Out All Night

  So as my previous post mentioned, Friday was pretty crazy. I woke up around 8:30 to get ready for calligraphy lessons (shodo) with my host mom and brother. The lesson lasted about 2 hours. I kinda suck at shodo since my natural handwriting is pretty shitty, but it's kinda relaxing just to sit there and try to focus on just what you're writing. And the lesson was held in this fancy building in Ginza, and all of her students were women ranging in age. After shodo I went with my host mom and brother to eat Taiwanese food in a nearby restaurant (it was really good). Since the weather was nice that day we debated about going on a day trip somewhere. My host mom wanted to go to Hakone, but it takes about and hour and a half to get there, and since I had to be back by six for my club's nomikai, we didn't have the time. So instead we parted ways and I went to the Shinjuku Gyoen.

   I've been wanting to go to that park for some time now. I was supposed to go with a small group there during orientation, but the park was closed the day we went. But I'm glad I went during the fall. It was so beautiful! I went by myself just to get some alone time, and it was so peaceful there. It wasn't too crowded, and some paths were completely empty, so I had a really nice time there. And it was huge! I spent about two hours there just walking around and taking pictures.

  At around 4 I headed to Waseda to hang out with people before the nomikai. I had just planned on sitting in the niji lounge to talk with people, but one of my friends from my program asked if I wanted to go with him to his house so he could get some stuff and change. Since I've been interested in seeing the neighborhoods other people from my program live in I said yes. The neighborhood (I forgot the name) that he lives in is really cute! It's a bit more in the suburbs of Tokyo, but there were still a lot of fun looking shops on a cute little shopping street. And there was a park in front of his host family's house! And there were cats there! Once meowed at me haha. After he was ready we headed back to Waseda and went to the general niji meeting that was held before the nomikai. And then the night really began.

  A whole bunch of us fit into a small space for the nomikai. We were all sitting on the floor (with mats), so at least there weren't chairs to take up room. But it was really crowded. The room was completely full, but more people kept coming in. I have no idea how many people were there that night. But it was a lot of fun. There was some food (pizza, salad, etc.) and endless drinks (let's not talk about how much I had to drink. My tolerance has gotten so high since coming here). Some people got super drunk and some weren't drinking at all. I got to meet new people and hung out with good friends too. And like every five minutes there would be a kampai (cheers). I think the most entertaining part of the night was the drinking calls for the 3rd years. Once you become a 4th year you "graduate" from the club since seniors spend a lot of their time searching for a job. So to recognize who was graduating, the 3rd years would have to stand up and make a little speech. But during their speech other members would call out things (such as shut up, we don't care, or the start to a drinking song (all in Japanese)) and then the person making the speech would have to drink. It was hilarious.  

  At about 11 everyone headed outside to hand out at the rotary in front of Takadanobaba station. We were there for like an hour or so just hanging out (my memory is most fuzzy here). I started to talk to a guy from niji who I've meet a few times before, but had a longer conversation with the day before. A couple of people were going to a second bar, and since I didn't want to go home yet, I went with them. And the guy I was talking to looked up the time of my last train (which was at about 12:50), so I still had time to hang out. The second bar that we went to was pretty crowded, so about seven of us stayed at the upper level where there was a darts game which we started to play. I felt kinda bad though, because I ended up knocking over two drinks while we were there. But the space was really small, and my coat kept bumping into them! But definitely a fail on my part. 

  Since I wanted to continue to hang out with people, I ended up missing my last train home (as did everyone else who was there. I was the only foreign exchange student which was pretty funny, the rest went home).  It was about 1:30 when we left the second bar. At this point I had a couple of options. If I really wanted to, I could have taken a taxi home. But taxis are expensive and I wanted to spend time with people. We ended up walking to a 3rd bar, but about six of us wanted to do something else. When I talked to the guy the other day, I mentioned how I wanted to check out a club in Japan. So the six of us ended up going to a club (three Japanese, two Korean girls, and me). The club was in Shinjuku, which was about a half hour away, so we all walked there. The whole way there I talked with the guy I mentioned earlier (who is really attractive by the way), so it was nice to get to know him better. I was pretty tired though, so I don't think the conversation was that riveting, but it was still fun! 

  The club was definitely in a more seedy area of Shinjuku (host clubs all around), but the club itself wasn't really that bad. Girls got in free and got a free drink which was pretty awesome. Not too many people were at the club, so it was kinda awkward. But the six of us had fun just dancing together (Japanese dancing is a lot different from American dancing by the way). We were all pretty tired, but we ended up staying at the club from 3-5am (since the first trains start at 5). From there we walked to the station and parted ways home. It's hilarious by the way how many people miss the last train and have to take the first train home. The station was SO crowded. Like really. I should have taken a picture, but my camera was dead (and phone cameras make noise and I didn't want to seem creepy...lol). As I walked home the sky started to become lighter, and after I took a shower, I saw a nice pink sunrise from my balcony.
  I ended up sleeping two hours and then got up to go to Saturday class. Normally I would have skipped, but there was a group skit that I needed to do, and I'm going to miss the next two Saturdays for host family stuff, so I thought it would be best to go. Surprising I wasn't dead. I made it through class and lunch with my friends. When I got home though I slept for like four hours. My host family wasn't home when I got up, but at around 7:30pm they came back with dinner. I should probably mention how awesome my host family is. I texted my host mom when I knew I was going to miss my last train to let her know I would be home super late. And my host parents were completely fine with it. I told them about my night and they thought it sounded pretty fun. They were like please, have fun while you are here. I'm glad they where so cool about me being out all night!
  Today the weather is nice, so I think we are going to Hakone? So I'm excited! And I need to work on homework, but that can come later ;)

The sky was actually pink in real life...