Chapter 2:

We've Never Met, Yet

A Place of Our Own


All around me people are shuffling and dragging with them suitcases, bags and small children. The scene before me is hectic with people dashing back and forth from one line to the next, presenting their plane tickets, walking out the glass sliding doors. This was it, I did it, I was in Japan and all that was left for me to do was find the house I would be staying in, but it was all too much. The noise, the people, all of it was merging like unclear water and there was a sort of pressure to stay afloat; I had to stay in the moment. My feet were on the ground, my bags and suitcase on each side, but it was impossible to feel grounded. The nervousness inside of me began to well up into a ball of anxiousness that I couldn't swallow.

"From Gate 7 exit to your right towards airport station. JR line transfer to Nagoya station: 30 minutes".

I read the crumpled sticky note again and again, my eyes following each curve and dash of the letters as if it wasn't me who had written those words. Scribbled onto the yellow cubed sheet with a dying pen as I held the phone in my other hand, gasping out the words of thanks for having been accepted.

I had no set date for my return; my heart was aflutter. Folding the note back into the pocket of my dress, I clutched onto my belongings and with everyone else walked out the airport sliding doors towards the station.