12 years in Tokyo, almost to the day. I remember being completely bewildered. In the first year it was expected, but the second year was getting too much. I walked and walked but Tokyo is no Paris, the modern, cheap, ugly building go on forever. On that point, Tokyo is divided into 23 wards (ku in Japanese), which have their own "ban-cho-mei" numbers. You find the numbers on the side of building and on pillars. The streets have no names so you have to match the numbers on the map. Google's map don't have the numbers and they're pretty useless. Yahoo does better on this count.

Knowing the meanings of the kanji helped a lot. I'm not scared of getting lost but communication was still impossible. Granny bullied me into going to the YMCA Asia Language School in Ochanomizu.  Ha!ha! O-cha (お茶) tea and mizu (水) water...It's Dr. Ochanomizu in "Astro Boy"! She was ill and getting sicker. In 2006, as far I can recall now, she was in hospital and then a hospice. Mickio was three years old and he cried at her funeral.

2007 was a great year - very relaxed and mild weather. I went back to school but I still failed the exam. 2008 as the economy went bad I got a short contract. I think the project was great but the so-called Lehman Shock meant the end of contractors. Grand-dad was in and out of hospital that winter. He died suddenly in February 2009. My wife is an only child and for about a year she just stunned.

That accounts for eight years as foreigner. There's not much to show externally but internally I am different. I think I've forgotten all French and German I ever knew, maybe I've even lost myself. I passed the Japanese Language exam N3, finally! Arte's Journal is on the internet and there are a few people from the past on Facebook. (With Adam in Zurich Kusthaus, an early installation art piece said "Old friends are best left in the past" and "Private property created crime". I still ponder on these, if they really are true).

I start school again next week and I need the N2 Japanese exam. Older posts show a glimpse in the last 5 years. I've gotta pass the exam and make progress. Wish me luck!