FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - DAY
A wet-haired PETER checks phone notifications and sees an image of a night view.
PETER (V.O.): Good! My elder daughter has arrived in Tokyo again.
FLASHBACK
INT. LIFT - YESTERDAY EVENING
Peter chats with a LADY.
PETER: Your daughters are developing very well in their careers.
LADY: How about your elder daughter? When will she come back?
PETER: Oh, she has just found a job in Tokyo and is moving home from Fukuoka to Tokyo.
LADY: We're happy parents.
RETURN TO PRESENT
Act 2
INT. STUDY -CONTINUOUS
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.): In the summer of 2014, my wife and I accompanied our two daughters to follow a Japanese crash course in Shibuya.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Our elder daughter meant to begin her university studies in UK that Autumn.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Then came a pleasant surprise. She was admitted to her dream university in Hong Kong.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Immediately after graduation in 2018, she got a job.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Following her plan, she quitted it a year later and went to Fukuoka to study Japanese.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): She chose Fukuoka just because it should be cheaper to live there. So frugal!
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In Nov 2019. I visited her. In Dec 2019, we had a family tour in Honshu. Those were the last times we met in person.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I should have visited her in March 2020. But due to the pandemic, my flights were cancelled and then the visa-free arrangement was suspended.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): She couldn't come home either, as the quarantines here and there would disrupt her language studies.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In Spring this year, she passed the hardest N1 level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.
Peter surfs the web with his phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For Chinese speakers, it generally requires 1700-2600 hours of study.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): She told my family that she had studied much harder than any other public exams that she had ever taken.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I encouraged her to become a self-employed entrepreneur. But she preferred to get employed first.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And weeks ago, she managed to get a job offer from a corporation headquartered in the Roppongi district, Tokyo.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): So, she has to move from Fukuoka to Tokyo.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've learned from her in our last Skype communication that such a state of affairs is called "Jokyo" or "上京" in Japanese.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've just swum. Before that I've substantially completed my only outstanding assignment in June.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, today is actually the last day of June!
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O.): Today, my elder daughter has quitted her Fukuoka home. I was the only family member who visited it during her stay there.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Tomorrow, she'll get the key of her new Tokyo home. My wife is looking forward to share her bed.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And then, she'll begin working in Roppongi district...Not sure if it's her dream job.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I'm sure she can extract value from whatever she's pursuing. Jokyo!
Peter re-focuses on the image's Tokyo Tower.
.FADE OUT.
THE END
Comentarios