Goodbye to private karaoke booths
Goodbye to toilets that clean your bum with 5 pressure settings and two temperature settings
Goodbye to Japanese dogs
Goodbye to Jimmy in Japan
Goodbye to old men that refused me in their bars
Goodbye to young people that bought me drinks
Goodbye to yakuza that punched me in the chest
Goodbye to studios with Y300 an hour guitars for rent
Goodbye cherry blossoms
Goodbye safe city
Goodbye to clean city
Goodbye to leg city, even in grip of coldest winter
Goodbye to obasans walking slow in front of me, drunken salarymen weaving in front of me, or girls with pigeon toes moving in 6 inch heels, while my legs itch to go
Goodbye to sitting on Shinjuku platform in the grey dawn waiting 1 hour for the first train home with all the other exhausted all nighters
Goodbye to my bicycle 1 month ago when I got a flat
Goodbye to being confused with my taller, Scottish, bigger nosed, darker hair friend Andy
Goodbye to bureaucracy that never bends, my favourite instance being a bank that required me to order a custom stamp with my name on it (2-3 days) go to the city office and have it registered, then use it at the bank to open an account.
Goodbye to waiting in Mitaka station 100s of hours
Goodbye to being the worst dressed person on every occasion
Goodbye to getting a little excited every time my train from the suburbs gets close to Shinjuku
Goodbye to being a king of Japanese in bars and restaurants:
"Nama biru kudasai"
"Nani kore-ga des ka?"
"Nai nai, daijobu"
and a pauper everywhere else
Goodbye to my money
Goodbye to feeling the truth that Tokyo is the world's richest city when I go to Yurakucho at night and walk by its buildings of wealth and power
Goodbye to one boss that gets off on fear and another that stopped responding to my urgent requests
Goodbye to travelling 45 minutes to get condoms that fit right
Goodbye to speaking loudly about someone's style while they're ear is right up to my mouth
GOodbye to being bored to tears in some lessons that I've perfected 2 terrific ways to hide a yawn and 2 ridiculous ones (scratching, pretending my throat itches, fake coughing, and dropping a pen then yawning under the table)
Goodbye to communists and anarchists good fighting in the most capitalist entrenched city I could imagine
Goodbye to Tokyo night view from a boat in the harbour
Goodbye to fresh sashimi at 8 am
Goodbye to all the people of Big World, I see you and hear you every day
Goodbye to me and Caitlin's voice sounding nice together
Goodbye to great students like Naoki: "Hey Naoki, how was your week?" "I found a partner for my life. Would you come to our wedding party?"
Goodbye to my kids classes
Goodbye to singing "At the Beach"
Goodbye to kids that clean up and who try and those who clean up and dont try
Goodbye to teaching
Goodbye to Zen meditation
Goodbye to falling asleep on the man who fell asleep beside me on the train
Goodbye to "Do you like Japanese girl?" "Why did you come to Japan?" "You can use chopsticks?"
Goodbye to little kids alone on the train
Goodbye to never swimming
Goodbye to Robaya and its employees that invited me into their homes
Goodbye to students I had crushes on
Goodbye to Tommy Lee Jones staring down at me from the billboards
Goodbye to being pakt like sardines
Goodbye to being a quick sketcher and understandable hand actioner
Goodbye to half Japanese girls, you do it to me every time
Goodbye Tokyo, I hated you and loved you, give or take
Ja ne, mata ne,
Da-ni-e-ru
Goodbye to toilets that clean your bum with 5 pressure settings and two temperature settings
Goodbye to Japanese dogs
Goodbye to Jimmy in Japan
Goodbye to old men that refused me in their bars
Goodbye to young people that bought me drinks
Goodbye to yakuza that punched me in the chest
Goodbye to studios with Y300 an hour guitars for rent
Goodbye cherry blossoms
Goodbye safe city
Goodbye to clean city
Goodbye to leg city, even in grip of coldest winter
Goodbye to obasans walking slow in front of me, drunken salarymen weaving in front of me, or girls with pigeon toes moving in 6 inch heels, while my legs itch to go
Goodbye to sitting on Shinjuku platform in the grey dawn waiting 1 hour for the first train home with all the other exhausted all nighters
Goodbye to my bicycle 1 month ago when I got a flat
Goodbye to being confused with my taller, Scottish, bigger nosed, darker hair friend Andy
Goodbye to bureaucracy that never bends, my favourite instance being a bank that required me to order a custom stamp with my name on it (2-3 days) go to the city office and have it registered, then use it at the bank to open an account.
Goodbye to waiting in Mitaka station 100s of hours
Goodbye to being the worst dressed person on every occasion
Goodbye to getting a little excited every time my train from the suburbs gets close to Shinjuku
Goodbye to being a king of Japanese in bars and restaurants:
"Nama biru kudasai"
"Nani kore-ga des ka?"
"Nai nai, daijobu"
and a pauper everywhere else
Goodbye to my money
Goodbye to feeling the truth that Tokyo is the world's richest city when I go to Yurakucho at night and walk by its buildings of wealth and power
Goodbye to one boss that gets off on fear and another that stopped responding to my urgent requests
Goodbye to travelling 45 minutes to get condoms that fit right
Goodbye to speaking loudly about someone's style while they're ear is right up to my mouth
GOodbye to being bored to tears in some lessons that I've perfected 2 terrific ways to hide a yawn and 2 ridiculous ones (scratching, pretending my throat itches, fake coughing, and dropping a pen then yawning under the table)
Goodbye to communists and anarchists good fighting in the most capitalist entrenched city I could imagine
Goodbye to Tokyo night view from a boat in the harbour
Goodbye to fresh sashimi at 8 am
Goodbye to all the people of Big World, I see you and hear you every day
Goodbye to me and Caitlin's voice sounding nice together
Goodbye to great students like Naoki: "Hey Naoki, how was your week?" "I found a partner for my life. Would you come to our wedding party?"
Goodbye to my kids classes
Goodbye to singing "At the Beach"
Goodbye to kids that clean up and who try and those who clean up and dont try
Goodbye to teaching
Goodbye to Zen meditation
Goodbye to falling asleep on the man who fell asleep beside me on the train
Goodbye to "Do you like Japanese girl?" "Why did you come to Japan?" "You can use chopsticks?"
Goodbye to little kids alone on the train
Goodbye to never swimming
Goodbye to Robaya and its employees that invited me into their homes
Goodbye to students I had crushes on
Goodbye to Tommy Lee Jones staring down at me from the billboards
Goodbye to being pakt like sardines
Goodbye to being a quick sketcher and understandable hand actioner
Goodbye to half Japanese girls, you do it to me every time
Goodbye Tokyo, I hated you and loved you, give or take
Ja ne, mata ne,
Da-ni-e-ru
