One Year Later

A year ago, I lost one of my closest friends, Rodger Swan.

Tonight a number of the Keio University exchange students displayed international solidarity in a chain of virtually 24 hours of Skype sessions. The vast majority of us are dealing with the loss of our friend alone, separated from others who knew and loved him as we did. Tonight, we were able to reconnect and share a few stories. Being able to get back in touch with the people who share the good times that I had in Japan with Rodg was a great comfort in these difficult times. It was a positive experience for all of us who managed to chat and something Rodger would have approved of.

Of course, those of you who know me will already have heard me tell a million stories about Rodg. One year on and he is still very much missed, and certainly not forgotten. Either by those who were lucky enough to know him in person, or his countless youtube fans. As Rodger always did, I’ll leave you on a positive note. This video was filmed with Rodg, myself, Esben and Kris in one of our favourite spots – Minato Mirai in Yokohama. Enjoy, and we’ll see you next time.

３月１９日～３月２２日：東京の予定！Tokyo Plans!

First and foremost,  I want to say a big ありがとうございます to all of you who’ve been commenting my posts recently. This experience is a rollercoaster at the moment, and having the support of my soon-to-be fellow ALTs is a really big help. I met some of my very dearest friends in Japan, so let’s make it another year (maybe more) of adventures and fantastic memories.

Shinagawa Prince Hotel

So, back on track, I’ve got three days all on my lonesome to get back in touch with my Keio exchange roots. Anyone who wants to solve this *lonesome* issue let me hear you shout “woooooo Japan!”. 3 days just doesn’t seem to be enough to fit in everything and everywhere I want to see again before training. In a pretty vague, disorganised list form, I really want to hit 渋谷, 慶應大学, 原宿, 浅草, みなとみらい
Shibuya, Keio University, Harajuku, Asakusa, and Minato Mirai.

I’m very excited to be staying on a Yamanote line stop, as (those of you who spend enough time with me will know) I have a habit of singing ALL of the stations on the Yamanote line along to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. I have a habit of getting stuck at Shin-Okubo though >.< Just try it… I guarantee you’ll be hooked or disgusted at the sweetness. I swear to God I just watched this three times in a row!

Things to do include meeting up with any friends who may be in the area, shopping, drinking, karaoke, shrines and SWEET FACTORY. I’ll save the big details for when I actually get out there and take my own photos, though!

For those of you who don’t know Sweet Factory, let me help you out. Having looked at the website, it turns out it’s a sister company of a British one! Thank the Brits for spreading the message of “pick n mix sweets = win” around the world! Me and my dormmate Kris used to spend obscene amounts of yennies here getting our sugar fix inbetween going on the rides and shopping. Their slogan is “Eat Sweets, Be Happy”. This is my life motto!Here’s the website if you want some excitement: http://www.sweetfactoryjapan.com.

In tune with my current video posting, if you’d like to see a fun trip out to Minato Mirai, check out this video. It involves me, Rodg, Kris and Esben all going on a trip. I definitely recommend checking Yokohama out if you get the chance and riding “banishu” – Vanish!

I hope these amazing videos make up for the lack of pictures in the blog 24 days to go…

More Than Words

“If they can log on and see themselves… and see the experiences and the places that we all went to, and if they can remember that and smile then I’ve done my job”.

We have to think positive, said Rodg. And so I am. I’ve spent this night looking back on videos of our time in Tokyo, and I have smiled. So I share with you a video that reminds me of the good times. When Rodg would knock on my door asking if I fancied going for a walk. See the sights, maybe hit some arcades, take some photos, chat about anything and everything. I present to you one of these days, when we decided to mission to a little-known museum in Kanagawa for a laugh. And a laugh it was.

One Week

Just over one week ago, my Keio dormmate and classmate, walking buddy, UFO catcher tutor, fellow cocktail drinker, all around playboy Rodger Swan suddenly passed away in Iwate, Japan.

The public outpouring of emotion all over the internet just goes to show what a truly remarkable person Rodg was. I know that many people subscribed to his videos and feel like they knew him. I don’t doubt that they loved him as much as I did. But I feel that ever bit slightly more honoured to have shared a year with him.

Not two days would pass without an e-mail in my inbox appearing from Rodg. We always started off saying ‘just a short one, I’m about to do such-and-such’, but these e-mails ended up being novels that bounced back and forth between our inboxes sharing all aspects of our life.

With so many people writing tributes and making videos on youtube, I felt that my writing a blog would just disappear into the internet ether. But it’s 3am, I can’t sleep and Rodg is on my mind.

On the morning of January 26th in the UK, I received a phone call from Interac offering me the place in Niigata, and I posted excitedly on Rodg’s facebook that we weren’t too far away. My post was the last ‘normal’ post on his facebook. I checked on his page later that day to see the post from his parents.

I’ve been watching all of the youtube tribute videos tonight, and it’s unnerving that I have appeared in every single video in the form of video footage or a photograph with Rodg. I’m not offended and I don’t think it’s weird… it just seems to have affirmed to me what a big part of my life I have lost.

Like many of my fellow Keio friends, we’re all so young to have never experienced this kind of loss before, and we are all so far apart, scattered across the globe. How can you comfort a crying friend over skype or msn?

But, as a friend of Rodg’s, vlogger Kevin ‘Tokyo’ Cooney, pointed out, we have to stay positive. Rodg changed my life for the better. My adventure to Japan was originally an escape from my past in the UK. The people I met at Keio, like Rodg, reaffirmed my faith in humankind and in friendship. This is what has driven my search for employment in Japan, so I can one again build a life in the country and with the people I love.

So here I am, blogging again. And I know that if this very long entry was about something as trivial as shoes. Rodg would have read every word.

Doing what we did best. Being silly together.