The last day

Cute Purikura Online cute

Gohyakugawa Station was the local train stop near my old pink apartment. It was a convenient way for me to get out of the sticks, and visit friends in neighbouring cities. If I took the southbound train, I could end up in Koriyama City within ten minutes. The station area was "bustling" with nightlife, two Starbucks cafes, restaurants, karaoke and cute shops. My friends' apartment complexes were about ten minutes away by taxi or bus. If I took the northbound train, I could get off at Motomiya Stn. to hit up my town's "downtown area." I still miss my favourite snack bars (where the old men stopped my rendition of classic Sean Paul songs) and the lovely walking path alongside the Abukuma River.

Sometimes, I took the 36-minute train ride all the way up to Fukushima City. There, I could visit the "ikemen" cafe, where us girls dubbed all the wait staff as handsome dudes. I can't forget Saizeriya, a cheap Italian place serving white wine decanters for 400 yen (or $4.00). I didn't make it up there as often as I would have liked, because I felt Koriyama was closer and more accessible. There were also Fuku's hotspots, like Neo (some hilarious times at that nightclub) and Chubbs (a basement izakaya where the alcohol was free-flowing).

I took my last train ride out of Gohyakugawa on the last Sunday morning of July. A big aftershock rocked Fuku early that morning, so my local train lines were shut down for inspection for a few hours. I believe I grabbed my last iced coffee and breakfast from the Lawson's convenience store across the street. I probably chucked some more items into the neighbourhood garbage station. (They probably weren't impressed that I didn't sort my last dozen or so bags of trash, but I couldn't be bothered to buy another roll of trash bags.) When B. came over around noon, we dumped my two large suitcases into his car's trunk. (He would courier those down to Narita Airport on my behalf). We also made a quick stop at the local 7-11 conbini, so that I could courier one bag down to M.'s place in Tokyo. I ran into Ryouga-kun for the last time. He was the little boy who popped his head into my living room.

Some fellow JETs, my supervisor and his assistant dropped by the station to see me off. It felt surreal, handing over my house keys and showing photos on my digital camera as proof that it was clean. I gave everyone a hug, but it really didn't feel like I was leaving Motomiya for the last time. I was really touched when three of my former students purposely saw me off. (I had run into Shou-kun and Katsumi-kun in front of Koriyama Stn. at my surprise birthday in June. I ended up watching one of their rock gigs in Koriyama. There were literally 10 people in the audience, including myself. So, they were really pleased to see me and wanted to give me a final good-bye in July. Bless! They were my senior JHS students when I started teaching in 2008. Now, they're getting set to graduate from high school! S-kun would like to be an office worker or something like that. I think K-kun wants to be a firefighter. Dream big, kiddos! I admire their drive. I wish I had focus like that!)

I do miss my little station. Gohyakugawa Stn. was nestled amongst Motomiya's many rice fields behind the Asahi beer factory. There was a sidewalk running along the factory, lined with arches and some nice shrubs. Oh, how I actually miss that 22-minute. (OK, let's be honest here. I also took several cab rides, because I felt lazy or it was just too darn cold or hot to walk over).

I left Motomiya, and found myself on a shinkansen bound for Tokyo. An epic trip to Taiwan and Tokyo awaited. Tearful good-byes, Forever 21 shopping trips and last lunch dates would be sandwiched in there.