Saying Goodbye

In life, probably one of the most often said words is 'goodbye'. Some goodbyes come easily because you hardly know that person and you just say it to be polite. Some goodbyes come easily because you know you can see that person again very soon. Some goodbyes can be very hard to say; you have to say it because you know you are going to miss those people and you may never see them again. During my entire three weeks in Japan, I have experienced them all plus a few 'goodbye' that turned out to mean 'see you tomorrow'!
The first major 'goodbye' was to Roseanne at Shinjuku station on 24th November. I had met Roseanne at the Railway Campus (Auckland, New Zealand) a few months before. We were good friends, hanging around, going clubbing and all the basic things people do when they live in a hostel. It was really cool to see her again in a completely different environment. We had a whole lot of fun throughout our three days of traveling and sightseeing around Tokyo, Yokohama and Kamakura. After dinning at Izakaya, a Japanese pub-style restaurant, it was time for us to say goodbye to each other. Inside Shinjuku station, Kumiko, Hiro and me were taking photos and seeing her off. Hiro and I had to head north to Nagano ken on the next day, and Roseanne was leaving Japan in three days. We knew in our hearts that we wouldn't see each other again but, under the slight influence of alcohol, we were all happy. I don't know what the hell happened, yet, I saw Roseanne again - at the 5th station on Mt Fuji the next day. She was supposed to travel to the southern side of Mt Fuji while I was supposed to take a bus to get on to the northern slope. It turned out that the roads to the southern side were all closed and her tour had to travel to the northern side. Meanwhile, the bus which I was to take didn't run on weekdays and so I was forced to rent a car and drive up to Mt Fuji in heavy rain. Roseanne and me walked around the 5th station, then went into a shrine and a souvenir shop. And again it was time to say goodbye. This time we said goodbye in front of the souvenir shop at Kawaguchi-cho 5th station.
My second major 'goodbye' was to Chika, a friend of Hiro who came to visit Auckland for 2 days. I had also met her at Railway about half a year ago. We were not really close friend but we did keep email contact. I headed north toward Nagano prefecture after I had left Mt Fuji. It was there that I was traveling with Chika, Hiro, and two other friends. We also stayed at her place. But fun time tends to fly past and our two days there were over as soon as they had begun. It was time for me to go on my real Japan journey - on my own - while the others had to head back to Tokyo, back to their normal life. I said 'see you' to her and she joked: 'We can see again?' As things turned up, I did see her again the night just before I left Japan. We met at a Japanese university student party (end of year party) in Tachikawa. The first thing I said to her was: 'See! I told you that we would see again.' She laughed. We went Karaoke after the party but it was getting late and Hiro and I had to leave or else we would miss the last train. Chika left with us because she was also taking the same line. Some money matter came up and Chika had to go back to the Karaoke place and sort things out. So, there it was: we said goodbye between the platform and the cabin of a train heading towards Shinjuku.
In Kiso-Fukashima, I said goodbye to two unforgettable ladies. One was a very kind housewife who gave me shelter when I was walking outside in the heavy snow. The other one was the old host of Kiso-Fukashima Youth hostel, who cooked a very nice meal for me after a long day of walking with my heavy backpack in icy temperature. The host couldn't speak much English and I was her only guest. But it was her kindness and caring which touched me. She also gave me a phone card and two postcards as a little gift.
At Nagoya YH (Youth Hostel), I met my roommate, Kawahara san. He was a mountaineer and an alcoholic. His English wasn't really good enough for the topic which we where talking about (cloning humans and very scientific stuff). But, with the help of alcohol and my other roommate that night who spoke perfect English, we all got along just fine. With a bit of a hangover after a big piss out inside our room the night before, I said goodbye to him. And it was he who tapped my shoulder two days afterwards on a bus in Kyoto. I was shocked that he had found me on the bus and he was shocked that I hitchhiked successfully. With a handshake and a slight swing of palms it was a silent goodbye.
And then there was my hero, Onira san. He was the driver who gave me a ride from Nagoya to Nara. For the detailed story please refer to Hitchhiking. After 3 hours in company, we knew we had to say goodbye. The place was the entry gate at Nara station. I thanked him many times for his (that has a negative denotation) extraordinary kindness. And he thanked me for my company very politely in return. In the end, he stood up straight and said proudly: "Goodbye!" With a very big smile on my face I said: "Goodbye! Thank you so much!"
I knew Mai back at the time when she was living at Railway. I was really lucky that I could see her again at her hometown, Osaka. And it was also good to have a friend who could guide me around and provide a place where I could stay for a night. We had a whole full-day tour around Osaka. The sad thing was that she had to go to school the next day. Anyway, she still took me to Osaka Universal Studio station and missed some classes. We said goodbye to each other between the ticketing gates.
In Kobe, I met an Australian girl at the Youth Hostel. We talked for the whole night and we met again on the next morning. Another 'goodbye' I said. On my next stop, Okayama, my YH host was a professional cook. If I had had some more cash at hand, I would have definitely tried his cooking. He made 'kimchi' – a spicy, fermented vegetable dish, made with cabbage or radish. We talked about Japanese food and how it evolutes because of other cultures' introductions. Next morning, while I was putting on my shoes, he asked: 'You have to go now?' I said: 'Yes. It's been nice talking to you.' At Hiroshima, I said goodbye (sayonara) to two soccer kids that I had played soccer with for an hour. While in Fukuoka, I met John, Bonnie, Elaine and a bunch of soccer kids. I think without them my life would have been much more boring. See 'Getting drunk in Japan' and 'Fukuoka and Hakata' for all these stories.
I am glad that I could get back to Yokohama. I had only 200 yen left (you can't do jerk with this sum of money) when I got back to Hiro's place. But one sad thing was that I knew I had to say goodbye to Hiro's parents, Kumiko and Hiro. And that's really hard. They had all been very nice to me and I really didn't know how to thank them. On 10th December 2002, early in the morning, I packed up everything and was just about to leave Hiro's place quietly. Then, unexpectedly, Hiro's mum and dad showed up behind me. God, I wish I had learnt some Japanese to thank them.
On the train to Yokohama station, Hiro told me that Kumiko couldn't wake up on time, so we had to say goodbye by phone. I rang her up; she was sorry that she couldn't get to Yokohama to see me off. But I told her that it was OK. I said 'happy birthday' followed by goodbye to her. Man, that was quite sad. After such a sad phone call, I had to say goodbye to Hiro. He was worried that I would miss my bus because everyone else had already got on. I just said to him: 'Oh, I won't miss the bus that easily.' I put my luggage on the bus and turned around facing Hiro. We were speechless for a second. I broke the silence: 'Well. If you have 3 free days, come visit me in Hong Kong. 3 days should be enough.' 'I will think about that first,' he answered and smiled. 'Well... take care. I don't think you will stuff up yourself too much but anyway I will be there (in New Zealand).' 'Yeah I know. You take care yourself,' Hiro said. 'I'll see you later!' I said and waved my hand. He waved his hand also. I don't know what happened but I could feel my eyes were getting wet and I was about to cry. I told myself to pull myself together and to hold back the tears. I knew Hiro was doing the same, too. I could see tears on the corner of his eyes.
On the bus, I had this sad feeling that I had only felt once before. I kept on thinking about all the places we had been to, the things we had done in Japan and in New Zealand. I think I was really missing my Japanese friends at that moment.