Tokyo and beyond

In Tokyo I was glad to be met by Ayako at Haneda airport and travel to her house together. I felt relief that I'd done a tefl course and taught in London, where I met Ayako, just for this moment, when I needed a friend. She lives in Saitima, about an hour away. Id been looking forward to seeing Tokyo for months, but all I could think of was Kagoshima, the sea and the inaka (countryside).

I actually hadn't been to Tokyo since I arrived in Japan, but I saw instantly that I'd been living in a different world in the south. Kagoshima- conservative, old fashioned, remote, sultry, quiet, peaceful- gave way to skyrise buildings, slutty school girls, foreigners everywhere! I could only stare, the way people stare at me in Kagoshima. Foreigners wearing suits, foreingers holding cameras, the first time I saw a girl with African and Japanese genes.

We walked from the station to Ayako's house. Somehow the backstreets are so familiar. What I would see as a tourist, and what I now see are entirely different.

That night I met my friend Alex, who I taught together with in Ethiopia. Hes working in Tokyo for a couple of months. We decided to go clubbing since it was Saturday night and I wanted to experience one of the big clubs in Tokyo. But it was too much for me. Too overwhelming, all these Tokyoites in their hipster outfits and the elite glaring throuhg the VIP section, and Western supermodels glouting, all I could think about was the beach and swimming in the sea and cycling from work to my overheated apartment to turn on the airconditioning.

The next day we slept the entire day and Ayako and I woke up for a lovely dinner with her mum- one of my favourites, okonomiyaki, which we cooked on a skillet in the middle of her living room. Ayako had work on Monday, so I took various trains towards Ueno, where theres a park and several museums. At Ueno station I saw Jenny, a girl I did my TEFL with. Wed been arranging to meet up, but it was difficult as she didnt have a phone, and there she was just walking through the station with her brother. I wasnt surprised at all. Im always lucky in meeting people at opportune moments. Three years ago, at Ueno station with Rob, I bumped into Niki, a friends friend who was a Disney Princess in Tokyo. Alex, Jenny, her brother, and I wondered around the markets. I also visited Harajuku, the main shopping sistrict, like Oxford Street and Camden combined. I wasnt excited to see Tokyo. Looking around, all the Japan stuff is not new or surprising, so all Im left with is london.

Finally by myself, I walked around some of the shops. I thought I should start to look towards london life, begin pseudo-anorexia and find some trendy togs to take back home. I appeased myself by going to the museum of modern art. After all, there were things Id missed in Kagoshima. It was not disappointing. Giant dead deer were covered in glass balls, which magnified some sections of their hair more than others. In another room I walked through curtain onto a squishy red bed-like floor and lay down to view the entrancing video being played on the ceiling.

Malaysia

Your out of Japan and it's chaos. Noisy and dirty and there is rubbish everywhere. It's an onslaught on the senses and everyone is moving and crossing the road without looking or caring, but people are smiling and touching and slapping hands. Directions are...direct, no mumbling or stammering or evasive answers or wild goose chases.

My mind is picturing tatami and a pair of chopsticks cutting into okonomiyaki and trying to pry the pancake textured meal apart, a skill I was still working on....

I realise how far Ive come in Japan and how long it would take and what a big thing it would be to start over somewhere else. How was I to know in February, when the recontracting came round (no one likes February), that leaving Japan would be the wrong decision? I watched the Ohara festival last summer. All I could think was, this isnt fun! This isnt like Brazilian Carnival... but over time you learn to pick out the things you like and avoid the things you dont. Life develops around everything that already exists there like roots finding their place in the ground. In Japan, it just takes a really long time to place those roots.

Despite my sadness to leave Kagoshima, a few days into my holiday, I can feel some binding losening. I always thought entering Japan feels a little like having ropes tied around you. Its the work ethic, the fascinating and curious number of rules: many beaches close after 5pm or at certain times of the year; impeccable behaviour, napkins folded, dont talk loudly or express yourself too strongly. But you learn to either ignore these things or adapt to them.

In Malaysia Im travelling with Kat and Kat and Kats friend Dan. Kat is from England and Kat and Dan are from New Zealand. Being in a group is a lot of fun, its everything South East Asia is cracked up to be and the food is delicious, I only wish I was returning to my life in Japan, exactly the way it was.