There was much speculation over dinner later that evening. Did Eric seem upset. Did he enjoy his stay? Would we ever hear from him again? An uncomfortable feeling hung in the air, like something unfinished, unresolved. It bothered us for hours, or at least until one of us discovered what was in the pantry. Go and see for yourself: it's still there after all these years, thriving in the darkness. It's the first thing we show any new visitors to our house. "Look what our foreign exchange student left for us," we tell them. "It must be a cultural thing," says Mum.

Photograph: Shaun Tan