Last Posting in Tokyo

On Tuesday, Matt, Azuki, and I will be starting a new life in the big apple. I have been looking forward to this move for a long time now, but now that our time is coming to a close, there is some sadness as well.

There are many things that I will miss about our life in Tokyo. For one, the foooooood. We love the food here, whether it is Japanese, Korean, Italian, or French food. Second, I will miss the cherry blossom seasons every year, because it is probably one of the most beautiful things in nature that I have ever witnessed, and even after three years every time still feels like the first time. I will miss the saftey and cleaniness of the streets, and the general smoothness in which this very crowded city runs itself. Not ever having to watch my back in this city or even be on guard, is something that I will miss for sure. And although I complain about it sometimes, I miss the exclusiveness of my relationship with my husband here in Japan. Without any external drama from friends or family, we live in a cacoon in which our life mainly consists of work, Azuki, and each other. This exclusiveness, although at times could be lonely (you know, when Matt traveled 6 times to Hong Kong and two to new York in that 6 months frame last year), has also created a strong foundation for our relationship. We have become, truly, each other's best friends, the go-to-person for anything and everything, a team, and partners in life.

Last but not least, I will also miss the dog culture here as everyone seems to like dogs and Azuki has made many, many friends.

In fact, everyone around here seems to be sadder about Azuki leaving than us. This does make a lot of sense, since she is much more social than we are and has a lot more friends. Someone suggested a sayonara party for our dog, but not for us. And yesterday, we found a note and a present left outside our door, and the note says:

To Azuki,

Thank you for the fun times that we had together. I will miss you. Please run around a lot at the parks in New York, and take care of your health!

from, Chocolate (the white terrier upstairs)

This sentiment has been echoed by many, many who have come to love Azuki. Azuki in turns had an amazing one year life here in Tokyo, with her sole mission being getting the most pleasure out of life. I believe she has succeeded so far.

So, I would like to end this last Tokyo post with thanks to Azuki's friends out there, both humans and dogs. If she could talk, she would say:

"Thank you for being so nice to me even though I am really hyper. Thanks for playing with me (dogs) and for aways telling me that I am cute (humans). I love everyone and will miss everyone! Please come visit me in New York!"

Here is a picture of Azuki doing a formal Japanese bow. iro iro o cewa ni narimashta. Domo arigato gozaimasu!