I met Kaori when I went to English School in UWA 10 years ago. We were in the same class, she sat next to me on the first day of school. One thing led to another, she became my best friend. She's an English teacher back in Japan who was taking a one year leave to go abroad. I can say that we pretty much thinking and doing in the same hat, and we had those instant connection that glued us together. Though in some ways we have differences - she's the kind of girl who can easily make friends, very organized, disciplined, mature, takes charge of herself and her surroundings very well - while I was not all that. So she's become a role model for me.
I was in the same class with her only one term (out of my two terms and her three terms) but the friendship didn't end there. We kept meeting regularly, visiting interesting places that I couldn't find anyone else to go with (because they're trully tourism attractions) such as a visit to a monks' village and whale watching, or just strolling the downtown, Fremantle, or any suburban - had some meal or coffee over some good conversation. Once, her sister came to Perth, she introduced me to her - in a minute encounter - but this is the surprising thing - her sister later told her, when I was introduced, the sister knew directly why she (Kaori) and I were best friends. It always gives warm feeling in my every cell each time I remember it.
One day, she suggested us visiting a cafe in Applecross that she read in newspaper. The suburb was quite far from our meeting point (the school) and we solely depended on a free map to find the place. We took the bus to the nearest bus stop, called the cafe asking for directions, and they said it's only about a few minutes away. Yet it took us hours to find it, because apparently the 'few minutes' was the time to reach it by car. They didn't reckon that we were on foot lol. We arrived there all red and sweaty from the hot weather, and after the owner found the misunderstanding, she gave us free cold drinks as a compliment : -)
On my birthday, she gave me a surprise treat. She called me a few days earlier, making appointment to meet up on that day, and when we finally met, she congratulated me on my birthday (that I didn't even know she knew it), having present for me, and treated me to a nice early dinner at Nedlands Hotel nearby. It was a lovely late summer evening, I tried salad with pear and blue cheese (which turned out smelling too strong), and she made a surprise announcement that Nori liked her and asked for my opinion. Even if I had sensed the sparks, I never thought it would be realized due to the age difference between them, but she seemed didn't mind. So I encouraged her to go with it and they've been happily together eversince. The funny thing is, a few years later the similar situation happened to me. In this part of life I followed her paths after a few years, fitting our age. See how well connected we are :-)
Our farewell was celebrated by taking an afternoon jazz cruise along Swan River - which was very very nice - then we parted. But the memories are well kept in my heart, and now and then I keep missing her, hoping one day we would meet again. Really want to visit them in Japan, hope it will be realized soon!
