Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2020 15:51:00 +0000 From: Andrew Passey Subject: A Japanese boy in England Part One (Young Friends) When I was backpacking quite a few years ago I got very friendly with a fellow Japanese backpacker. One night we got very drunk and he told me about his experiences in the UK. It was a while ago now but this is loosely based on what he'd told me. Hope you enjoy it. Please do donate to Nifty below: http:/donate.nifty.org/donate.html ------------------------- It was a shock. I mean I guess I knew it was coming. It had been talked about as a plan for years so it's not like I should have been surprised. However when my parents told me it was definitely happening and in only a few weeks time, well it didn't quite sink in at first. Leaving home, flying across the world to a different country. All on my own. Leaving Japan and the life I knew here for the promise of a western education. My Dad had always been an Anglophile. He worked for Toyota and he'd been to the UK a lot on business over the years. He had a deep respect from the culture there and had made us learn to speak English from an early age. During his trips to the UK he'd been beguiled by the private school system over there. He'd hung around with a lot of privately educated people at top level management in the UK and seemed to idolise the idea of the schools there. He was certain he wanted me and my brother to be completely fluent in English and have a British education. So he and my Mum had decided to spend a lot of money sending me to school in the UK. He felt it would give us a head start compared to our peers. He said it would make us able to work in any country and not be solely reliant on a career in Japan. It wasn't my choice. I had no say. It was just one of those things I had to do. I wasn't in a position to say no, I had to be the dutiful son and do as I was told. Part of me dreaded going, part of me was very excited. A new country, one as football mad as I was. But at the same time I worried I'd be lonely, far from family and friends. Still, I knew it was a good opportunity so just tried to focus on the positives. It wasn't as simple as just applying for a place at a top private school though. My English was ok but not really at the level needed to learn all subjects in it. I could get by communication wise but talking about technical terms in science or geography in English was hard. My English needed to be much better and I needed a grounding in the way subjects would be taught over there. So I would be joining a few other Japanese students in going over to rural England. We'd be studying intensely at an English language school for 8 ish months before hopefully starting boarding school in September. I'd be taught everything I'd need to know to succeed and we'd be speaking English there all the time so I was sure I'd get fluent. It was made clear to me by my parents that this was a big investment and I was not to let them down. I hadn't even gone yet and I was already really feeling the pressure! As for me, well I guess I was your normal thirteen year old boy. I had jet black hair and brown eyes. A couple of friends took the piss out of me saying I had feminine features but that was just more because I guess I was quite a pretty boy. Everyone said my dad was handsome so as I grew up I hoped "pretty" would eventually become handsome! I was five foot three inches at best so quite a lot of growing still to do to become six foot tall like my dad. And certainly a fair bit of growing in the dick department still to do. Barely over two inches soft, nudging four inches hard if I was very generous with my measurements on both of those. I had a bit of hair and I knew from those sneaky peeks I'd had at school that I was probably fairly average in the development stakes. I could shoot sperm now and masturbating was one of my favourite pastimes! Although I guess I should call it wanking if I wanted to get used to speaking in English slang! I did it every night in my bedroom and loved it. However I really had more important things to worry about. Leaving home would bring with it some big challenges. I'd not see my parents for months. I'd be leaving my friends behind although I didn't have too many of those. I'd be leaving the food behind too which concerned me. Everything I'd heard had been bad about English food and I was fairly sure rural Worcestershire (wherever that was) wouldn't be full of sushi, sashimi and ramen. I'd be living with a host family when I was studying at the language school and I doubted they'd be making me delicious bento boxes every day like my Mum did! While it was scary and a big step, it was also an opportunity to get out of Japan and the inevitable end of becoming a salaryman with a wife that hated me. An English private school education would open doors to me across the world. I had no idea what I wanted to do career wise, I was only thirteen after all. However I wasn't naive. I did realise that having connections with people through school who would go on to high powered jobs was certainly no bad thing. I also had a secret I hadn't told anyone about, not even my closest friends. Well not a secret per se, more perhaps an inkling I might be different to other boys. I was awash with confusion but I thought I MIGHT like boys. I mean I'm not sure that meant I was gay or anything. Probably just teenage confusion and a heady mix of hormones but I couldn't lie to myself. I knew I liked to peek at other boys in the changing room at school and when I wanked off it was usually boys I fantasised about. The idea of being stuck in a boarding school with a lot of boys didn't sound the worst thing in the world even if that was still many months away. Then again it wasn't like I had much of a choice. This was happening and I had to make the best of it! So there I was, a few manic emotional weeks later in the cold crisp air of a Kobe January morning saying goodbye to my parents at the airport before embarking on my new adventure. I'd already had a bit of a difficult goodbye with my brother Moto who wished he was coming too. We had been close growing up as I was only eighteen months older but I guess we'd drift apart now I was leaving. He stayed at home leaving just me and my parents doing our farewells in the departure hall. "Ryo, it's important to study hard. Don't let us down. Don't get distracted by girls. Make us proud," My Dad said before he and my Mum hugged me and I went through security with my escort from the airline. I had assured my dad I would do all of those things. I was a conscientious student and given my confusion around boys I was fairly sure girls wouldn't distract me at all! I had to change planes at Tokyo for my flight to London. This was where the other students who would be joining me would also board, we met up together at the gate with our escort and introduced ourselves to one another. There was Hiro from Osaka, a fairly chunky likeable boy, definitely bigger than I was in width and height! And three girls who all seemed to know each other already; Suki, Kiko and Yui. We were going to be spending a lot of time together over the coming months and there was definitely some nervous tension in the air as we talked together. Luckily everyone seemed fairly normal and I got on particularly well with Hiro. He had an easy going relaxed manner which was quite rare in a country where we all seemed to be a bit uptight. "What do you think of the girls," Hiro asked me as he came to stand next to me at the urinals as we had both decided to have a piss in the toilets at the gate before we boarded our flight. "They seem nice enough, for girls anyway," I said with a grin. Out the corner of my eye I could see Hiro unzip and flop his dick out. It was definitely bigger than mine but I studiously avoided looking at it. I liked Hiro although not in that way and the last thing I wanted to do was him to think I was perving on him straight away. "Yeah, I wonder which of them will be first to suck my dick?" He asked. "Erm....I dunno," I said, not sure how to answer. "Ha, only messing with you Ryo. I'm here to study. I won't be getting involved with girls. Although you know if they offer I guess I'll consider it," he said and we both giggled. Hiro had a way of making light of any situation and as I'd learn over the coming days no topic was off the books when it came to his piss taking. The flight was tiring and I didn't sleep great, by the time we landed at Heathrow and had been picked up by the minibus I was ready to drop. I dozed on the two or so hour journey up to the school, waking up every now and again to look at the frost dappled fields. January in England was like Japan, pretty cold! Arriving at the farmhouse where the school was based jolted me awake. Then it was a whirlwind of activity. We met Sarah, the owner who was lovely. She'd taught English to students all over the world and had moved back to the UK from Korea to set the school up. She had a couple of lovely Labrador dogs and two sons who lived in the house with her. They were mixed race with a Korean father who they barely saw since he and their mum divorced. They both went to a local private school in Worcester paid for by their dad's family. The youngest boy was called Peter and was 10 and the oldest boy Joshua was my age. They kept themselves to themselves really and apart from a hello to us we didn't see them as we settled in to be told more about the school and what was expected of us. We'd study every day between 8 a.m and 5 p.m so it was a long day. Saturdays we'd do activities and Sunday's we were off to spend the day with our host family. Each of us would be assigned a host family we'd live with, some of them had been working with Sarah for years. As well as the five of us Japanese there would be seven Thai students arriving that afternoon as well. So in total there would be twelve of us all studying towards going to private school. We'd have school holidays like usual in Easter and a long one over the summer. We'd study then as well but would also do more activities. The school ran a summer school programme during the holidays and many European students would come and stay during that time. It sounded fun and certainly a change to what I was used to, while it all sounded daunting I knew it would prepare me well for school. After lunch the Thais arrived, three boys, four girls. All my age. It was a blur of names like Boy, Jay, and other names I couldn't quite get. But we had time to get used to each other. Until the Easter holidays in three months time it was just going to be the twelve of us. We were then told about our host families. It wasn't said out loud but I couldn't help but feel I'd drawn the short straw. My host family was new, the others were long established ones that had worked with Sarah for many years. Four of the Thais had siblings who'd stayed with the same host family as they would be so it was already like they were part of the family. My host family lived just up the road in the local village called Cradley. Jane and Mike Jackson and their son James. He was my age and initially I thought that would be a good thing. We were all to be picked up by our host families at the end of the day. We'd have the next day at home and start school on Monday morning. Mike came to pick me up, shook my hand in a serious way and said he wished me a pleasant stay. He drove the very short distance to the village and we parked up outside their house. It wasn't big but looked nice enough from the outside. Being Japanese I was used to living space being at a premium so it certainly didn't bother me that it wasn't a mansion. Jane opened the door and welcomed me to the house, no sign of James though. My initial thoughts on both Mike and Jane were that they were good honest people. They weren't particularly warm though and if I was looking for a loving family unit to replace my own I was possibly out of luck. When I saw the big hugs some of the other children were getting it made me a bit jealous. However maybe they'd warm up over the coming weeks. After all they were as new to this as I was. If they didn't then it didn't really matter. I'd be off to boarding school In September so I'd need to be independent and strong anyway. Once we'd said some pleasantries James then came downstairs and gave me a cursory "hello". He was then told to show me to my room. He looked annoyed but took me upstairs, showed me my bedroom which was fairly small but tidy with a single bed, a desk and a wardrobe. He also showed me the family bathroom although as his parents had an en suite it would just be me and James sharing it. "I can't believe I have to share a bathroom with you," He was clearly annoyed. I examined him closely, he was a few inches taller than me, blond hairs with blue eyes. No doubt he was cute but there was an arrogance to him, a strut, or maybe just a dislike of me. He soon made it clear how he felt. "Listen Ryo," He said coldly.. "We're not going to be friends. So get that out your head straight away. I don't want you here. My parents have decided that they can make good money having you here so which means I have to suffer. Keep out of my way and I'll keep out of yours,". He'd certainly set his stall out and as I sat on the end of my single bed in the small bedroom that would be my home for the next 8 months I began to feel the first pang of homesickness. James was as good as his word, he pretty much ignored me despite his parents attempts to get us to do things together. Not that I had that much time with him anyway, only evenings and Sundays. It wasn't like we were together 24/7. I could tell Jane and Mike were a bit frustrated with him ignoring me at times but I also wondered if James was right. Was I just a business transaction to them? After all they had a son already, they probably didn't need another one. Maybe they hoped I'd be good company for him but that seemed to not be the case! To be fair to James he did a half decent job of pretending to involve me when his parents were around. When they weren't he blanked me or was just plain rude. Still, there was so much change and upheaval in my life it didn't faze me too much, it was just one more thing to deal with...