Goodbye Girls

I had a car service picking me up at 4:45 to take me to Tokyo airport for my 8:00 flight from Tokyo to Sydney so I had most of the day to (sleep) and finish any final packing.

Despite the fact that I had no voice and was beginning to develop a cough, I was impressed with myself for being ready to go.

Thursday was a national holiday in Japan (Culture Day, I think) so Naoko and Yuki were free to spend the afternoon with me. Unfortunately, Miki had come down with a fever and a hangover so she was staying in bed. We met around 3:00 to have a cup of coffee and re-hash the previous evening’s events. I mainly did this through a serious of hand gestures. At this point my cough was getting worse so the girls took me back to the pharmacy. It was closed for inventory, but Yuki banged on the door and the pharmacist remembered me from the day before. Yuki talked to him about giving me some cough medicine so that I could sleep on the plane. He suggested “cough powder.” I was doubtful, but he insisted that it was better than any syrup.

The car was right on time, and I said my final goodbyes to Yuki and Naoko. We promised to keep in touch and see each other either in New York or Japan soon. On the way to the airport I thought a little about my time in Japan, but I wasn’t ready to really process all of the things I was feeling. I knew I had at least one more hurdle ahead… Narita Airport.