As my year in Japan came to a close I realised there was one thing that I had to do. Aside from my project looming and me making no progress whatsoever and wishing that I had done so many things that I just hadn’t gotten round to, I realised there was one thing that I needed to man up and do…For my own sake. I suppose I haven’t written about this because it’s easier to be the storyteller when most of the events have past, rather than when things are still happening.

I’m sure many people have heard the phrase “It is better to regret something that you have done than something that you have not”, and that was my frame of mind for the last few months.

I joined my friends in an amazing trip to Guam where we played around in the sun and sandy beaches for a few days. I even stood up to my professor with something that I thought needed to be said when he flat out told me that he didn’t understand the point of my degree….Although I can forget asking him to be a reference for my resume now!…But basically, If there was something I thought I needed to do, I took the plunge, dove in head first and did it.

And the final thing that I did I’ll explain to you now.

…Relationships are complicated, and I’ve certainly had my fair share of good and bad experiences but things at the time I was about to leave Japan were not good with my boyfriend. I have grown in many ways from my experiences and perhaps have more of an Idea of what I want and since he was terrible at communicating with me, even when I brought it up, I generally just grew away from him.

I also knew things weren’t good when I knew that I had feelings for someone else, and to make matters worse, someone who I didn’t even think knew that I existed. ( I think I may have mentioned him in a previous post)

Smith, who was my best friend and counsellor for the time that I was in Japan, knew how I was feeling and I remember sitting at one of the local bar hang-outs when the subject came up over a couple of our favourite bartender’s (or “Otousan” meaning “Daddy” as we used to call him) long island ice teas. As the rest of our friends laughed and joked about the University’s gossip, I remember saying to Smith that we only had a couple of weeks left in Japan and that leaving Japan and being forgotten by this particular person was the scariest thought of all, More-so than breaking up with my boyfriend. I suppose that told me what I needed to do.

I’m going to call him Y.

I’m not going to lie, Y had been on my mind ever since the first few days I had arrived in Japan and met him at a party. I remember that he somehow stood out from everyone else for me. He was mysterious and the English he used wasn’t the same as most Japanese people use when they speak to foreigners. He was also one of the very few Japanese people who approached me and initiated a conversation in English which I will always have respect for. But the main thing was that I found him fascinating and I couldn’t explain it…I still can’t.

…BUT I hardly got to speak to him and I almost never bumped into him, so I tried to shrug it off and get on with the many other things that were going on around me.

Or at least I would try to…until I bumped into him again. I think I may have bumped into him all in all 3 times of the duration that I was in Japan yet he was pretty much always on my mind…and still is…Guess that’s when you know you have it bad!

I guess what was more painful was that knew almost nothing about Y or when/where or even if I would bump into him again, so when the chance came around to finally talk to him properly at my friend’s leaving party, I took it. I remember that I had to leave because my friends and I were going to take the slow train to Osaka the next day and we had to be at Tokyo Station at 8AM! But yet again Otousan’s world famous long island ice teas proved to be enough Dutch courage for me to waltz over and ask him if he remembered me, when he immediately asked me for my number…wow.

I remember trying to make small talk when the time came that we had to leave so that we would get enough rest for the big day the next day. By the time I got home, I saw that I had a message on my phone… from him! He thanked me for before and gave me his e-mail address. I thanked him, went to bed and went to Osaka the next day. That had been the last time that I had heard anything from him.

So the time came where I was sat at the bar with Smith, had Y’s number in my phone, had just over 2 weeks left in Japan and was wondering what to do. I had had a fair bit to drink by this time so the bright (and slightly drunken) idea came into my head to invite Y to my leaving party and when he was to leave, take him to one side and tell him how I felt.

I took my phone out of my purse and typed the messege in Japanese “Y, Sorry to bother you so late but I want to invite you to my leaving party, I have something to give you also”

Smith: Um…You do?

Me: …I have a bar of English chocolate and bag full of Choco Mini Eggs that my mum sent me in my last care package. Should get the point across eh?

Smith: English Chocolate is awesome.

Me: Indeed!

Thankfully he replied saying he would be there and he was sad to hear that I would be leaving.

So it was set. I would be telling Y how I felt.

To be continued…(I don’t want to make this post too long)

Apart from wasting my time brooding over what I want to do with my life. I have since turned 21 years of age and got to experience Japanese spring first hand. (And face first…!)

There must have been so many gimics for sakura season that I really expected it to be longer than it actually was. The Japanese sakura truly do appear overnight and disappear the same way.

Though it was nice to wake up to the sight of them even if only for a short while.

Recently I’ve been contemplating many things. When I have a chance I sometimes sit outside on campus, read and think about what I’m going to do when I get back to England. What Im going to do with my life in general, why I can’t seem to get it right, why everyone else seems so sure of what they want… why I can’t seem to stop staring at the beautiful boy over there…

*shakes it off*

One day I was busy doing the “I’m the edgy and mysterious international student sitting outside reading a book” when I realised that I had forgotten to take something out of the fridge in lab. I got on my bike and headed for labs.

Lately due to Tsukuba University’s new intake of students with the new school year. The campus is bustling with tiny first years wobbling about on their bikes. This not only proves annoying but can be dangerous because no one watches where they’re going so I take it upon myself to be that extra bit more careful.

Though on this particular day I found out well that it doesn’t even matter.

I was riding along the bike path going at a steady speed when someone overtook me on my right hand side.

To my horror I saw that his open jacket had caught itself on the side of the handle bar of my bicycle, and he was going a lot faster than I was.

Before I knew it I was lying face down on the ground in a pile of sakura petals, which did no job in cushioning my face from the ground.

I sat up in a daze contemplating the likelyhood of a jacket zipper causing me to fall of my bike. I mean in what sick and twisted universe does someone else’s jacket HOOK ITSELF ONTO MY BIKE AND CAUSE ME TO FALL!

I touched my face and found blood coming from the inside of my mouth. My tooth was okay but I had cut my lip from the inside.

A bunch of students were staring at me from the other side of the bike path and I looked up to find a worried-looking Japanese boy asking me if I was ok.

“My lab…fridge! Im…Okay?” I said, not realising that I was speaking English.

A teacher was standing close by saying “She seems to be muttering incoherently…Take her to the first aid centre!”

Since when is speaking English, speaking incoeherently?…Anyway

I’m also allergic to pollen, so the sakura petals still stuck to my face, coupled with the blood and worried expression must have made me look like a real sight.

It was at that point I saw one of my friends, also an international student, but who incidentally can speak very good Japanese. She stopped and saw me and walked with me and the worried looking boy to the first aid centre.

I must have hit my head pretty hard because although I remember being in the first aid centre, I dont really remember the walk there.

When we got there, we found that it was closed. But to my luck I was with the Most Powerful Gaijin alive.

Yes that’s right folks! The most powerful Gaijin alive in Japan is, contrary to your expectaion, not a tall black man but an average sized European girl who has taken it upon herself to NOT BE MESSED WITH.

A rather angry looking man came out of the back room and said that the first aid centre is closed and that I could pay for my own taxi to the local hospital.

I wasnt particularly hurt, I had just grazed my hands and cut my lip which I’ll admit looked like one side of my face was competing with pete burns but all I really needed was a disinfectant wipe and a plaster or two…And to take it easy.

But this was not good enough for my Eastern European friend. No No No.

It was at this point I noticed I had a few grazes on my face and on my hands and since I cry about everything and anything, I was blubbering away to myself as the worried looking boy sat next to me with the guiltiest look I have ever seen on a person.

I looked up to see my Polish friend quarrelling with the stern looking man and asking him something along the lines of “UNBELEIVABLE! What kind of medical centre is this?! There are no emergency doctors? FOR SHAAAAME!” She got even more angry when the man pretty much told me to make the half an hour walk to the local hospital.

It was then that two nurses came out, cleaned my wounds and asked me where I hit my head and gave me some plasters, all of which took about half the time it did for my friend to argue with the previous man.

As for the boy whose pocket got caught in my bike handle I remember he also helped me get my bike and bring it to the medical centre as well as giving his name and details if they wanted to speak with him further. I know it wasn’t really his fault and as far as it goes, wherever that kid is now, I’m glad I got knocked over by him.

Why you ask?…

Well, since living in the town they call the “little china” of Japan I’ve heard of some pretty bad experiences with people falling off their bikes and even seen a person taken away in a stretcher, because the person who knocked them down just carried on cycling.

My Eastern European friend even fell off her bike and fractured her leg, and all the Japanese people around her did was move her out of the way. Another European friend of mine told me that she had fallen and fractured her wrist and a Japanese guy jogging past her just pointed and laughed for a second before jogging happily away.

So even though I had to live with a swollen lip and hand for a while, at least I got the help that I needed and I was even lucky enough for the person to stop and take me to the medical centre.

I have a Japanese boyfriend.

And before you joke, yes yes I’ve heard them all before;

“Wow is that like a rule of thumb for when you go to Japan?”

hahahaha… ¬_¬

But no, it was sort of an accident since I met him in England, and even after I’d started learning Japanese.

I promise you, I’m not the girl who sees one J-pop or drama and goes “ZOMGZ IM GOING TO JAPAN OMG JAPANESE POP STARS ZOMG *drool*”

No sir-ee… I mean I at least have the decency to never admit that in public…

All joking aside, I promise you I did not go out looking for a Japanese boyfriend to accompany the Japanese flatmates I already had along with the Japanese degree I’m doing…

That was an accident.

No really….That was me last year. And last year I was even more reluctant to admit it, because I know how obssessed with Japan I must have seemed.

“so your boyfriend’s Japanese?”

“yep”

“And 2 of the girls that you live with now and used to live with last year?”

“Yep”

“And you do Science and Japanese?”

“Yep”

*Bangs head on desk*

It all actually happened coincidentally.

As few and far between Japanese people are in Manchester, England. I, Advena, managed to fish them out somehow.

In the first year I coincidentally got quite friendly with 2 Japanese girls who were studying at my university and living in my accomodation and we decided that we would live together the subsequent year with two other friends of ours.

Also In the middle of my first year I met my boyfriend at my friend’s birthday party while making small talk to some people. One of them, as you do when at university, asked what course I was doing and so after telling them they stopped me and said.

“No shit! really?”

And called their friend over, who was an average looking, apparently Japanese guy.

The first thing that popped into my head was “Oh great(!) He’s going to label me into the foreigner who likes anime or something category” - And while there’s nothing wrong with liking anime, I don’t watch it and I simpy cannot get into reading manga either so I don’t like to be put in that category, personally.

After talking to him, I was the one who labelled him, as cocky and arrogant, and although we exchanged numbers I had decided that I wasn’t interested, even when he texted me I politely declined his invites to parties and such.

It was like that until I met him on campus one day by chance and both of us were just in normal clothes in a normal setting..

I got talking to him and I guess I realised that I liked the normal, glasses-wearing, coffee drinking, heading to the library him, more than the cool guy he tried to be at that party.

And the rest is (slightly embarrassing) history.

The new acacemic year brought us Maiko, Miki, Bubs and Jimmy. Not their real names but I think they sound good together. Plus I’d like to preserve their anonimity.

Maiko and Bubs I’ve met before since they came with us on a field trip and have been around but Miki and Jimmy are completely new to the university, and both commute form pretty far away.

Miki is probably the most normal. She’s always smiling and always happy to help, she even came up to me and introduced herself when she first met me.

Maiko is the other girl who joined this year, She’s quite normal too, compared to Aki, my student helper who can be a bit emotionless sometimes. She always an effort to talk to me, and it’s not always small talk either so for that she’s in my good books.

Next up, Bubs. Bubs is awesome. Ok so he may be a little bit on the large side but he’s always smiling and always makes an effort to speak in English to me, which I will always respect. He even tries to include me in things and often tells me things that he doesn’t think I’ll know, just incase for some reason I don’t. …Like I said. Bubs is AWESOME.

Last but not least, Jimmy.

Just after the new people started, my professor informed me of one of the students being interested in improving his converational English, which you often get at the university, people find out you’re American or British and want to practise their English with you in the hope you’ll correct them and they’ll get better.

My professor told me that Jimmy had asked if he could attend the English Cafe on campus, but he had told Jimmy that he could just speak to me. So like Bubs, Jimmy has been speaking only English to me, but unlike Bubs, who’ll say something in passing, or to inform me of something or another. Jimmy will take out his electonic dictionary and come sit next to me and blurt our lines such as.

“I LIKE ENGLISH”

“DO YOU LIKE…JAPAN?”

“WHAT ARE YOUR INTERESTS???”

“WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LIKE”

I really wish I hadn’t told him the answer to the last one because he threw a million band names at me and started singing a few of his favourite songs…Infront of everyone.

I guess people don’t notice or don’t care, or pretend not to care because they didn’t bat an eyelid… I on the other hand had to act gracious …Fun times.

Sure, A girl likes to be serenaded but I’d like to meet the girl who likes being serenaded by Oasis songs sung in a Japanese accent while she does a Western Blot Experiment…

I either sit in the prep room thinking about what the Japanese students would do if I decided to throw myself out the window… or try and mostly fail at my experiments.

I sometimes go to my professor for help and advice, who usually avoids me because not unlike many Japanese men he is painfully shy. And I of course am a fully certified alien, so he avoids me like I am a carrier of the plague.

He does this, until I ask him about my research, in which case he can talk for the whole of Japan. A few days ago I was in his office, asking him about literature he can suggest for my final practical write up, for referencing and background knowledge etc.

HE WAS TALKING TO ME FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF STRAGHT, while I jsut stood there, trying to take it all in, thinking  — that window sure does look good right about now.

Sorry if sounds morbid, it’s a running joke I have with myself.

If I’m having a really bad day,  Taro will decide to block the passage to my seat with his, helpfully falling asleep so that even when I nudge him to move he doesnt budge, until I try and squeeze past, in which case he wakes up, acting like i’ve disturbed him. If Taro’s not sleeping he’s generally just moody, or if he’s not moody he’s just weird.

And not the, “I’m edgy and mysterious” type weird, no, Taro is the “I’m goint to randomly laugh manaically at my computer screen” and the “I’m going to fart, then turn and look at you and laugh manaically” type weird.

I just wish he wasn’t so good looking. Though let’s face it, I feel sorry for any girl who’d go for it an date him.

Sure I mean he might look good at the begining but when you get to know him, you’d probably want to join me up on on that window ledge.

Or you can do what I did today;

It had been raining all day and I decided to go home after a day at labs, except I got half way to the lift and realised that I had forgotten my umbrella, so I go back to the lab prep room and open the door.

Except Taro is standing right infront of the door putting anorak trousers on so when I open it I manage to smack him right between the eyes with the corner of the door practically knocking him to the ground.

And do you know what I did? I panicked.

I took my umbrella, closed the door and made a b-line for the lift.

Oh Im gonna pay for that one on Monday…

One thing I realise about being here is that stories come so much better to me when I reflect on them a while after they’ve happened. so I’m going to aim to write down my thoughts as everything is happening and watch my story play out in the hope that I can give you some good stories somewhere down the line rather than have a mish-mash of it all.

This entry really has no point other than to tell you what’s happening to everyone who I mentioned in my previous entries.

Let’s start with Dixie, Infamous boy-loving Dixie, who actually had a boyfriend of 6 years when she arrived here.

Anyway she went completely AWOL for a couple of months, from about November to January people really had no idea where she was. It’s a well known fact that she can pretty much take car of herself so no one really worried except for the odd “gee, where in the hell is that girl?” Since she really hasnt been to class in forever.

It soon emerged that she had been sleeping with pretty much any Japanese man that she could find - And I don’t mean men in their 20’s either. No no no… She’d been going for men in their late 30’s you know, for a little “Sugar Daddy Lovin’” you know “Ooh daddy I’ve been a naughty 21 year old”

*Shudder*

Anyway, since Dixie is meant to be living in my building, I noticed that I never saw her bike around, but I was honestly too busy to care.

It was only when one of our other friends finally let on that she knew Dixie had been (and still is) living with a 39 year old man that everything fit into place. When I spoke to Dixie, on the off chance, she seemed like she felt left out, but justified that she preferred living with him because he has a bath and she can take bubble baths whenever she wants. Oh… and he pays for everything.

Im starting to think it would be more interesting if she were blogging her instead of me…! haha

“Dear diary, today I decided I was going to skip class, fob off labs and live with a 39 year old Japanese man who can barely speak English let alone my native language…German”

The girl’s got balls, I’ll give her that much.

As for me, as much as I want to give you juicy news about ridiculously handsome men proclaiming their love to me on campus, I’m afraid there just arent any. Since, let’s face it they all fear me and I’m too cooped up in class and/or labs for most of the time contemplating whether or not to throw myself out the 6th floor window.

I did let my hair down during Christmas break when the international society has a yearly party, though.

As I got there and passed by the “bouncers” i.e. First year football(soccer) team reserves, I found that there were actually more Japanese people there than international students there. Including quite a lot of Japanese boys topping up on their Dutch courage for the evening.

You get one free drink if you come dressed up in a suit or a dress, so naturally having jumped at the chance to trade in my trackies and jeans for one of the dresses I’ve brought with me, I strutted my way to the bar when I was stopped by the most good looking boy I have ever seen.

He stopped me and said “Avena-chan, do you remember me?”

I looked at him and realised that I had infact met him at the welcome party back in August and I had thought the same thing back then, that he was gorgeous.

But for the life of me I could not remember his name, so I confessed that I remembered him but not his name.

He looked at me and blushed and said “Oh yeah it’s hard to remember isnt it?” and told me his surname, which I thought was quite weird. Either that or it just means that he doesn’t like me enough to give me his first name.

Anyway omgYayz!!!11!! a beautiful Japanese boy spoke to me… Yes that’s how rarely it happens that I actually have to announce it here like a crazy freak(^_^)

In the craziness of the whole party I managed to get drunk…A little more drunk than I had hoped, to the point where I was onthe balcony by myself with Ryuusuke, (yeah? remember him?) He’s been mailing me on and off, pretty much to see how far he’d get even though I’ve been replying with one word answers most of the time.

Anywho I was talking to a student that came to my university last year and a couple of others, when I realised that everyone had gone from the balcony as I was trying to sober myself up with the fresh air a glass of water.

Ryuusuke then comes up next to me and motions that he wants to tell me something. So I lean in thinking he wants to say something in my ear, when the bastard sticks his tongue all the way down to my ear drum.

EAR DRUM.

I think I’m going to start beleiving my crazy ex-flatmate when she says “All Japanese boys are porn stars” O_O

If it wasn’t for the fact that, that’s pretty much all the action im getting all year, I’d feel somewhat violated.

Needless to say I ran away as soon as he did that, I ran away danced with my friends, stumbled home and woke upthe next day feeling worse for wear.

Catch you soon

Also remember to e-mail me at inazumanoue@gmail.com if you have any questions, I reply to every one.

My degree course is science as well and I have come here to carry our an experment over the course of the year and eventually write it up.

Upon getting here, the university placed me in one of the labs in my field to get me started. Though it would be possible to change if I wanted to, but I liked the subject of the lab so much that I decided that I would stick with it.

It’s probably not a good idea for me to say what I’m working on because if one of the people I know stumbles on this accidentally, they’ll just know who I am. And while that would be fun explaining why/denying that I’ve given them nicknames and am currently broadcasting stuff about them all over the world…I think not having to do that would make life a lot easier

My professor is quite young for his academic status and you can tell that he’s a very accomplished man, with books and many many papers with his name in the title published in both English and Japanese. I had seen a picture of him on the university website so I knew what he looked like and I started to picture what he would be like based on his reputation and long list of published articles.

Around the time that I had come to Japan, he had been away for a while attending a conference in Kyuushu with the other people in my lab. I had no idea when he was coming back so I knocked on his door ever day to see if he was in, since I was getting worried that I was the only one left out of my coursemates who hadn’t met their professor…And since my student-helper had jet off to Kyuushu with them too, I was pretty much on my own for lab matters.

I knocked on his door day after day to ask if he had gotten my e-mail but there was no answer. In fact I was so used to not getting an answer that it had become my ritual.

Get out of Lift.
Walk to door.
Knock on door.
Go to lunch.

Except one day I knocked on his door, while planning if I wanted Salmon or Tuna onigiri for lunch, and heard a “HAI!” from inside.

Oops…I hadnt planned for this… Crap. What do I do?
It’s okay Advena, compose yourself and just ask him if he got your e-mail

I opened the door to find an extremely cluttered room. There were papers and folders stacked in almost every available space.

“Hai” He said from behind a stack of files.

I peeked round to find him sitting at his desk. He looked at me and said “You…You must be Advena-san…”

Wow, he certainly is more quiet than I thought he’d be. I thought to myself. And for a man who’s written countless papers in English he struggled to hold a conversation with me, only because of his shyness, not his ability.

And boy was that an understatement.

My professor has a brilliant mind but also is one of the most shy people I’ve met. I would even call him almost painfully shy, if it wasn’t for the authority he holds over us. The only time he’s not shy is when I ask him a question relating to the theory of the field, to which he can talk for all of Japan- and in English. But other than that he prefers to keep to himself and doesn’t really make an effort to speak anything other than Japanese. Nevertheless I still respect him and his work very much.

Next up…The students.

When I came to Japan the only people that used the lab were myself and 3 Masters Students, Taro, Inami and Aki.

Aki is the only girl and I was told by Dixie’s student-helper that she was kind of forced to be mine because of this. I didn’t think she was very helpful to me at first and I got frustrated because I thought she didn’t bother. Dixie and Smith’s tutor helped them buy essentials to live, but mine would be absent all the time, and when I’d ask her to help me she would simply say she didn’t know.

Looking back on it now though, I can see that she’s just shy. She, herself only started studying here in March, and I came In August. So she’s fairly new herself when you think about it, and I sympathised with her since she doesn’t seem to have friends at the unversity and spends all day in the prep room reading papers.

She did, and still does help me when I have questions about my experiment. When I ask her about this, she does all she can to help.

When I first started lab, I thought that Taro would be the most interesting. He seemed the most normal out of the three, but instead he has a forcefield of awkwardness about him that is impenitrable to the average human.

He reeks of weirdness, and I’ve often noticed any conversation in the lab or prep room just completely stop when he’s around, and lately he just seems to be pissed off all the time, or sleeping in the prep room, so I just leave him to it.

Inami is like a less weird version of Taro. He’s quiet and keeps to himself and I still cant bleieve he’s 25, but if I have a question he’s very approachable and does all he can to help me. My only problem with him is that he speaks Japanese at the speed of light and it’s sometimes hard for me to process everything he throws at me.

One month after I’d come to Japan I was also joined by two other international students starting their PhD’s at the university. One from India, and the other from Central america. I was keen to meet them because my professor had told me he might need my help showing them round. Which seemed kind of laughable to me since I felt that I didn’t really know what I was doing, and I still don’t know the lab very well.

Soon, the prep room became full and I felt more at ease knowing that I could speak better Japanese than the other two. Though I still admired them for taking the plunge and coming here, not knowing anything about the language, or the work they were to do. But I guess everyone’s path to Japan is a different one.

Happy BeLATEd new year to everyone!

I’m not really a skilled writer and I didn’t really expect people to read this, and now that they are I tend to worry if I can keep up the standard. But hey, nothing ventured nothing gained!

Also thanks to people who have posted comments along the way! I really appreciate you guys taking the time out to do so. I really appreciate it. And if you have anything you want to ask me, just e-mail me at inazumanoue@gmail.com (and no it doesnt mean anything in Japanese haha)

Anyway, the story continues.

Satori drove us all the way to their university, which I later found out to be the Nagoya Private university. It’s incredibly beautiful and all of the students get given macbooks by the uni! The buildings are beautiful and their refresh room even has plasma sreen TV’s!

Satori was always saying how he and his family didn’t have money so I wondered how he would be able to afford going to a private university since the fees are much higher.

We got to the car park and walked to one of the buildings which I later found out to belong to the language department. This place is nothing like Tsukuba dai. They even have ther own Mos Burger, INSIDE the language studies building.

While I was busy staring at the Mos Burger workers, wondering if they were students or just locals, the bell rang and a few hundred students rushed to their lessons. Satori’s friend, who I had also met in England a year after meeting Satori, came to greet us with a cheeky grin and said “You don’t remember me do you JUST KIDDING!”

He then bowed and said that he had class and skipped away.

Smith: Er,…Who was that?

I didn’t have a chance to answer because this was when Satori took us to the dining room. The weather was getting really warm now and I was starting to regret my choice of clothes…and shoes.

Yes, that’s right, ontop of everything I decided to wear my 4 inch high heel boots for this trip. Call me stupid and call me crazy but at the time of deciding to wear them, my reasoning was that “If I was going to be a stinky mess for one day without a shower, at least I’m gonna wear me some good shoes!”

And now I could feel the blisters forming. Oh well.

The dining room was something in itself. Beautifully decorated inside, and even had the local radio station playing the latest Japanese-pop through the loud speakers. Definitely in a class of its own comapring it to Tsukuba dai where the buildings have a rather socialist feel. You know, bland colours, high rise and look all the same.

The bell rang for lunch and we were joined by everyone that I had met in the UK 2 years ago from the Nagoya exchange programme. It felt really strange because the people were the same but everyone had changed so much. Satori for one thing, has improved his English so much that ne no longer needs a dictionary and can understand my spoken English without me having to slow it down at all.

Ayako is still as beautiful as ever but she has a more grown up dress sense than she did 2 years ago.

We were also joined by Satori’s Cheeky friend from before and his other even more cheeky friend who was introduced by Satori as having the “Most Interesting English”

He looked down the table, gave me a thumbs up and said “APPRECIATE!”

If you say so…!

We were also joined by my other course mate’s penpal, who during the course of meeting him in England had fallen madly (and scarily) in love with him. I mean so much so, that when he didn’t give her his university residence address she sent him countless gifts through the univeristy Japan Centre once she had returned to Japan. She’s really nice other than that. And really rich.

She seems to have changed now though, and didn’t mention him once.

Lastly, Satori’s friend Yasu came and sat down with us, though I think he had to be persuaded by the others since he probably had other plans this lunch break. When I met him for the first time he struck me as having too much of an interest in women, and according to Satori, puts on an act around them making them believe he’s a gentlemen, when apparently he’s really not.

I got that impresson when I met him in England too. He gave me his e-mail address out of the blue even though I had only met him once.

Satori, being the nice guy he is, always struggles to say nice things about Yasu, but never says anything bad.

Lunch was almost over now, and for once I didn’t mind all the stares from the other students. It almost felt like we were the cool kids, sitting at the cool table at lunch time. …As cheesy as that sounds. But I did enjoy the attention.

Next up, Satori took us on a tour of the university as we waited for Ayako to finish her classes for the day. She would have to go to the station later and today, since Satori had his dad’s car, he offered her a lift and it’s 40 minutes by car from campus.

Satori told us how happy he was to crack a “Little Britain” joke and have people understand it and he did this the whole day.

We waited for Ayako in the foyer of one of the buildings and I took some photos while chatting with Smith and Satori, and ask expected there was a Little Britain joke every 5 seconds.

While I was enjoying the view of the lake that this particular building overlooked, Satori said something about people at this university having so much money and I asked him how he was able to pay for a private university since he had said before that his dad cannot afford the fees.

Satori told me that he had been given a bursary by the university and would only have to pay them 100,000 yen for all his years of study. My respect for Satori suddenly shot up, though dont get me wrong, It was already high before.

The bell rang and Satori eagarly pointed out the foreign teachers passing by. I pretended that the prejudist American teacher talking down to one of the students didn’t bother me and nodded and smiled. Perhaps a defence mechanism to deal with a sometimes ignorant, xenophobic race, but I can’t stomach it. It makes my stomach turn when I see, usually middle aged overweitght professors taking out their frustrations on people who dont deserve it…But people will be people I suppose.

After dropping Ayako at the station, Satori took Smith and I to see our coursemate doing the same programme as us, but in Nagoya instead. They’re doing their projects at Nagoya public university which is quite famous in its own respect.

Satori took us to see one of our coursemates who then showed us round his halls of residence and his area of the univrsity. At first, when I heard that they have amazing luxurious halls with air conditioning and an ensuite shower I was jealous, but upon seeing everything with my own eyes, I realised that I wouldn’t trade the fact that I could go to Tokyo pretty much whenevr I felt like it, for this pile of bricks and mortar.

I realised that it meant more to me than living in luxury. I’m stilly young and I can slum it for a few more months and then live in the comfort of my own home and then English university accomodation when I get back.

Seeing my coursemate was like a breath of fresh air. It reminded me that England and my university really wern’t that far away and I could hack it here and I could do this thing!

We spent ages talkign in the foyer of their halls of residence and little by little all of the people at lunch turned up and we decided that we should go to dinner at one of the places nearby which apparently was very good.

By this point, my feet were killing me and I knew that my body was exhausted, even though coffee was keeping my mind awake, but by this point it just all seemed worth it, seeing everyone and getting to see Satori before he jets off to England. I really just wanted him to know that if he neede anything my family would happily take care of him, since he was really going there not knowing anyone.

Next up, the clan finally decided that we should get going to the restraunt since Smith and I only had a few hours left before we had to catch our bus back to Tokyo, so after a short walk we arrived at the place at which my coursemate likes to frequent. Satori had been oddly quiet at dinner, but he had been up for almost as long as I had and had also been driving us around the city so I didn’t blame him for being quiet.

Oddly enough, my Nagoya coursemate’s favourite place was a Chinese one. I had never had Chinese food in Japan and was wondering if it would be different to the taste of Chinese food we get back in England. Though when I’ve been up for more than 24 hours I tend to lose my appetite and didn’t fancy trying anything new, as antisocial as that sounds.

I don’t remember the topic of conversation at dinner ebing ery interesting. It seemed like all the people were being forced together and didn’t really want to be. I kind of felt like this was because of me and since Japanese people are polite like that they would just grit and bear it.

Once dinner was ending and I gave Satori my food to finish, since he was still hungry and my stomach was disagreeing with my choice of food, the Nagoya students joked about dinner being on Satori and everyone laughed except him. Instead he quietly finished my chaahan, got up, went to the counter and paid the bill.

Suddenly everyone looked at each other and seemed regret making that joke. I got up and asked Satori if it really was okay. Satori always mentions that he doesn’t have that much money so paying for 7 people’s dinner including his own must have cost him quite a bit. Though when I asked him he insisSted that it was fine and he wanted to thank me for making sure that he would be okay in England and nomatter how many times I insisted, he wouldnt take my money, nor anyone elses for that matter.

So as our time in Nagoya was drawing to a close, I felt as if I had done the right thing by not choosing Nagoya. The city itself wasn’t for me. I believe every city has a certain feel that either goes, or doesnt go with your state of mind. Sure Nagoya’s a real city, different for the tourist-proof Tokyo, but it still wasn’t for me.

The air was still warm outside as we walked back to the residence halls and after saying goodbye to the others, Satori, Smith, myself and our other coursemate drove into the centre of nagoya. By this time Ayako would have finished her part time job at the bank and would come and meet us in the station.

Satori found a parking space nearby and we walked to the station. Though my feet were telling me that it wasnt near enough! Satori told us that he forgot something in the car and ran back. He told us to carry walking to the station and he would catch up. Smith and our other coursemate talked to each other about something, but I wasn’t paying attention. I wanted to take in the back streets of the city. For me, coming to a new place and taking in the life is the most important thing.

I watched the cars go by and the backstreet clubs signs light up. There was also some kind of show in the background because they had big trouper lights shining up into the sky, and I could see them reflect on the clouds.

Satori caught up and we arrived at the station but about an hour early for our bus, so we enjoyed the Nagoya Station christmas lights and I got a few nice snaps of them. I was in survival mode now and I was really uncomfortable and tired, and actually looking forward to the overnight bus.

Standing outside the station, laughign and joking, it felt really nice to have seen Satori again and I couldnt help but think about the future and wonder if Satori and I would stay friends, and wonder what that would be like.

Satori helped us locate our bus company and stayed with me and Smith still they called out our bus number. It was time to say our goodbyes. Though when I said goodbye to Satori he handed me a bag and said.

“Do you remember back when we were in London? Back when we were in Trafalgar Square, and you handed me a bag…A really heavy bag with the dictionary and thesaurus I couldnt afford in it?”

(It was nothing really, I had some money set aside and it broke my heart every time he looked at them at bookshops trying to learn all he could before we had to leave, so I did what anyone would do!)

Then Satori handed me the bag and said “We’re even now yeah?” and waved me goodbye, leaving me there stunned.

I quickly joined Smith in the queue and got on the coach, we found our places and sat down and I opened the gift. A pair of the most beautiful Converse shoes I have ever seen, with a comic strip design all over them and a girl on one of the shoes who looked like menext to a speech bubble saying “They are so cool! I love you Converse!”

I looked at them, and then I looked at Smith…And then I burst into tears. (Don’t ask, it’s a girl thing)

Smith then told me to stop crying as he was so touched as well that he was on the verge of tears too. I kept thinking, and still do think that I don’t deserve them. They really are so beautiful.

So there I am, sitting on a late night bus to Tokyo, with a pair of converse in my lap, looking at them and crying. Definitely a moment to remember…!

(And yes, everyone was staring at me, before you ask)

I had told Satori that we were going to see him, prior to booking, so he helped us find some sites for booking the bus for cheap. But as neither Smith or I are confident enough to book in Japanese by phone, we booked through a recommended site from one of our American friends where you can make the bookings all in English.

I thought that since we were taking the overnight bus, it would be sensible to stay over one night, and then take then the bus back the next day, but Smith had other ideas.

Instead he wanted to take the night bus, see Nagoya for a day and then take the night bus again. So we would be taking 2 night buses, 2 nights in a row! I asked him why, but his only reason was that he didn’t want to stay over the first time he was in Nagoya. He said if I wanted to stay over I could do so but he didn’t want to stay over “the first time.”

There’s no way I was going to stay by myself either. Firstly, it’s a little daunting and secondly, It would mean that Satori, a week before he goes to England would have to look after me as, in everyone’s eyes here, I’m a helpless little girl. I know Satori, and I know he wouldn’t take no for an answer even if I told him that I could wander aimlessly for a day. Plus, Smith may have other ideas, but I wanted to stick together, just for safety and comfort. I made a pledge to myself that if we were to make a big trip like this that at least for the first few times we would stick together. That way, we’re not alone.

I don’t know. It makes sense to me I guess.

So there we have it. Two night buses, two nights in a row were booked, and I still think it’s a ridiculously stupid thing to do, but Smith wouldnt budge, even though I told him that we wouldn’t be able to shower for a day.

It would be worth it seeing Satori before he goes to England.

—-

Sittiing on the steps next to Shinjuku Centre Building, I found the air oddly warm for winter time. I kept thinking how weird it was to be in Tokyo so late and for some reason, the bus attendants in their little red vests working hard into the middle of the night comforted me. The vests reminded me of the netball vests that I used to wear in school for Physical Education class, so it seemed like they were a team, all lively and bubbly sending people off in various directions in Japan.

We were sitting for a while when Smith pointed out the twin government offices. I thought about the time that Firefly I had shown them to me. I smiled and said “Yeah… I’ve been up there”

“What? When?”

I looked at him, wondering how I’d explain myself. I opened my mouth to open when one of the attendants shouts out;

“CALLING FOR NAGOYA, PASSENGERS GOING TO NAGOYA PLEASE GO TO YOUR BUS NOW”

And in the midst of getting on the bus and finding our seats, we completely forgot about it.

It was an odd feeling riding the bus. It sort of felt like I was back in primary school going on a day trip somewhere, but when I looked outside Tokyo was staring back at me. It dawned on me that I was seeing the cityscape and skyline that I’d so longed to see when I was a kid back in London.  I looked at Tokyo through window and then I looked back inside the bus. Everyone was sleeping or bored, and it was an odd feeling to think that someone was admiring something that they were so uninterested in.

I got comfortable, there was a long journey ahead…Well two long journeys, but screw it. What’s an adventure without doing crazy things like this once in a while. I tried to sleep and did so for an hour when I woke to find that Smith had taken half my seat. He’s not the smallest guy so I can imagine that Japanese public transport is quite uncomfortable for him (which also aids the question as to why he wants to do this two nights in a row!) but I need space too!

I shouldered him off my seat and he rolled onto the armrest almost falling off.

Sleeping people are fun.

It was quite an uncomfortable ride after that, I could just not get to sleep. But before I knew it, the driver called out that soon we’d be arriving at Nagoya station.

I took a peek out of the curtains, and a look at Nagoya City. It wasn’t that long after sunrise but already quite a few people were out and about, on their bikes and in their cars. This place was very different to Tokyo and the my first impression was that the city had quite a dull feel. Though in my opinion it’s not the place that makes it what it is, it’s the people.

I checked my hair and gave it a quick brush before arriving. I was relieved that I didn’t look half as tired as I felt.

I got off the bus and felt the cold Nagoya air. For some reason it was much colder here than Tokyo so we rushed inside the station. Satori had told me since he lived quite far from the station these days, that his friend Iyako would meet us first and he would come afterwards. In the mean time he had told us to wait in the station’s McDonald’s.

We had both gotten a voucher for coffee from the bus company so we both decided to use them since this was going to be a very long day. I ordered some food and procrastinated and then decided to brush my teeth and freshen up in the station’s toilets.

I was procrastinating bit more when I got an e-mail from Satori. I had just replied to him when I saw Iyako through the window. I’ve always thought she was so beautiful, even when I met her in England for the first time. I mean I think Japanese women are beautiful on the whole, but Iyako is one of the few that just seems to have this effortless beauty. She hardly wears make up and can be wearing an ordinary jumper and jeans and still just be glowing. She also has this quiet intelligence about her and not the squeaky high voice that I so often hear squeal out “kawaiii ^_^” every 30 seconds.

She ran up to me and gave Smith and I a big hug as Japanese business men waiting for the bullet train looked round, slightly surprised.

Iyako took us outisde and asked us if we had a good journey. I smiled and said it was long and she laughed, knowlingly. Smith was silent, not a morning person I take it.

We crossed the road and I was thankful that it was starting to get warmer by now. We walked down the pavement, exchanging stories and asking how each other were when Iyako pointed to the staircase entrance of the Nagoya Subway.

It took me a second to figure out what she was pointing at, It was Satori!

He was leaning against the side of the staircase entrance and waved to me. His hair has grown so much since the last time I saw him, and I had forgotten how tall he is for a Japanese person.

Excited, I ran round the entrance wall to greet him. Satori put his hand out to give me a handshake but I pushed past and gave him a big hug. It always amuses me how much he hates hugs.

Satori then pointed to an old looking people carrier (I think they’re called minivans in America?) and told us to hop inside. It then dawned on me that Satori had borrowed the family car just to come and get us!

Satori then said “Sorry but it takes about 40 minutes by car to get to my university from here”

FORTY MINUTES? Wow Nagoya definitely makes Tsukuba seem like a one horse town that’s lost its horse. I also wondered if he at all minded doing all this for us, but he was the one who suggested it and he always goes on about how much I helped him in London. Though I really don’t think I did that much, I just showed him around, there’s not much more to it than that.

I looked at Satori’s reflection in the rear-view mirror and realised how much I actually missed him and how nice it was to see him and Iyako again. We laughed and joked all the way to Satori’s university in the back of his parents’ people carrier and all of a sudden I thought to myself that the 7 hour uncomfortable journey was definitely worth it.