Family Visit: Farewell at Narita

This was it.

We all knew it had been coming. It was just that none of us wanted it to come.

In a sort of daze, knowing that soon we'd be thousands of miles away from each other again, we made our way to the airport.

The check-in went with no problems, but the flight was delayed by half an hour. Of course, none of us cared about the delay, it was extra time together.

I found it very hard to eat my breakfast, but I had some, and enjoyed being able to see my family in the flesh for the last time in four months.

We looked back at the holiday, thinking about the blur of sights, emotions and experiences. It couldn't have been better timed. The weather for the most part was beautiful, and the cherry blossoms were out in full bloom in both Tokyo and Kyoto for the entire time. We saw all the parts of Japan that we wanted to, and most of all, saw each other.

We departed at the gate when we couldn't hold on any longer.

There was no way to keep my emotions inside me, so of course it was a tearful goodbye.

I waved until they were through the gate, and then followed them on the other side of the window up to the escalators down towards the departure gates. I waved for as long as I could, and then they were gone.


I took the JR Sobu line back to Kinshicho station, and then transferred to my subway line. I somehow lost my ticket on the way, but I just explained at the gate what had happened. The guard asked me how much I paid for it, and that was proof enough.

I went back home, seeing the places I visited with my family, like the coffee shop over the road. It was like a film or something, with blurry flashbacks to past memories.

Once I was back in my room, I started to sort through the presents and cards they brought me for my birthday, but I just couldn't do it.

I couldn't do it then. It was too hard.

Thankfully one of my housemates, Dong, suggested that we go to Ueno because he needed to go shopping. I was very grateful as I needed something to take my mind off the goodbye.

How amazing to see them, to be able to show them my life, have the opportunity to introduce them to all these new things.

Unforgettable. Truly unforgettable.

And that was it.

The end of the fastest eight days of my life. And the end of eight of the most wonderful...