But no dear readers, it goes on.
You see, there is another story to tell, one of love, deceit and distances. So hold on to your RSS feeds, here we go again.
As an introduction, because that bit you just read wasn’t the introduction by the way, I must explain that the following post will contain a certain amount of secrecy. Although I have been open and honest with you, dear readers, taking you with me to give urine samples and dress as Santa Claus for example, this story shall contain some hidden details.
For you see I have been in a relationship during my year and a half in Japan. I left my love at Heathrow before I set out and returned to them the day after I got back. For various reasons, though, I cannot name this person, or describe them in any specific way. It’s a kind of Montague/Capulet thing, but hopefully with a better outcome.
So please do not feel snubbed dear readers, it is not you, it’s me, and besides, who needs a name? I shall use a symbol, it worked for Prince, for a while. The chosen symbol is this one (:-) call it what you will.
People say that long distance relationships never work but myself and (:-) can prove otherwise. The secret, dear readers, is good communication, i.e. Skype.
However, even with Skype things were becoming strained between us after a year apart and especially with my decision to stay on even longer, (:-) was starting to feel a little left behind.
(:-) told me, “I know you love me, but this doesn’t feel like a relationship anymore.” And they had a point; all we did was speak on the phone about anything and everything, in a comfortable bond of trust. But you can do that with the Samaritans.
I pleaded for some more time and we got through this difficult patch. I started teaching again in May but decided to cut short the rest of my time in Japan and come home again at the start of August. I missed (:-) and felt that I’d spent enough time in Japan, I had done what I intended to do and it was hard to say exactly what was keeping me there. You see dear readers, I felt that having a good time was just not enough; I needed to feel I was still growing in some way, not just be living day by day but heading in a chosen direction. Like my imaginary grandfather would say, “The Heavens may give you the stars, the ancients may furnish you with maps and the scientists craft the finest compasses; but every man must find his own way.”
I was homeward bound, I hatched a plan to come home in August, but I hatched another plan at the same time. A deceitful plan to surprise (:-) by arriving home a whole month earlier than expected, and turning up on the doorstep.
I had a flight booked for the end of August. Had I been staying then I would have moved the flight later into the year, but as it was I moved it earlier to the start of August. This was before I had done anything else, like even telling my company that I was quitting. “That’s all booked for you sir,” the woman on the phone said definitively. People can talk a lot about the things they will do but when plane tickets are involved, that’s real commitment. I had a lot of work to do.
As you know I finished my school, said my goodbyes, explained away to my colleagues and the kids why I was returning home. All of this was without mentioning (:-) but it was the thought of (:-) that kept me going.
When I had finished teaching and set about my month long trip around Japan, that was when the deceit really started. For you see dear readers, in order for my ploy to work I had to convince (:-) that I was doing things a month later than I really was. To give myself the best chance of carrying this off smoothly, I made up a month of lessons and weekend activities to feed (:-) so that they wouldn’t guess that during July I was really wandering around Japan.
But the plot thickened, dear readers, for you see our method of communication had been over the Internet but when travelling I didn’t want to carry my laptop with me. I had therefore to find a lie for (:-) that would explain my online absence. This I did by explaining how my laptop had broken, Windows had corrupted and it would no longer start up properly. (:-) with great sympathy gave me quite a few suggestions on how I could repair the problem, and I have to say I was quite impressed. Had I really had the problem I was claiming to then I’m fairly sure the solutions would have fixed it. As it was I just had to say, “Yeah I tried that yesterday, didn’t work. Good suggestion though, I was sure it was going to solve it.”
I know what you are thinking dear reader, how was I able to have this conversation if it was not over the Internet. Well, I embraced the world of International Phone Cards. In practice this meant many a morning of waking up at 7AM, and crawling out of my hotel room to slouch over a phonebox.
However, there was one morning when (:-) called me on my mobile phone unexpectedly. This was at a time when I should have been up and ready to go to work, but I was really sleeping in a hotel room. The sudden stress of sounding really awake and ready for my day was so great that it gave me a migraine.
But it worked dear readers, and when I flew from Tokyo to London (:-) was none the wiser.
I arrived back at my parents house and dragging my luggage through the garden on the way to the front door I just could not believe that hours previously Yoko had been carrying that same bag. The place I had just come from seemed so infinitely far away that I could not possibly have travelled between the two in a single day. The guesthouse and my parent’s home barely felt like the same planet.
The next morning I was on a train to London, to surprise (:-)
You might think I would be too tired to make my way to London so soon, but no dear readers, the thing was I was still travelling. I was on home turf but I had not yet stopped, the journey was not over.
I read the safety leaflet sticking out of the pocket of the seat in front of me. “The English is all correct,” I commented to myself. Then I remembered that I was not in Japan anymore, the English should be correct.
When I looked out the window I saw hills and they looked strange to me. And, I couldn’t believe how low the clouds were. All these differences seemed like the fleeting thoughts you get for a few hours after you arrive in a country; before the detail of the old place slips from your mind, you have a little time to compare. I was so impressed with how low the sky was I took some pictures.
I felt strange arriving at Paddington station. It was 11:25AM and I had no idea where (:-) would be. Having come all the way from Tokyo I was most concerned about the final few miles between us, hoping for the best possible outcome for my long planned surprise.
I left the station and found a quiet street from which to call (:-) from. My mum had given me a mobile phone to use, a great help but presented me with a problem. Chances are the number that would appear on (:-)’s phone when I made the call would be very different to when I had been phoning from Japan. I got around this by using the 141 trick to disguise my phone number and I quickly explained that I was using a different phonecard. (:-) said “Yes I didn’t recognise the number.”
I casually asked (:-) about plans for the day: to drive back to home to pick up some more things - (:-) had recently moved into a new flat. “What time are you going to go?” I asked nervously.
“About 2 o’clock” came the reply. That gave me two and a half hours to find the flat, more than enough time.
I told some more lies, well delayed truths. I had worked out what day it would have been had I really started travelling when I told (:-) I did. It would have been the 10th day of my journey, the day that I spent with Yan and Kizuna at Fuji Safari park. Standing in a narrow street in London I told (:-) about my day at Mount Fuji Safari park and how I had just arrived at my hotel in Nagoya city.
A police car drove past loudly. “You are in your hotel?” (:-) asked bemused.
“Yes…but I’ve got the window open” I explained.
“Oh.”
Coming down the road were two people pushing a heavy trolley and that was a noise I couldn’t readily explain away. I started walking up the street to give myself more time before they reached me.
But coming the other way was a man talking on his mobile phone. Perhaps I could have explained away the sound of a phone conversation, but not one in English! “Ah, my parents are calling me, can I phone you back?” I said, another previously prepared line.
“Ok” (:-) said and I hung up.
At Paddington Station underground entrance there were some dead turnstiles covered in out of order signs. People were just walking through them but coming the other way was an Asian woman and her son. “Achira” said the son pointing down the corridor so I knew they were Japanese. I wanted to see if they were ok, I’m not sure why, still a lingering attachment to Japan I suppose.
The woman looked at the turnstiles, then went to an information window which was devoid of anyone to help her. Correctly she decided to carry on walking down the corridor through the turnstiles. Regardless of the fact that they didn’t need my help I told myself that I had to move on from Japan now and concentrate on (:-).
An hour later I arrived at the station nearest to (:-)’s flat. I had the address and a map to the nearest postcode. Opposite the station was a road that sounded suspiciously like the one in the address, but my map was not pointing me in that direction.
I followed the map to a large roundabout, but it felt wrong and going by postcodes alone is unreliable. I turned back and went to the street I had seen before, I didn’t know it then but (:-) was just a hundred metres away.
It’s hard to explain how much time I had spent wondering how to break the surprise. For months I had been going over the possibilities and discussing them with people. Back in May I sat everyday at my desk in school imagining the moment and all the different ways I could play it out. I could, for example, have rung the buzzer and pretended to be a delivery person in order to get (:-) to come downstairs, then I could have jumped out or left some tell tale clue that it had actually been me. There had been hundreds of possibilities depending on where (:-) was, if I could find the flat on my own, whether I had a phone etc etc etc.
As I made my way up the road I realised that the possibility the universe had chosen to become true was a kind one. (:-) had been easy to find on my own and the fact that my mum had spontaneously provided me with a mobile phone made the surprise easier still.
I made my way up the road to the flat, saw (:-)’s car outside. I turned around and walked back to the bottom of the road.
On the train I had written out ideas for what to do in this possible future, but it was now time for me to try and make one possibility become real.
I called (:-)
(:-): Hello
Me: Hi
(:-): You’ve spoken to your parents already?
Me: Yes
(:-): How are they?
Me: Fine.
(:-): Oh.
Me: I miss you.
(:-): I miss you too.
Me: I love you.
(:-): Awww, are you ok?
Me: Yeah but I’ve been here in Japan for too long and I’m sorry.
(:-): That’s ok, you’re coming back soon.
Me: Thank you for being so understanding and patient.
(:-): Aww, what’s brought this on, are you feeling lonely?
Me: Yeah I am, it’s lonely travelling. I’m walking at the moment.
(:-): Walking to get food?
Me: I’m walking from the station past a pub called The Anchor.
(:-): A pub?
Me: Yes, and a Jet petrol station.
(:-): What? You sound like you’re in England.
Me: I’m walking up a road, past a residential home.
(:-): Ok…
Me: Now there’s a road on the left, it’s called…William Crescent.
(:-): Where are you?
Me: Now I am walking to a car, it’s got a parking permit for London SE13
(:-): What!
Me: And there’s a bag in the backseat, See Woo food suppliers.
(:-): Huh? Where are you!
Me: Now I am walking up the road and there’s a building with big windows and red brick walls. Number 87 to 89.
(:-) looked out of the open window and we saw each other for the first time in eight months.
Still talking on phone:
(:-): (laughing) You’re really outside. Why aren’t you in Japan, you’re a month early.
Me: I wanted to surprise you.
(:-): Oh wow, I can’t believe it. I’ll let you in
We smiled at each other and (:-) ducked back inside the room. I waited at the front door and after a moment heard, “Hang on, I can’t find my key,” which sort of ruined the flow of the moment. (:-) came down the stairs and opened the door. Still grinning at each other we hugged affectionately and I followed (:-) into the flat.
(:-): But what about your trip? Why did you come back early?
Me: I’ve been feeding you lies for about two months. Everything I told you happened at least a month ago.
(:-) asked me when I had really finished my job and I struggled to recall the true date myself.
I explained that I’d gotten back to the country yesterday, that I had done my trip around Japan in July.
During this lecture (:-) showed me around the flat and kept saying, “Wow I still can’t believe you’re here” and really neither could I.
“I didn’t twig at all” (:-) said. I felt a bit smug at my fiendish achievement. “You are a very good liar, I’m going to have watch out for this in the future.”
This was an outcome I had no plan for; although my intention to surprise (:-) was born out of love, it might convince them that I’m actually a pathological liar.
I got out my laptop to show some pictures. “Is your laptop better now?” said (:-). I didn’t want to make the scale of lies seem even worse, but if I just lied again and said that my laptop had recovered then that deception would always linger.
I told the truth, that my laptop had never been broken.
(:-) looked at me and shook their head, “You.”
My journey around Japan had sort of been a journey back home and back to (:-). From the moment I had changed the date of my flight I had been on a road home. That road had taken me from Northern to Southern Japan, then back to my parents home in the UK for one night and finally to a small flat in south east London. I had been on buses, trains, planes, cars, trams, cable cars, and boats, stayed in nine hotels and three hostels but finally I was sitting on the carpet next to (:-).
The journey was over. The origami crane I had been given in Lake Toyako, which I had been carrying all the way across Japan and the journey home, finally had somewhere to land.
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