is, if you feel like you'd want to share your story, then put pen to paper, or type out your story and send it over to me using the email address, hello@englishlikenative.co.uk. Just be sure to write in the title,'True Story'. And if your story intrigues me, then I might just share it. As I am doing today with our listener from Sao Paolo, Brazil, Valdelice. Thank you so much for sending this lovely story in. So, without further ado, let's hear today's story."I lost my husband in 2019 and I decided to become a backpacker in my old age. As I say on my Instagram account, I was a young mother, a young wife, a young widow, and now I'm an old backpacker. I went travelling, backpacking around the world for two years non-stop in 2022 and 2023. And I visited 16 countries during this period. One of them was Japan, where I stayed for three months and it was on the peak of Mount Fuji, where my story took place. Mount Fuji opens for trekkers only during the summer, the period between mid-June and mid-September. My story happened on the 5th of September in 2023. Funnily enough, exactly one year later, I'm writing to you. Today is the 5th of September 2024 and I realise just now as I write to you, this is the anniversary of the story. I guess that's a good sign. So I booked a hut on Mount Fuji well in advance for the night before my trek because I expected to see the sunrise from the peak of the mountain. I was super excited. I was alone, but in the hut I met other trekkers. For the sunrise, I would have to wake up at 12.30 am and leave the hut before 1 am. So, I did this to guarantee I'd see the most amazing sunrise. From the hut, I still had to climb about three to four hours uphill to reach the summit. I left the hut alone in complete darkness. As I climbed higher and higher, I started looking behind me and there was this beautiful, huge line of small lights. Those were the headlamps of the other hikers that formed a spectacular line that went on for kilometres and kilometres. Those tiny lights, coupled with the stars in the sky, were one of the most beautiful landscapes I had ever seen. The sun was supposed to rise at 4 am, but the sky started to change before that. I had to speed up so I could arrive on time. The three hours of climbing were magical. I got super emotional just by seeing those little lights moving in sync. Because of the short period that the mountain opens, there are thousands of people who climb it every day. Before reaching the summit, the sky was beginning to clear a little and change in colour, which made the stars disappear. I got so distracted looking at everything, that I realised I would have to pick up my pace. There was still 1000 metres to go and the trail was getting steeper and steeper. I wondered if I'd make it that high. When I finally reached the peak, it was still quite dark and lots of people had already arrived, with loads more on the way. It was extremely cold up there. As a good Brazilian, I was not prepared for such freezing cold weather at all. I brought boiling hot soup and tea to warm me up. Hoping to witness the most incredible phenomenon of the sunrise from the top of Mount Fuji, I found a good spot at the edge of the mountain and sat there by myself. Suddenly the sky was changing colour more rapidly and the majestic orange fireball started appearing on the horizon. The scenery was surreal. People were gathered, friends, family, couples. When the sun started rising above the beautiful white clouds, I started to think about my late husband, my daughter, and my family. I cried a lot. As I contemplated that wonder, I attempted to take pictures and videos so I could always revisit the images of that magical and unique moment in my life. I looked around and could see that I was not the only one in such an emotional state so full of excitement. Now the sun was completely up, and a big fire orange ball was ahead of us. Between the amazing white clouds, we could also see the incredible landscape at the foot of Mount Fuji, complete with stunning lakes and green vegetation. We had a 360-degree view. I wondered if life could be any more beautiful. This is something we only see once in a lifetime, if we're lucky, I thought. The weather was amazing. Total visibility even though it was freezing. I was so conscious, so alive, that I didn't realise my hands were freezing again until I couldn't hold my phone anymore and I rushed for some more hot soup and tea. Now the day has fully dawned. Near me there was an Asian couple equally in awe, taking pictures from all angles. They spotted me alone and asked for help to take pictures of them together. I enthusiastically said yes. I also wanted them to return the favour and take my picture. So I took many photos of them, choosing the most scenic spots. Then the lady asked me if I wanted some pictures of myself as well. She was amazing. I was so happy with the pictures I got. As we were done with the pictures, we handed the phones back, thanked each other, and as I was about to leave to explore other parts of the summit, the guy in the couple asked me to take one last photo of them. I said, of course! As I started to take the shot, the guy went down on one knee, opened a small box, took out the most beautiful ring, and right there in front of my eyes, on the summit of Mount Fuji, at 3,776 metres high, he proposed to her. I was holding the phone, speechless. I switched from photo to video immediately and started filming to capture the whole memorable moment, and I was able to record all the excitement of the couple. She shouted in a language that sounded like Chinese to me and jumped up and hugged him. She seemed not to believe what was happening. Neither did I, and I didn't have to speak their language to understand that she had said a big"Yes!" to him. At the end, they let me take a picture of them with my iPhone this time, with their eyes still wet, showing off the beautiful ring they posed for me. I couldn't believe I'd witnessed both the spectacle of the sunrise from Mount Fuji and a marriage proposal. Tears were pouring from my cheeks now and I was too embarrassed to ask where they were from. One year later, I wonder how that beautiful couple is doing. If they're listening to the podcast, please send a'hello'. I don't think there were many wedding proposals on Mount Fuji that day. I witnessed only this one." I want to say a huge thank you to Valdelice for sending that story through. What a beautiful thing to experience and what an incredible adventure to spend two years travelling around 16 countries as a backpacker. That is quite inspirational. I am desperate to get out of my office and go travelling now after reading that story out for you. So thank you very much. And if you, the listener have any stories that you would like to share with me with the possibility of it being added to the podcast one day, please do. Practise your writing skills, put it in an email and send it over to me. And you never know, you might be listening to it at some point in the future. If you did enjoy this episode, please take a moment to leave a like if you're watching on YouTube. And if you're listening on any other streaming platform, please take a moment to leave a rating or review so that others may find this podcast as well. Until next time, take very good care and goodbye.