Goodbye Unchan

Today I said goodbye to my friend Unchan. She doesn't want to leave, but she is here on a working holiday visa that is about to expire, so she's going back to Korea.

I really don't like to say goodbye. For many years, I was always saying goodbye to my friends as they went back to Japan, Taiwan, Korea, etc. In fact, I believe one reason I came here in the first place was so that I wouldn't have to say goodbye - I could make friends here and not worry about them going back home, because they're already home.

But sometimes goodbyes can't be helped - and this is one of those times. So I made a card for her in the only way I know how - I went to the 100 yen store and bought some paper, a pencil, eraser, a felt pen, and some pencil crayons and went to work. I made the card with lots of happy smiling faces and bright colors. I wrote the note inside in Japanese. I couldn't think of the words to express my exact feeling. I wrote that I was happy I got to meet her, and that she can always talk to me whenever she wants.

If I could think of the words, I would have told her how much I understand her situation. She's fallen in love with Tokyo - she has so many friends here and after she goes back home, being truly happy will be difficult.

Her room is directly above mine. Sometimes late at night I can hear her laughing and talking on the phone. She came down and knocked on my door just now, and I gave her the card and a small gift. I was hoping that getting such a card would make her smile and feel happy, but it had the opposite effect - she just looked down at her feet and cried. She said that she wished she could have spent more time with me. She seemed very sorry and apologetic. But she doesn't have to be sorry... her time here was limited and there simply isn't enough time to do everything. She managed to smile for a picture, and then she ran upstairs and back to get her camera so she could take my picture. And then there was a slightly awkward goodbye.

In the wake of recent events like Sicuan and Myanmar, you might wonder how I could feel sorry for a girl simply because her year-long Tokyo party has finally come to an end. But the sadness of a friend, especially a sadness you can directly relate to, is something that feels so much more real.

It's midnight. I can hear her up in her room as I write this, just like so many other nights. But there is no laughter tonight, just sobbing. The heartbreak of a girl who is forced to leave her one and only true love, Tokyo.

Goodbye and good luck my friend.