I think it was 2004 when Fuku moved in to the big, chaotic, dirty share-house in Komaba Todaimae, where I lived with Timbo-the-punk-rock-pimp, Big-Gay-Dave (his home-town nickname, OK!), Seth the gloomy Jewish spanker, Dave the SF granola whinger, Gabe the boy-voted-most-likely-to-be-taken-home-to-Mum-Floridian, and Takako the girl who was never home.

She couldn't speak a lot of English back then, and my Japanese was - as it is now - dubious, but that never seemed to be a problem. She had a great, creative and gung-ho way of communicating that many Japanese lack. I remember one night she cracked me up when trying to describe the word "wrist" by explaining it was your "hand-neck". She wasn't home much, like Takako - they worked way too hard. But we became good friends, nevertheless, and when she moved out we continued to meet up for coffees and beers whenever we had a chance. I loved her eccentric view of life, and she would just make me laugh and laugh and laugh.

With her eyes on western (foreign) horizons, she decided to have a big adventure and see this big scary outside world we'd all been telling her about for herself. Last year she headed off to London to study English for 3 months - staying at my good cousin's house for a week - and then based herself in Berlin where she tried to set herself up as a freelance baker, selling her stuff to cafe's. She had a great time, met lots of interesting people and learned a lot about the western world. She wasn't making much money though. Then she fell for an Alaskan asshole who messed her around and said bad things and she decided it was time to go home for a while. Make some money and mend.

That's when she moved back in with me, here, in this cosy, comfy little home. But it wasn't to be for long. She told me from the start that she'd be heading back to Berlin and sure enough, she did. 2 weeks ago. I took these pics on her last night, a lovely night at The Peppermint Cafe followed by drinks at Moskow and a walk home through the park.

I've had a few e-mails from her. She tells me that things have changed in Berlin, and that it feels very different this time. She's grown up some. She realises that she was something of a timid child first time around and that she can see people more clearly now. A friend from last time, an artist, made her angry with his arrogance and she was shocked that she had never seen that before. She wishes she was back here in our lovely house in Kichijoji but she'll try to make the most of her time there. She only has a 3 month visa this time, and I don't think she'll try to extend it.

She misses me. I miss her. Such is life in the big city. Ever-changing.