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Published: April 9th 2006
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Yummy Sushi
Davey's first meal in Japan (in Asakusa, Tokyo at Watari) My little brother David finally came to visit me this past March. It was nice seeing Tokyo through his eyes for the first time and of course, hysterical watching him participate in my countryside life.
I was so excited to see him at Narita airport, when he walked through the gates, it was still surreal that he was actually in Japan. We had our first of many beers on the long train into Tokyo and (of course) some much needed bro-sis catch up time.
I had booked up into the cheapest hostel I could find ANYWHERE in Tokyo...so that led us to the Khaosan Tokyo Hostel in Asakusa. Only 2,500Yen per person per night (about $25.00 CDN), and for Tokyo, that was VERY cheap. That first night, we met up with a friend of mine who just recently moved to Tokyo (Yasu) and hit the town. Dave had his first truly Japanese meal at Watari, and then we made the long subway trip to Ropponji. We danced the night away at several clubs along the main strip, ending up at Starbucks at 4am to wait out the last hour before the day's first train back to Asakusa.
After
Walking the line...
He think's he's such a 'pimp' sleeping for a few hours, we braved the morning light for a quick coffee and then off to the sites. I took Dave to Harujuku to show him the infamous "Harajuku" girls. He was bewildered by the sights and posed for a ridiculous amount of pictures with the girls. He walked along the market streets, (of which Dave could have spent some serious cash...had he not been so broke!) We also went to Shinjuku, Ueno and Ginza, just to show him how crazy Tokyo really is. On the Monday morning, before we headed up to my prefecture, I took Dave to Tsukiji Fish Market. I wish we had gotten there a couple hours earlier then we did, because we didn't see any huge Tuna; they had all already been sold off. When I was there a year ago, there were gigantic fish everywhere, and I really wanted to get a picture of Dave with one of them. Oh well. Next time! We still got to eat over priced sushi right next to the market, which was VERY yummy!
We took the Shinkansen back to Miyagi (which I though would have impressed Dave a little more then it did...), played
Asakusa Temple
This was the money shot crazy 8 countdown the whole way, and I got to introduce Dave to Chuggers...my beloved toy car. That night we just chilled and I tried to mentally prepare Dave for the next few days at school.
Over the next couple days, I took Dave with me so he could experience my life, and all the nitty gritty details of being a foreigner in the countryside of Japan...
At Wakuya Senior School (my base school) he was adored by everyone. My female students especially😉 Dave was a natural in the class room and although a lot of my job here is 'humoring' people and their strange questions, he gradually got used to it and definitely rose to the occasion. Many of the teachers showered him with Japanese souvenirs and included him in their extra curricular activities. Dave got to try Shodo (calligraphy), and Kendo (a martial art form) among other things.
Both my eikaiwa groups (adult English conversation class) threw him a welcome party where he got to eat tons of traditional J foods, meet all my ladies and of course the other ALT in my town Meredith.
I also threw Dave a welcome party of my
own on the Friday night. I had a bunch of my friends over for a potluck and we got Davey pretty drunk. We then took him to Ami karaoke where in his retarded state he kept leaving our booth to go make friends with random people. It was funny though...
On David's last night, I took him into Sendai with Christine, Heather, Selina, Amanda and Justin. We went for dinner at Rosegarden Yakiniku and I had Dave try his first samplings of gyuutan (cow tongue)...it's actually very tasty! We then danced the night away at Shaft nightclub and squeezed four people into a one person hotel room. It was a great night, and as I don't get into Sendai very often, it was nice to live it up.
Dave had to leave the next morning to go back to Narita on his own (cause I was too cheap to take him myself) and he navigated the shinkansen and Tokyo all by himself; which was a relief cause if he got lost or into trouble, I'd have to go looking for him...all over Japan...it would have been ugly.
So, we had a terrific time and it was awesome
Yoyogi Koen
Gates into Yoyogi Park, just beside the Harujuku girls... to see Dave and let him see what I do here. I think he had a pretty good time aswell😉 Thanks to uncle Rob for paying his way!
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Tony Kessler
non-member comment
Wahhhh!
Waaaaaaaaaahhh! Atarashi Geijin Da!