In Memory of Rodger Swan

In the blurry days after January 26th 2010, my friends were writing beautiful memorial posts in the electronic style to which we’d become accustomed after leaving Japan. I’d like to tell everyone who comes across this little website about the friend I lost.

My first encounters with Rodg were over Facebook. We’d both joined the “Keio Exchange 2007-2008″ group, and everyone was discussing their imminent departure to Japan. A few weeks after originally meeting Rodger online, we learnt that we had both been placed in the same dorm – Plume IS in Kawasaki.

Plume IS Welcome Party 

 

Rodg was in 306 and I was in the room directly above in 406. I could often hear him recording Tokyo Swan episodes when our veranda doors were open. At first, Rodg was a little quiet. Always polite, always that adorable wide grin on his face, always friendly… but he seemed shy.

Kris, Rodg & Me

 

In the first few weeks we had many large group social sessions and I knew there was a huge social side to Rodg dying to get out – you could see this in his boundless enthusiasm he showed in his earlier Tokyo Swan episodes. Myself and some other Plumers watched his videos from Day 1 and always implored him to make more – we adored them. 

As time went on groups were formed in the Keio exchange community, as people with similar interests discovered each other. Despite the fact that me and Rodg were opposites – we clicked. He had this ability to make me feel completely at ease and was just as in love with Japan as I was. We’d go from planning big day trips in Tokyo or to places in Kawasaki we’d never been before, to taking a walk just around our normal neighbourhood. You can be sure that if either of us went out, we invited the other along. 

You can see us just chilling in the video below. I love this video. We both decided to visit this random traditional Japanese house museum in Kawasaki. It just shows what we did. We went walking, we explored, we talked, and we were never bored of living in Japan. I never grew tired of Rodg’s company and I miss him greatly.

Rodg had all of the time in the world for me, and was as excited by little things as I was. What I remember most about our long walks and gossip sessions is his laughter. Places and people passed by in a blur as we just walked for hours talking.

Always Double-Teaming the Party

 

One day we walked from our dorm, along the Yagami river to a town not too far from where we lived. We were walking along the road, sipping on some beverages we’d picked up from a vending machine in an arcade, being stared at in a town that wasn’t used to seeing foreigners. One Japanese lady was staring at us quite obviously, which we observed in amusement. Only seconds later did the lady walk face-first into the lamppost – the sound of her face connecting with the metal was so loud, we laughed for days afterwards. 

I can honestly say I never heard one negative word come out of Rodg’s mouth. If anyone else was to say anything negative he’d always claim that he “was in the bathroom” for that conversation. He once told me (jokingly?) about how he’d start a conversation with a girl. “Q: How much does a polar bear weigh? A: Enough to break the ice”. I didn’t think people like Rodger existed in the real world. He was kind and considerate to everyone – yet he didn’t need to contemplate what he said in order to keep the peace. He was naturally a good person. 

Icebreaker

As our year in Japan went by he became more of a sensation on youtube. He became more confident, more comfortable in himself and he enjoyed making his videos so much that he spent ages on them. He spent hours editing them and making them just right. He always seemed so flattered that we wanted to be in the videos, sharing his experiences so we could remember our time together. He told me that his favourite clip, the clip that summarised his entire year in Japan was that at the end of Tokyo Swan Unseen – episode 7… with myself, Rodg, Kris and Luke in Shibuya. That he chose that clip to end the series was an honour.

Meeting Schoolkids in Kamakura

Since leaving Japan and returning to my life in the UK, I’m sad to say that I lost touch with many people from Keio. I think we all had great intentions to visit each other internationally and to stay in touch regularly – but real life got in the way. However, I stayed in very regular contact with Rodg. We sent each other huge, novel-length mails pretty much every day, from leaving Japan in summer 2008 right up until January 2010. These “rides on the goss train” as they became known discussed anything and everything.

 I was with Rodg all the way through his blossoming relationship with his girlfriend – extremely proud of him and happy that he was content. Rodg lived through my UK adventures and he encouraged me wholeheartedly to return to Japan. 

Platonic Love

 

On the morning of Jan 27th in the UK I received my initial placement with Interac – not too far away from Rodger. I posted on his Facebook wall with the promise of replying to his most recent message ‘later on’ after a hospital appointment. I returned home to see the post from his parents saying he had passed away. Things really haven’t been the same since.

How can I close a memorial post about Rodger Swan? My best friend, my confidante, my hero. In his own words: “you never know, one day we might meet again. So in that sense, you have to stay positive”.