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Published: January 23rd 2008
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Im a School Boy
Japan has alot of getting used to, even for me. The best advise I could give anyone before coming here is........learn some Japanese...please (onegaishimasu). That past week consisted of getting my schedule down. Im gonna get all the boring daily things out of the way, so you have an idea of what my week looks like. Then I will add cool(sugoi) posts when I see fit.I'd prefer there be a strong emphasis on cultural differences and other noteworthy things, rather than just, "Today I did this and that". Those take time to prepare, but hopefully it will be soon. I will also put useful japanese words in parentheses after the english word like I did above.
Mondays through Fridays are my school going days. It takes an hour to get to school from Shinkoiwa, but that doesn't come as a problem to me. This is the perfect opportunity to pull out my PSP/DS, so now if there's ever a long train ride, I look foward to it. Luckily, I was given the afternoon session so I don't need to go to class till 1:30pm, and Im out by 4:45. Im only 1
Center Stage
Thats the American I mentioned... of 2 americans in my class, and with my luck, it happens to be the one I dislike the most from the other 20 or so. Its too bad....(zannen desune). The other consist of all Koreans and a handful of Chinese. We don't have assigned seats, but humans mark their territory anyway and end up sitting in virtually the same seats everyday. We're arranged in a circle fashion against the wall to facilitate conversation and eye contact. I really wish they would make name tags. When a person learns an original name, its either easily remembered or quickly forgotten. But when a whole class shares novelty in their names, I cant remember a single one ever {especially when half of the names contain Kim} but they have no problem remembering mine, so its quite embarrassing. Gratefully, the class is very intensive and fast paced. I'll make sure to persevere (ganbatte)!
I also have a culture class once a week, which this time consisted of a Japanese Traditional Tea Ceremony. I never realized bending your knees and sitting on your feet was so painful. Most students complained about the pain. I have bony ankles, so it hurt me as well,
Out the window
The view you never have time to see. but I made a compromise somehow by sitting on them at an
angle. In reality I really dislike tea(ocha). Not due to taste, its more of the fact that its hot. My mouth is really sensitive to heat, so when I have tea or hot coffee, I have to wait forever before I can drink it, and I find that very irritating. So Coke just works best for me😊 But Im trying to turn over a new leaf, tea leaves if you will, so lets hope for the best.
Jaysin had a whole mess of things in store for me this weekend, I was pretty excited. Friday was Jaysin, Jake, GG, and I's night on the town. Since the trains stop a little after midnight, you have no choice but to stay out all night till the trains start up at 5:00. Shibuya was our playground for the night, and we found ourselves eventually at Club Pure. The entrance fee was a heavy blow, but you could drink all night. The club played only american music, so after setting foot in I quickly forgot I was in Japan. The ratio of guys to girls was like 20
The Great Feast
She really outdid herself this time. to 1, but thats fine, we only need each other to have a great time. The women that we did encounter were strange. It seemed like they wanted to dance with you, so you make a move for it, and then they back away. Maybe its a little different in Japan. After meeting a DJ who promised us VIP passes at his club, and having a guy who was dancing near me say, "you a naisu gai!" we headed on out for some grub. We went to a ramen shop and I guess we were talking pretty loud because a fat american bastard told us to be quite and proceeded to ask us what school we were from. We told him Sophia and he's like "oh, thats why. They say that people from Sophia are really smart, but socially retarded" We traded sarcastic remarks, and left the place. We weren't going to have him leave the night on a bad note. It was about 5am by now, so we could board our trains again. I ended up falling asleep on the train for awhile but it was fine since the Yamanote Line goes in circles. And so begins my Saturday......
There isn't much to say about Saturday. I spent the whole day recovering and sleeping basically. That night was Jen's (a friend from Sophia) "going away" get-together at a English Pub. I got a chance to meet alot of Jaysin's friends from Sophia. Alot of them were really cool. Im sure I'll describe them in detail later since I will be spending alot of time with them. Once it was over, Jay and I spent the last hour playing the Silent-Hill arcade game which was pretty sweet. Then we parted our ways.
Sunday I went to Akihabara to finally get my hands on a new camera! I went to this monstrous 10-story electronic department store, and had no problem finding what I needed. Then I headed to Akabane where Jaysin was located. There were a few other Japanese people there, and I still dont understand where they came from, but it consisted of two girls and two guys all in their 20's', and a cool, "tough" mom figure that often vacates to Hawaii. But lets not forget the best part! 'Ka-san prepared a staggering feast for all of us to enjoy. I couldnt believe I got full, its misleading since everything is in small portions. I can never leave her house without stuffing my face it seems. More questions and laughs were exchanged until everyone had to catch their trains home. I was able to stay the night luckily, it was a long way back. And so ends my weekend.
I included a video, but it doesnt seem to have audio when I upload it. Check and if it works for you, let me know. Otherwise, here's a youtube
link
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carshrimp
baouchi nagoya
After seeing that pic of that girl, I wouldn't like her either @_@~ But it sounds like a great week so far! Can't wait to read more! Take care!!! ~_m