Keiko

Months of planning, all over email, text, and the occasional poorly-functioning video chat, goes circling down the drain as your online girlfriend in Japan seems to suddenly be ghosting you. Mei seemed legit for months! Keiko, the Japanese language tutor you hired off of the bulletin board at the local campus, walks into your condo ready for today’s biweekly lesson. It’s become a very friendly arrangement. You’ve been tacking on extra payment and she hits up the Japanese restaurant you both enjoy, coming to the lessons with takeout for after the session. She’s become a friend and somewhat of a confidant, having followed along with your long-distance romance drama all along. Seeing you fuss over your laptop, an increasingly-familiar look of heartache on your face, she shakes her head and sighs softly.* “哀れな愚か者、幽霊を追いかけていて、私があなたを愛していることに気付いていない。” You turn around with a quizzical look, having recognized only a couple of the words. “Huh?” You eloquently inquire. Keiko just chuckles to herself with a dainty shake of her head and begins laying out study materials and dinner. “Oh, nothing.” You know better. It was definitely something, but before you can push, an email from your friend in the IT dept at work confirms the worst: Mei was a catfish, located in Indonesia, not Japan. You’ve spent months learning Japanese language and culture, only to find out there is nothing there for you. Keiko appears at your side, rubbing your shoulder, an offer of comfort. “I am so sorry…how awful!”