As many of you know, I am quite skilled in the art of losing anything of value or importance. This weekend of course was of no exception. After hiking out in the country side (near Mitake) with my roommate and a classmate, I somehow managed to lose my apartment/room key while transferring trains at Tachikawa station, roughly one hour from my house. Upon my arrival at Yotsuya, I realized I didn’t feel the usual presence of my key in my pants’ pocket and began to panic. Not due to the 150USD replacement fee(though that was on my mind), but because these past few days it has been a national holiday known as Golden Week. During this time period everyone from Tokyo leaves and travels the countryside and the entirety of the Japanese countryside somehow ends up in Tokyo. Continuing with my string of bad luck, I could recall my landlord previously mentioning that she would not be in town for the holidays. Thus, essentially leaving me homeless due to my own mistake.
With little hope, I went to the Stationmaster’s office and attempted to explain my situation. Having been raised in the US where customer service is absolutely pathetic, I expected them to say something along the lines of ”Tough luck,” BUT….what Japan Rails did was far beyond anything I had ever expected. Once the stationmaster realized how important it was for me to find my key, he ran into the staff room and got several of the staff who were on break to come out and help aid in the search. They questioned me concerning everything from where I was coming from, what train line I rode, and what time I began/ended my commute. With this information, two of the stationmasters began using the intercom to notify each train presently operating on Chuo-sen (which extends for almost 430miles). two of the other stationmasters began calling each station between Tokyo Station and Mitake Station, a total of 38 stations. During the whole time that this is happening, I could hear each stationmaster apologizing for the disturbing their respective counterparts at the other stations and requesting this “small favor.” After roughly one hour, Tachikawa station called back to inform that my apartment key had been found below the platform on top of the train tracks.
After receiving this information, the stationmasters kindly apologized for the wait and informed me where I could pick up my key…….I was completely flabbergasted to say the least. I must have said “hontou ni arigatou gouzaimashita” 50x times and bowed a few a thousand times to express my thanks and gratitude. Never had I expected it to actually be found. While I was I was waiting in the main office, I was contemplating how to break into my own room from the balcony. Sometimes Japan…you just amaze me.
Alright guys. I know I am a bad person for not updating, but finally here it is….
—————VIRGINIA—————
Following the completion of my first semester at Sophia University, I began tossing the idea of going to VA back and forth. Initially, I decided to stay in Japan and make the most of my study abroad, but one Sunday I woke up and within a few days began my big surprise visit home (only my parents knew of my coming arrival). It was a lot of convincing most of my friends that I was still in Japan when about 2hrs later I began my series of pranks back at UVA. Most notably pie-ing most of my friends in the face or building elaborate forts out of cardboard boxes and toilet paper.
Yes. My friends probably do regret meeting me.
Of particular note, I would like to thank my best friend Willie G. who not only let me crash on his couch for 2 weeks but also brought me breakfast in bed many a times during my vacation.
—————JAPAN—————
Following my return to Japan, I immediately began planning my trip to visit my older brother who works as an English Language Instructor in Nagasaki City. After an all night clubbing adventure celebrating my return to Tokyo, I caught the first shinkansen (bullet train) of the morning and began my 8hr journey to Kyuushuu (九州), one of the four main islands of Japan. Though I was only in Nagasaki for five days Daniel really showed me a good time. I visited one of the high schools he teaches at (and met several students and co-teachers), explored the peace memorial established there and did a little hiking/bike riding.
—————SCHOOL—————
School started 2 weeks ago and here is my current course load:
Japanese Intermediate 3, Chinese Women’s History, Intro to Sociology, & Intro to International Relations
CWH and Soc seem like they will be interesting will IR is incredibly painful. The professor for that course speaks English, but is Japanese and honestly has know idea what he is talking about. I have already corrected him several times on important dates and he already has equated IR to The Matrix….I feel as though this class may just be the end of me.
—————GOALS—————
I recently have begun undertaking several new goals while in Japan:
1) Join a club at Sophia —> I presently am an active member of the Darts/Billiards Club
2) Hike a mountain at least once every two weeks —> almost every weekend I have been making it out to the country side
3) Try as many new things as I can (food, drinks, etc)
Otherwise, I am sorry this post is all jumpy and rushed but they will be better. I’ll get a lot of pictures uploaded in the coming days.
In addition check out my British friend Mike’s blog (which I sadly must admit utterly humiliates mine)
I have just finished finals for my fall semester at Sophia, so now that I have 2.5 months of break I can update everyone on Tokyo!
——————–
Over the holiday break I was invited by my friend from High School Diplomats 2005, Madoka, to visit her family and celebrate the holidays together. I met her on Dec 29th in Shinjuku, and surprisingly she was with another friend of mine from HSD2005, Mio. After a short reunion, and some purikura photos, Madoka and I headed to Tokyo station to catch the 8:05PM Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hachinohe. I arrived at her parents’ house around 1130PM at night and had a few drinks with her parents before going to bed as they informed me tomorrow was going to be an early day.
The next day, after a delicious breakfast (Madoka’s mother was an incredible cook) I went to her fathers’ parents’ house to help make mochi. [wiki]. While incredibly challenging to make, it was incredibly interesting to see how such a traditional aspect of Japanese culture was still practiced. Following my visit to my homestay grandparents’ house, the family and myself went to several markets and supply stores to get everything ready for Shougatsu (New Years). As the pictures s\how, the stores had a wide variety of weird seafood, along with tons of alcohol and snacks. My family ended up buying several monstrous crabs and lots of alcohol. My homestay father was excited to try drinking me (a foreigner) under the table and as a result, he purchased lots of alcohol (beer, nihonshuu, umeshuu, foreign wines, sake, etc). He also bought like 15 dried squids as they are eaten like jerky when drinking in Aomori-ken. Later that night, my mother taught me how to make nabe [wiki] for dinner and a little later we went to bed to prepare for the big day tomorrow.
On the morning of New Year’s Eve, Madoka took me to her old part time job and were her mother currently works as an administrator, the nearby retirement home. This was probably one of the most eye-opening experiences I have had since coming to Japan. Presently, Japan has one of the largest populations with the highest percent of elderly individuals (+70). In addition, it currently is the record holding nation for number of centurions. Much of my visit to the retirement home including meeting the various staff members and having very light-hearted conversation with the residents. After returning home, my homestay dad took me out for some male bonding and showed me the company that he works for, Japan Railways (JR) Aomori, and also the various trains that are used in the prefecture and how they differ from those in Tokyo. Having spent all but 2 years of his life in the same locale, he was really quite knowledgeable in telling me how the area has changed since his childhood. Eventually, we grabbed some lunch and he drove me to the ocean and we had lunch on the pier while it began to snow.
Later that evening, we began to prepare all the food we had purchased for New Years Dinner. At around 7PM we began to eat and watched Kohaku [wiki]. This show has been going on for 60 years and is meant to highlight the talent of the music industry with both modern and traditional singers and dancers of all ages. This year, due to it being the 60th Anniversary, had both a children’s kohaku and several guest performers. Additionally, Susan Boyle was the only foreigner invited to perform. Following Kohaku, my homestay father and mother began to drink and we waited till 1AM before heading over to the local temple to draw our New Years Fortune.
The next day, Madoka’s family and myself visited her other grandmother and paid respects to her deceased grandfather’s shrine. I also was given the chance to meet her uncle and his children who were slightly awe struck by the fact that I could speak Japanese so well. Around 2PM, Madoka and I went to the local mall to shop and watch Avatar (in English with Japanese subtitles).For dinner, we had Italian food together, and promptly upon returning home, my homestay father began to drink against me as it was my last night at their home. Finally, around 2AM, we went to bed, but not without creating a fairly large collection of empty wine bottles and beer cans on the living room table.
On my last day in Aomori, Madoka and her family gave me a massive tour of the city, everything from the mountains to the ocean. It really is beautiful prefecture by comparison to Tokyo which is always grey. Nature was everywhere and kind of reminded me of the drive between my home and UVA.
I really can’t express how much I enjoyed their hospitality. In only a few days, they accepted me as a part of their family and took such good care of me. Hopefully, Madoka will be visiting next year and I can’t wait to show her around VA.
Last Saturday I was invited by Masuda-san, the man I met when hiking Mt. Takao, to attend his Christmas party in Hachioji. In addition to celebrating the holidays, the party’s co-theme was cultural exchange. As a result, many of the attendees had very unique backgrounds. There were 4 Americans, several Chinese and Taiwanese exchange students, a woman from the Ukraine, and a few others. Most of the attendees were in there mid 30′s and therefore brought along their children also.
As the party was planned by a Japanese woman, it was incredibly organized. Upon entering, I was given a planned schedule of all the events that were to occur in the party’s timespan, including dinner, introductions, games, gift exchanges, talent show, etc. While to many this would seem slightly cheesy, it really was a blast. I had a lot of opportunities to practice both my Japanese and Chinese and eat tons of homecooked food.
—————–
As many of the exchange students are running home for the 10-day vacation, this week has been full of holiday parties and early New Year celebrations. Below, is just an assortment of photos from my recent outings.
It is kind of crazy to think that the holiday season has already begun and many of my friends back at UVA are finishing for the semester. I on the other hand have just passed the halfway marker of my first semester here at Sophia. My parents recently sent me a lovely care package and stealing the idea from my older brother I decided to share its wonderful contents with the world.
I live for this.Whenever I oversleep, I just slather this up on some bread and scarf it down.
no explanation needed.
I have been addicted to these ever since moving to Germany in 1998
snacks for the train ride.
Pineapple! I also was sent some dried mango, but that only lasted about 5 minutes after I opened my package.
Japanese gum is good, but the flavor is short lived...so I asked for the good stuff.
assorted junk candies.
———–
I recently began teaching several students English, so I also asked for a very useful workbook I have had ever since I started working with ESL/EFL.
voila!
Otherwise, life has been fairly uneventful due to all my studying. I am preparing for the Sophia University 5K at the Imperial Palace on Saturday, followed by a Christmas party with some people from my hiking trip at Mt. Takao. I am really excited for my upcoming adventure to Aomori. I even bought a new jacket just for the occasion.
Last week, I met up with some of the Europeans and after going to the 50yen bar we went clubbing in Roppongi were one of my friends knew the owners and bartenders. A good night to say the least.
I haven’t really gotten homesick here, except for my cats. I have decided Japanese cats are mean. I try to pet the homeless kitties in the park, but they run away…..
But there is hope, I am trying to organize an excursion to a cat cafe sometime in the next week 2 weeks. At said location, there are usually 20+ cats roaming around doing whatever and I can pet them while having a nice cup of tea.
In other news, I have planned my new years trip. While most people are trying to avoid the cold weather, I am taking it head on with a trip to Aomori-ken (青森県). My friend Madoka from HSD2005 invited me to take the nightbus with her from Tokyo (10+ hrs) and visit her family. I am really excited as New Years in Japan is typically a big family-only event.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aomori_Prefecture
Feel free to check out my destination.
———-
Otherwise this past week was pretty much same old same old. Its crazy to say that life here has become very monotonous. The 40+ minute train rides don’t even phase me anymore. To help break away from this. I decided to walk to Kichijoji on Saturday with Dmitry (the russian) just to explore the area. I saw a lot of small family restaurants I am going to try to eat at in the coming weeks and a few stores that have some Japanese children’s books that I want to buy.
On Friday, I had yakiniku tabehoudai (all you can eat grilled meat) at a restaurant I first went to in 2008 with Daniel and Jen. It was a pretty small group and let me get to know Alan (Aussie, Clemonce (French), and Phil (Canadian) a lot better. Afterwards, some of the other French people I know invited me to Le Baron de Paris (http://www.lebaron.jp/) It was the club’s 3rd birthday, so the head owners from Paris flew out for the night along with the Japanese owners. Because the people I was with had connections with bartenders and DJs we got a free table which made it pretty relaxing. Afterwards, I spent the night in Harajuku at a friends because I missed my last train.
On Saturday, I pretty much spent my day sleeping, walking, or doing Karaoke with a group of Sophia kids.
To celebrate my last night in good ole’ America, my parents and myself headed down to a local BBQ joint, where I, like a proud American, gorged in what can only be described as ambrosia. Well, not actually, but close enough. I ordered the “Star Spangled Banner” platter which is half a chicken, a rack of ribs, several pounds of brisket and of course potatoes (fries and potato salad). On top of this, BBQ sauce is generously slathered over each morsel and a basket of biscuits sits right next to ya, in case you have any extra cravings . A true treat to celebrate my departure.
This was until about 15 minutes later when I could feel my stomach tearing at its seams, and it seemed as though I might die before even leaving the country.
A little Pepto later, it was finally time to begin my last minute packing. After running through my list several times, I concluded that I was set to go. I checked my cellphone, only 10:13PM….6 more hours to go. I spent the remainder of the night watching reruns of COPS, drinking diet Coke, and trying to recall if I was forgetting anything of uber importance.
My first flight went off without any hitches. I boarded the plane and next thing I knew, I was in Dulles watching the crowd build at the gate of my next flight. The second flight (Dulles to Narita), on the other hand, seemed as though it was never going to get off the ground. The flight was scheduled to depart at 12:20, but due to maintenance problems was pushed back twenty minutes, then another twenty, and yet again another twenty minutes. Next thing I knew it was 2:30PM and we still were sitting on the tarmac waiting to depart.
On the plus side, it seems my luck slightly turned around and no other passengers were assigned to my row, so I had three seats all to my self. Due to the fact that I hadn’t slept in +24 hrs and the magic of nyquil, I slept the first 6 hrs of the flight, immediately following lunch of course. With all the extra space, legroom and pillows, I was in my own little heaven.
After my little cat nap, I spent my time watching a mix of “Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia (thanks Betty!)”, “Star Trek (the movie),” and some BBC documentaries I downloaded prior to my flight.
The moment the plane landed, I darted off of it. I was supposed to arrive around 3 and meet with a japanese student from Sophia University. It was now 6PM. Thankfully, the person also happened to be running late and only had waited an hour. We quickly made our way to the subway and headed off to Musashi Koganei, my new home.
After she dropped me off, I met some of my neighboors and learned all about the dorm. More about the dorm later, but now it is time for bed.
Presently, I am living in one of the few dormitory housing options offered by Sophia University. Unlike most American dormitories, Koganei Dormitory is entirely male and located off campus. Now, when I say off campus, I’m not talking a little 5 minute drive. It is a whopping 40 minutes assuming there are no train delays and you are able to catch the morning “commuter rapid train”. If you are late and can only catch the local rail, it will take you at least 50-60 minutes.
The station itself, Musashi-Koganei, is fairly quiet. With the exception of the actual station, there is little to do as most of the area is entirely residential. Thankfully, Kichijoji is only 7 minutes away (or 3 stations) and is littered with bars and nightlife.
The dorm building is 5 stories and each floor holds ~10-12 residents. Every room is a single, but on the downside, both of my parents vans are far bigger than my actual room. Each day I have gotten quite a bit of exercise in hiking up and down the stairs. I live on the 4th floor, but the entrance is on the 2nd, the dining room, showers (only 2 for the dorm), and large bath are on the 1st. Laundry is located on the roof and the mini-lounge (smaller than my GMC envoy) is on the 2nd floor.
Twice a day, the dining room is opened to serve breakfast (7-830AM) and dinner (6-10PM). The food is fairly average. Nothing too special, but nothing horrible. For breakfast, residents are offered either Japanese style or the Japanese take on the Western style breakfast (sadly, no biscuits and gravy or grits). Dinner is always Japanese style. The only complaint I really have is the heavy usage of Japanese mayonnaise, which unlike American mayo is super sugary and sweet Now, as many of you know, I eat almost anything. Rarely am I picky. Heck, the only kind of food I can think of that I truly hate are cucumbers. That was until Japan had to one up the ickiness of the cucumber with the introduction of Japanese mayo-lathered-cucumbers. To say the least, its evil and vile.
The residents of the dormitory have been very friendly and welcoming. Most of the Japanese students are 1st or 2nd year students at Sophia University, while most of the international students are 3rd year or grad students. So far I have met 5 Australians, 3 other Americans, 1 Swede, 1 Spaniard, 1 Frenchmen,s and 1 German. Much of our interactions so far have been based on ridiculing each others’ English pronunciation.
Here is a small list of the dorm rules:
-Curfew (門限 mongen) is at midnight
-Alcohol is only allowed to be consumed in your private residence
-Lights must be shut off when not in the room
-Shoes must be removed at the door, and slippers must be worn at all other times. Different slippers will be used in the bathroom.
-You must must turn your name tag at the dorm entrance to show whether you are “In” or “Out”
-If you plan on staying out past curfew, you must fill out a form notifying ryouchou-san (dorm head) of your plans
Although strict, most of these exist to protect the younger residents. In Japan, adulthood isn’t legally reached until one turns 20. Until then, ryouchou-san is legally responsible for the well-being of the younger students.
Here are a few photos of around the dorm and some of us residents at the zoo.
The summer following my sophomore year of high school, I met Takuya Ishikawa. Both he and I were selected to attend a Japanese-American Exchange Program at Princeton University called High School Diplomats. Since his initial visit to my house, we have maintained regular contact and the following year, I was selected to travel Japan and do a homestay at his family’s house. The summer of 2008, I once again visited Japan, and was able to visit his family for a week while on my way back from China.
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I met with Tatsuro, Takuya’s younger brother, at Shibuya and we went out cellphone shopping (more on this later as I haven’t actually purchased my phone yet). Following our little shopping adventure, I headed to Gakugeidaigaku (学芸大学） where the Ishikawa’s live. My homestay father, mother, little brother, grandpa and myself headed to a local restaurant, where I first went in 2006. As always, the Ishikawa’s ordered a gratuitous amount of food to see if my stomach could truly digest anything. Steak, squid, okonomayaki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki), japanese pickles, and soba (noodles). In addition, my family was set on seeing how much alcohol I could consume. Takuya arrived right when the glasses were being brought out. Everybody was given a glass for ~400ml, except mine which was a liter glass. Following dinner, we returned to the Ishikawa household and continued drinking, eating and chatting way into the night.
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Prior to coming to Japan, I was extremely worried about not being comfortable with my speaking ability, but throughout my whole visit with the Ishikawas, over 95% of the conversation was entirely in Japanese. English was only ever used when I needed a word translated that my electronic dictionary didn’t have in its database. This was quite reassuring to know that I wouldn’t completely fail at communicating while here.
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Assortment of photos.
The summer following my sophomore year of high school, I met Takuya Ishikawa. Both he and I were selected to attend a Japanese-American Exchange Program at Princeton University called High School Diplomats. Since his initial visit to my house, we have maintained regular contact and the following year, I was selected to travel Japan and do a homestay at his family’s house. The summer of 2008, I once again visited Japan, and was able to visit his family for a week while on my way back from China.
I met with Tatsuro, Takuya’s younger brother, at Shibuya and we went out cellphone shopping (more on this later as I haven’t actually purchased my phone yet). Following our little shopping adventure, I headed to Gakugeidaigaku (学芸大学） where the Ishikawa’s live. My homestay father, mother, little brother, grandpa and myself headed to a local restaurant, where I first went in 2006. As always, the Ishikawa’s ordered a gratuitous amount of food to see if my stomach could truly digest anything. Steak, squid, okonomayaki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki), japanese pickles, and soba (noodles). In addition, my family was set on seeing how much alcohol I could consume. Takuya arrived right when the glasses were being brought out. Everybody was given a glass for ~400ml, except mine which was a liter glass. Following dinner, we returned to the Ishikawa household and continued drinking, eating and chatting way into the night.
Prior to coming to Japan, I was extremely worried about not being comfortable with my speaking ability, but throughout my whole visit with the Ishikawas, over 95% of the conversation was entirely in Japanese. English was only ever used when I needed a word translated that my electronic dictionary didn’t have in its database. This was quite reassuring to know that I wouldn’t completely fail at communicating while here.
These machines are essentially like American toy machines you find at Walmart or the mall, except much more evil. Instead of costing 50 cents, these suckers charge, at the cheapest, a minimum 100 yen (1USD). I have already seen some running as much as 500yen. These little devils are known for emptying a foreigner’s wallet in a heartbeat. In case y’all didnt know, both 100 yen and 500 yen come as coins that are about the same size and weight as a quarter. If you aren’t careful you will easily blow 10 of these suckers without knowing what happened to your bank account.
Shibuya station. The worldest busiest intersection. This was taken at 4pm on a Tuesday and already this many people were there. Once I get my train pass I will try to take this photo again at night on a Friday so yall can truly see what the crowds are like here.
The French guy from my dorm (Julian) recently informed me that rush hour traffic on our subway line is absolutely ridiculous in the morning. I live on Chuo-sen, the second busiest train line in all of Japan. For those of you not sure what Japanese rush hour is like, this video will serve as a great example.
*Note: This isn’t even that crowded as the video was take of the midnight train. Rush hour is so ridiculous, getting a camera out to take pictures is hard enough.
One Honey dew = 58USD. I bought 5 bananas for 100yen and was estatic. I will most likely devote a whole post to the ridiculousness of the japanese fruit industry in the near future.
Zaru Soba
Tiny Haagen Daaz. I have seen these in the supermark for about 2USD. This is 1 of about 8 that I ate on the flight over.
Sorry for the lack of substantial updates these last few weeks. Japanese universities only have serious workloads twice a semester, midterms and finals. Seeing as former of the two has finally
passed by the amount of free time I have has dramatically increased once again.
Mt Takao:
As many of you know, I love the outdoors. I would take countryside and mountains any day over the hustle-and-bustle of Tokyo. On the 15th, my friend Risa (USHSD2006) invited me to go hiking with some students from her English conversation club.http://tokyomia.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php Having mainly spent my time hanging out with students from Sophia University (who are almost all fluent in English), I jumped on the opportunity to meet new students and practice my Japanese.
Mt Takao (info here) is roughly 40 minutes by train from where I live (Musashi-Koganei) and despite being over an hour and a half from the center of the city, it is still considered to be within the great Tokyo-area. Although the landscape (mountains & forests) is completely different from say Shibuya or Shinjuku (skyscrapers), its still in city limits.
The hike started around 1Pm and took roughly an hour to get to the top. Along the way I talked with Andy (a 40yr old foreigner residing in Tokyo who is in the process of establishing his own NPO) and Masuda-san (an incredibly charismatic 60+ year old Japanese man). In addition, several Chinese and Taiwanese international students were present so I was able to practice my Chinese as well. :] Despite the simplicity of the day’s activities, I really had a great time practicing my Japanese and meeting such a diverse group of people. I really wish I had been given the opportunity to apply to a school outside of Tokyo where everyone is much more inclined to use Japanese when speaking to me instead of English.
British Invasion:
These past 2 weekends, I have been hanging with Mike, a British international student, and 2 of his friends who are on gap year and teaching in Japan. One of the things I enjoy about this crowd of people is how much they appreciate good company. Lots of the other exchange students, always seem to want to go somewhere flashy and hip, while this group appreciates casual drinking and conversation. This past Friday, we went to Warrior Celt, a british pub, and Tachinomi, a standing bar in Ueno. I really enjoy the pub primarily because there is no pressure to spend a lot of money there. The owners are very relaxed and so long as you buy one beer you can stay for as long as you want. A definite plus when you are on a student budget.
This past Saturday, Mike at the last minute invited me to an orchestra concert at Kinshicho to watch the Hosei University Orchestra. To no surprise, out of the 300+ people present, we were the only two foreigners. Even better was the fact that we could hear people talking about us on all sides…but little did they know we understood everything. The performance was quite amazing and for some reason made me very excited for winter this year…despite the fact that nothing Christmas-y was played.
Afterwards, we walked to Kameido (the station my older brother used to live at in 2008). I remembered the location of a darts bar my brother took me to so we decided to have a drink and just relax till we caught our respective trains home. I chit chatted with one of the hostesses and surprisingly she remembered my older brother and his roommate. When I returned home, I noticed the freshly installed christmas tree and santa in the lobby of the dorm.
On Wednesday night, I decided that I wanted to go to the big Sophia-Waseda Halloween party in Roppongi on Thursday, but was in need of a costume. I went to the nearest Donki, a store that basically is like Wal-Mart, Spencers, and KB Toys combined into one single shop. This chain of stores is always cluttered, disorganized, and a total wreck. There really no way to find anything efficiently without combing the entire store looking for that one thing. At the same time though, this is a very effective way of keeping customers trapped in your stores.
Around 30 minutes after entering the store, I finally found what I was looking for: the giant pajama costumes. I scanned over the rack for a good 20 minutes before being forced to make the hardest decision of my life……did I want to be the blue carebear or the purple one.
As you can tell from my pictures, I choose the former. I quickly rushed home for the night to try to cram out 5+ pages of essay that were due on Friday, so that I could make the most use of my Thurs night
Thursday
Around 7Pm I met up with my friend Phil, a giant monstrosity of a French-Canadian, and Alex, a true Frenchman, to get a little pregame on before we headed out to Roppongi. On the train, I realized the hilariousness that was going to ensue for the next few days as I began to realize all the stares our outfits received….well maybe it was just mine due to its vibrant color as Phil was a soldier and Alex was a convict….either way it was slightly awkward.
Throughout the night, I met up with friends from Sophia (foreigners and Japanese) and then met a ton of new students from a variety of universities. Before I knew it, the first party had ended as it was now midnight and I had to figure out whether I should catch last train and head back to my dormitory or stay out all night. Upon the realization that I can only be young once, I decided to push through the night and go to the after-party event. Phil and I trudged forward into the night and made it the next club, but not without picking up some new friends.
Phil just happens to be a fluent speaker of Thai (along with French, English, and Spanish) and somehow he just picked up a ton of Thai students studying at Waseda on the way. I don’t exact remember the details of what was said but this is a pretty good summary
Thai kids: blah blah blah
Phil: Blah blah (throws in some handgestures)
Thai kids: Holy crap?!
Friday
Phil and I eventually called it a night, sometime around the point of the sunrise. I crashed on his floor for about 1.5 hrs and then unwillingly forced myself to attend 1st period classes. Normally, I would have skipped, but seeing as I had a paper due, I really had no say in the matter. I wore my costume to school as I had no other clothes at the time and made what must be the longest and most humiliating trek of my life. My smile carebear outfit completely juxtaposed my half-dead facial expression making for a good laugh for anyone who passed by. Yet oddly enough, despite it being 8am, I still was approached almost endlessly for photos.
I eventually made it to class, but don’t really remember what happened at all during the day as I was so tired. I know I slept a lot in Chinese history class, but my professor didn’t mind at all. As I have already taken several history courses on East Asia back at UVa, I kind of half everything under wraps here. I think my professor is more impressed that even when I zone out for an hour or so I can still ask extremely thought provoking and relevant questions.
I finished school around 1:30PM and promptly rushed home to collapse on both the train ride, and upon entering my room. I didn’t even make it out of my costume before following deep into sleep.
Friday Night
Phil sent me a text message inviting me to a bar in Gotanda that has really cheap beer (150 yen [buck fifty] a pint), so of course I couldn’t say no. Upon my arrival, Phil warned me about how sketchy the area is. Being Japan, I took that as a joke as people here tend to be very non-confrontational. My eyes have once again been opened. We walked to the bar only to be approached by several women who offered to “I sex you now. 5000 yen. Good deal.” and other variations spoken to us in both Japanese and English.
The bar itself was kind of like a mahjong parlor. A gray haze covered the entire room. It was noisy, dirty, and chaotic. None the less it was one of my best nights so far. Most of the people present where French, but there was 1 other American(from New York), a few Germans and an Aussie. Much of the night’s conversation involved teaching the Australian how to say bad phrases in different languages and talking about everyone’s activities the night before. A very mellow night in comparison to the night before.
I don’t really remember what I did afterwards, just lots of time killing in my dorm, but it wasn’t until around 7am when I finally decided to hit the hay.
HALLOWEEN
This day was utter madness. For 3 days my university is having a huge student organized festival which it uses to help boost recruitment into the school and basically let the students have a good time with each other. On Saturday night, the festival had its opening ceremony which I decided to attend. The events were surprisingly organized for something that was entirely student operated. I managed to get incredibly close to main stage despite the crowd and had an excellent view of all the events for the night.
The highlight of the night was two guest performances by J-pop Singer Beni Arashiro (BENI) and popper ひとりでできるもん(Hitori de dekirumon).
Following the festival, I had plans to due “Free Hugs” in Shibuya. My friend Kaz (dressed as Stitch from Lilo & Stitch) and I walked around the world’s largest intersection giving free hugs out. We were a little hesitant at first concerning the success of our campaign, but our doubt quickly vanished after the first 50 hugs. We even had extra signs to give people and have them join us. It was hilarious to see people waiting patiently to run over and get photos and hugs. I rode on my tall Australian friend’s shoulder for a while and that attracted tons of attention. Basically, the success of our event was indescribable. Pictures alone can’t even give it justice.
trying to get on Chris' shoulders
Free Hugs with DEATH
Right before we decided to leave for the night, 3 other care bears (who oddly enough happened to be foreigners studying at Sophia with me) appeared. Even better was the fact that they were missing the blue carebear in their group. I tagged along and we made our way to a bar stopping every 5 meters for a photo op with tons of Japanese people and other foreigners.
Around midnight, we decided to head to AGEHA, the largest night club in Asia. I honestly don’t even know how to describe the madness from this point onwards. By far, this ranks as my best night in Japan thus far. Around 6AM the music stopped and our group began the long commute home. At Tokyo station, we separated and I rode Chuo-sen back to my dormitory alone. I know for sure that this was a night that I will never forget. New friends, new experiences, and an incredibly positive outlook towards the rest of my time in Japan.
Tiny Haagen Daaz. I have seen these in the supermark for about 2USD. This is 1 of about 8 that I ate on the flight over.
