Bye, Maiko!

My best friend here, Maiko, left this afternoon for her homeland of Japan. I'll miss her terribly, but I'm surprisingly not as sad as I thought I would be. Maybe I got out all the mourning in the past month, ever since KB and my ex said goodbye (my ex after a painful year of keeping in touch; KB after -- well, you know). Maybe it's because Japan is less than two hours away by plane. Maybe it's because Maiko's traveled a lot and our chances of meeting again are higher than most. Maybe it's because I know I've made a friend for life.

Or maybe it's because I have some of Maiko's clothes and books that I'm to bring when I visit Japan this summer. (Awfully expensive to ship things, doncherknow. Heh.)

We went out with Mayu (the prairie dog-lover) last night for dinner at a restaurant near school that we've all become familiar with, and then to a saju cafe, where a saju reader told Maiko's future based on her birthyear, month, day and time. No crystal balls or tarot cards or examining of palms -- the reader sat in front of a computer and programmed the four numbers in, resulting in ... who knows what mystical info?

The reader talked about Maiko's career plans, love life, general personality -- the usual things you'd expect from a fortuneteller. She was startlingly correct about Maiko's job plans: she said that Maiko should go into something artistic or teaching, and that Maiko would be best off preparing or studying until October of this year. In fact, Maiko is planning on studying to become a Japanese language teacher, the test for which takes place in October.

Spooky, eh? I think I might go see one next week.

We topped off the evening by going to a karoake place and warbling away. I had to leave before they did, and it was a good thing, as my last memory of Maiko in Seoul is her merrily rapping to "Young Guns," a boy band (Sinhwa) song.

I met Maiko on my third day in Korea, and really just adore her. Actually, everyone adores her -- she's cute, capable, good-humored, open-minded, generous, thoughtful, humble, independent, and all-around utterly charming. She eats like a sumo wrestler, could fall asleep on a rollercoaster, takes more pictures than the entire slate of AP photographers, and knows more about Korean entertainers than any sane person should. More than one of my friends who didn't know her very well before they left have said that they wished they had gotten to know her better. I was one of the lucky ones who actually did.

All best, Maiko. See you soon.