I'm back in Tokyo! What a nice feeling, coming home I mean. My redecorated apartment, my air conditioning, my balcony. Two weeks ago in Okayama was super fun. The new teachers were so awesome, and a lot of them are in the East Area, so I'll be seeing more of them in the coming year. In fact, hung out with a couple of them last night.
12 Straight Hours of Fun
Last night was Meegs going away party. After three years in Japan, she's, alas, heading back to America. Jen had worked with her in Himeji last year, before Meegs transfered to a school in Yokohama, so Jen came up from Okayama for the farewell party. Everyone came out, the two new teachers in Yokohama, the usual crew of teachers, and Emily, an old trainer. What made the night so fun was not that it was spent in dirty, dirty Roppongi, but the fact that everyone, and i mean each and every one of us, was just totally blattered. i mean, it sucks when there's only a couple people are off their rocker, some people are sober, and some people aren't enjoying themselves. but i think last night everyone was so keen on relieving the week's stress and the vibe of the group was so positive and high energy.
We met up in Roppongi, eww talk about culture shock-- too many drunk foreigners. (I love how I refer to my own kind as foreigners...) I think we all had a coupla brews in us when we met, and then just shot the shit waiting for everyone to collaborate on the corner. god, what's sweeter than public drinking being legal? heheee. Headed to a club that was PACKED, and pretended that we could actually get our dance on in such a small sardine tin. there were some dogdy transvesto Amazons who were dancing on the bar, and shoving their voluptuous body parts in everyone's face and it was rather disgusting to see people throw all self respect to the wind. i mean, that's cool if you wanna coyote ugly it up on the bar, but you won't catch me dancing on a bar... oh wait... except for that one time with Louise in Iwaki when we stole away into a reggae bar one night... nevermind...
I rocked a new outfit, a mint tank Louise bought for my bday last year, a slinky black skirt and heels that I bought in Singapore. so i'd like to attribute my inability to locate my center of gravity to the heels. i do recall a moment when my feet hurt so i chucked off my shoes and was literally running in the street in my bare feet. and i think my justification for that was, "Hey, it's ok. I don't see any syringes lying around anywhere, do you?" my feet were black this morning. lovely!
Hit up karaoke and that speaks for itself. nothing beats belting out all you fav tunes with yr mates. Then Jen, John, Alex, Marie and her visiting fiancee (who is totally hilarious and a perfect match for Marie) and I went for breakfast sizzling rice bowls topped with corn, and according to Alex's tastes, blue cheese dressing. I will never eat at "Pepper Lunch" again in Japan, it did NOT agree with my stomach. but i've always wanted to try it out- the red and lime green sign has always intrigued me in that restaurant. i have no idea the time it was, prolly about 8am-ish. Took the train back to Shibuya, stopping to get off the train for a smoke break along the way because Alex, Marie, James, and I are chronic.. and then took a print club in Shibuya. wow, i did a lot fo my fav all-nighter things last night:
drinking in public, legally
karaoke
print club
traditional McD's breakfast
slept through my stop.
in the midst of the most rediculous laspe of logic on the train, i experienced something that makes me fall in love with Japan all over again. an experience that would only happen in this country.
Ok, I'll set the scene. so it's about hmm... 9ish right, and I'm on the local train after saying goodbye to Alex in Shibuya after we spent more money of getting Frog Style frogs. I was determined NOT to fall asleep- I think you know where this story is headed. I changed trains and was awake until Sakurajosui. the stop after sakurajosui is kamikitazawa, that's my stop. i could have easily alighted at sakurajosui and walked because it's not that far from my place but i was finnin' for McD's which is located at Kamikitazawa. so i'm all "Danielle, DON'T FALL ASLEEP. ONLY ONE MORE STOP."
so, naturally, i leaned my head against the deliciously comfy metal pole beside my seat, and promptly passed out. some time later i woke up and had NO idea where i was. all i knew was that it was late, and I was still hammered. I popped on over to the next platform to backtrack because clearly i had gone too far. So, there i am, still in party clothes, crunked up in the corner trying to take a little nap on the way back to kamikitazawa. In my slumber, I heard a man get on and sit down next to me. His foot touched mine, which I found interesting because no one touches anyone else on the train. I was lolling around in my space, fiercely focused on keeping my legs together because I was wearing a skirt. Then I lifted my head from this new comfy pole and slumped it into my lap cuz that's actually a really comfy position. some time later I felt the man next to me tap me on the shoulder. and this is where it gets interesting.
for some reason, I fully understood everything he was saying, despite it being all in 'nese.
he was asking me if i had been out drinking, if i was lost, and what stop was mine. i was like, "Oh, I have to get off at Kamikitazawa... but I don't really know where that is." and he's like, "well, i'll wake you up when it comes." which is so nice! i was midway through slumping back into my lap and he was like, "hey, just sleep on my shoulder, it's more comfy." I made a mumbly noise of gratitude and then snuggled up on this random guy's shoulder. and it WAS softer than the metal pole. Finally we roll up to Kamikitazawa and I made a motion to get up.
AND THEN....
The man who I had been napping on stood up, fully took my hand and led me out of the train, talking and giving me words of encouragement the whole time. althought at one point, i think he asked me if i wanted to go for a drink but i was like "DUDE. it's 10 in the morning!!" He helped me down the stairs right to the ticket gate and said, "Take care!" as he waited on the other side. i fished out a frog from my purse and gave it to him in gratitude. and he stood there and watched to make sure I could make it back up the stairs to street level.
How nice is that??? You might think it's creepy, or that I'm too trusting, but that's honestly how much people care about travellers and foreigners here. It was pure kindness. No doubt I would have stacked it down the stairs in my heels had he not been there. At first when he took my hand I thought maybe I didn't understand exactly what he had been saying to me. what if he asked me if i was a hooker and i said yes, cuz that's all i could mutter out in Japanese? but that was a brief fleeting thought. i've been paying more attention to my gut feelings and they are becoming stronger. and i felt nothing but kindness from this man.
And let's admit it -- sometimes all you need in life is someone to hold your hand.
12 Straight Hours of Fun
Last night was Meegs going away party. After three years in Japan, she's, alas, heading back to America. Jen had worked with her in Himeji last year, before Meegs transfered to a school in Yokohama, so Jen came up from Okayama for the farewell party. Everyone came out, the two new teachers in Yokohama, the usual crew of teachers, and Emily, an old trainer. What made the night so fun was not that it was spent in dirty, dirty Roppongi, but the fact that everyone, and i mean each and every one of us, was just totally blattered. i mean, it sucks when there's only a couple people are off their rocker, some people are sober, and some people aren't enjoying themselves. but i think last night everyone was so keen on relieving the week's stress and the vibe of the group was so positive and high energy.
We met up in Roppongi, eww talk about culture shock-- too many drunk foreigners. (I love how I refer to my own kind as foreigners...) I think we all had a coupla brews in us when we met, and then just shot the shit waiting for everyone to collaborate on the corner. god, what's sweeter than public drinking being legal? heheee. Headed to a club that was PACKED, and pretended that we could actually get our dance on in such a small sardine tin. there were some dogdy transvesto Amazons who were dancing on the bar, and shoving their voluptuous body parts in everyone's face and it was rather disgusting to see people throw all self respect to the wind. i mean, that's cool if you wanna coyote ugly it up on the bar, but you won't catch me dancing on a bar... oh wait... except for that one time with Louise in Iwaki when we stole away into a reggae bar one night... nevermind...
I rocked a new outfit, a mint tank Louise bought for my bday last year, a slinky black skirt and heels that I bought in Singapore. so i'd like to attribute my inability to locate my center of gravity to the heels. i do recall a moment when my feet hurt so i chucked off my shoes and was literally running in the street in my bare feet. and i think my justification for that was, "Hey, it's ok. I don't see any syringes lying around anywhere, do you?" my feet were black this morning. lovely!
Hit up karaoke and that speaks for itself. nothing beats belting out all you fav tunes with yr mates. Then Jen, John, Alex, Marie and her visiting fiancee (who is totally hilarious and a perfect match for Marie) and I went for breakfast sizzling rice bowls topped with corn, and according to Alex's tastes, blue cheese dressing. I will never eat at "Pepper Lunch" again in Japan, it did NOT agree with my stomach. but i've always wanted to try it out- the red and lime green sign has always intrigued me in that restaurant. i have no idea the time it was, prolly about 8am-ish. Took the train back to Shibuya, stopping to get off the train for a smoke break along the way because Alex, Marie, James, and I are chronic.. and then took a print club in Shibuya. wow, i did a lot fo my fav all-nighter things last night:
drinking in public, legally
karaoke
print club
traditional McD's breakfast
slept through my stop.
in the midst of the most rediculous laspe of logic on the train, i experienced something that makes me fall in love with Japan all over again. an experience that would only happen in this country.
Ok, I'll set the scene. so it's about hmm... 9ish right, and I'm on the local train after saying goodbye to Alex in Shibuya after we spent more money of getting Frog Style frogs. I was determined NOT to fall asleep- I think you know where this story is headed. I changed trains and was awake until Sakurajosui. the stop after sakurajosui is kamikitazawa, that's my stop. i could have easily alighted at sakurajosui and walked because it's not that far from my place but i was finnin' for McD's which is located at Kamikitazawa. so i'm all "Danielle, DON'T FALL ASLEEP. ONLY ONE MORE STOP."
so, naturally, i leaned my head against the deliciously comfy metal pole beside my seat, and promptly passed out. some time later i woke up and had NO idea where i was. all i knew was that it was late, and I was still hammered. I popped on over to the next platform to backtrack because clearly i had gone too far. So, there i am, still in party clothes, crunked up in the corner trying to take a little nap on the way back to kamikitazawa. In my slumber, I heard a man get on and sit down next to me. His foot touched mine, which I found interesting because no one touches anyone else on the train. I was lolling around in my space, fiercely focused on keeping my legs together because I was wearing a skirt. Then I lifted my head from this new comfy pole and slumped it into my lap cuz that's actually a really comfy position. some time later I felt the man next to me tap me on the shoulder. and this is where it gets interesting.
for some reason, I fully understood everything he was saying, despite it being all in 'nese.
he was asking me if i had been out drinking, if i was lost, and what stop was mine. i was like, "Oh, I have to get off at Kamikitazawa... but I don't really know where that is." and he's like, "well, i'll wake you up when it comes." which is so nice! i was midway through slumping back into my lap and he was like, "hey, just sleep on my shoulder, it's more comfy." I made a mumbly noise of gratitude and then snuggled up on this random guy's shoulder. and it WAS softer than the metal pole. Finally we roll up to Kamikitazawa and I made a motion to get up.
AND THEN....
The man who I had been napping on stood up, fully took my hand and led me out of the train, talking and giving me words of encouragement the whole time. althought at one point, i think he asked me if i wanted to go for a drink but i was like "DUDE. it's 10 in the morning!!" He helped me down the stairs right to the ticket gate and said, "Take care!" as he waited on the other side. i fished out a frog from my purse and gave it to him in gratitude. and he stood there and watched to make sure I could make it back up the stairs to street level.
How nice is that??? You might think it's creepy, or that I'm too trusting, but that's honestly how much people care about travellers and foreigners here. It was pure kindness. No doubt I would have stacked it down the stairs in my heels had he not been there. At first when he took my hand I thought maybe I didn't understand exactly what he had been saying to me. what if he asked me if i was a hooker and i said yes, cuz that's all i could mutter out in Japanese? but that was a brief fleeting thought. i've been paying more attention to my gut feelings and they are becoming stronger. and i felt nothing but kindness from this man.
And let's admit it -- sometimes all you need in life is someone to hold your hand.
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