Nichome and Internet Cafe!

Okay, so let's go back to December for a bit. So on Friday the 28th, I didn't do much in the day, but I meet one of my friends for dinner/drinks. We went to Shinjuku where we got curry. After that we headed to Nichome, the gay section of Tokyo (my friend is gay so he's been there before and he wanted to show me a bar there). I had heard about Nichome before, but had never before been. I was interested in going though. Being gay isn't really an acceptable thing in Japan/something people are very open about sadly. The area wasn't too different from other parts of Tokyo except for all the gay porn shops, gay clubs, and gay bars. At about 8pm we got to the bar he wanted to take me to. There was a nomihoudai (all you can drink) from 8-10 so we went early. Not too many people were there at the time, but that was actually a good thing. We meet (a somewhat weird) older man who graduated from Waseda at the bar. We also became good friends with the bartender! He seemed pretty cool/nice so we just decided to start talking to him (also my friend had seen him another night when he came). We stayed till around 11 (more people started to come, we actually meet people from one of our classes at Waseda haha), and had plans to go to a friends house to watch ANTM, but my host mom didn't have her key and couldn't get into our apartment, so I had to go let her in. That was probably a good thing though, since I was already pretty drunk. I mean, usually the drinks aren't that strong here (I guess it just depends). But our bartender was awesome (we kept asking him for his recommendations) and made us super strong drinks. So I was pretty drunk when I let my host mom in, but she thought it was funny (I told her I went to nichome and she said she wants me to take here there sometime haha).


The next day, Saturday the 29th, I actually got some work done. But not enough. But oh well. Anyway, at around 3pm I decided to go to a modern Art museum called the Watarium down the road from my apartment. I had been wanting to go there for a while, and needed to kill some time before meeting the friend I meet the night before for dinner, so I decided to go. I'm so glad I did! The exhibit they had at the time was really cool. My favorite pieces were the hand drawn city-scapes in ink this artist called Kyohei Sakaguchi made. Pictures weren't allowed, but I took two anyway.





After the museum (and after I looked at the cool book shop there), I decided to just walk around since I still had free time. I really, really, really love the neighborhood I live in. Really. I walked down Aoyama dori to Omotesando where I went to a store called Kiddy Land (it's like a huge character shop; there was even Star Wars stuff there! Definitely going back to get the lightsaber chopsticks). After that I went to Shinjuku and meet my friend. From the station he took me to an internet cafe (a 24 hour place with small rooms you can stay in for a certain amount of time where there is a computer, t.v, and shelves of manga and free drinks outside of your room. Also, there are showers there. So it's sorta like a hotel but the rooms are really really small and there aren't any beds but it's really cheap and you can stay for a long time). We became members (I have my own card haha) and rested a bit before dinner since we weren't quite hungry yet. After that we ate dinner (gyudon, beef on rice) and headed to the bar.



At the bar we did another nomihoudai. The same bartender was there again, and we got to talk to him for a bit, but the bar was pretty crowded and he was busy so not for too long. One of our other friends from our program met us that night too, so the three of us drank and talked a lot! It was a lot of fun! We are definitely going back again.



We had wanted to stay until 5am, but my guy friend was feeling sick so we left around 2. From the bar we bought snacks and went back to the previous internet cafe we were at before (my friends 3rd time there that day, my 2nd). There we ate, tried to sleep, and watched youtube videos until 7am (5 hours for about $13). Internet cafes are great, but ohmygod it got so hot/stale in there; we were dying. It feel so weird to be walking to the station at 7am when people usually are there at that time to go to work, etc. When I got home I crashed into bed and got some sleep, but woke up around 1 when my host mom texted me to tell me we were going on a trip in an hour (she was at her mom's house so it's not like she texted me when we were both in the same place lol). And then we drove to Kinugawa! But I'm tired and have plans to help with mochitsuki tomorrow, so I'll end here for now. Still have SO much to write about, but hopefully I can do that tomorrow or Friday! Aggg I can't believe break is going by so fast!

More Orientation, Food, and Embarrassment

After trying to hectically figure out what classes to take last night, I was pretty tired when I woke up. Most of the group separated to go on field trips today, I had a scholarship meeting to go to. Although I would have liked to go on one of those trips (especially with Team members), the scholarship session was important (and I'm really glad/thankful I got this scholarship). After the meeting I was able to go on a shorter field trip with the three other people in my program who got the scholarship. One of the Japan Study Associates (who works at Earlham) joined us for this. It was nice to see her, and she told us a lot of useful information.
To be honest I was sorta in a bad mood for most of our trip. I was tired/hungry and not as patient as I can be. Also, most Japanese people are quieter in public, so when people in my group are loud it just annoys me a bit. I know it really shouldn't make me annoyed (and it's not like people stare at us, at least not more than usual), but it just feels rude. Also it gives me a headache. And I really do like most everyone on my program, but I have gotten closer and connected with a certain group of people, so it would have been nice to be with them.
On a quick side note, out Resident Director here has mentioned to us multiple times about being aware of non-verbal cues and contexts. Although they are hard to keep track of, and sometimes hard to catch, I've tried to pay more attention to them. I noticed there is one Waseda student assistant with us that I'm closer with (we have around 4 or so). She's super friendly, and I've gotten to talk to her and hang out with her a bit. We haven't spent too much time together, but I noticed today (and a few days ago as well) at one point while we were walking or talking she put her arm around my shoulder in like a friendly hug gesture or she will touch my hand. I haven't seen her or anyone really touch too many people (there isn't much physical contact here, though I may not of noticed it), so it made me feel happy that she felt comfortable enough to do that. Of course she could be trying extra hard to be friendly, but still it was a nice gesture.

Anyway, we were supposed to be going to a garden in Shinjuku (which I was excited about) but it was closed since yesterday was a holiday. So instead we walked around instead a department store area that was underground. There were so many food shops, and some were pretty expensive, but I was able to get an onigiri and a nikuman (my first) for pretty cheap! I need to start spending less though, since my scholarship money won't kick in until late October.

I also saw the first homeless people I have seen in Japan in Shinjuku. One was selling a magazine (I can't remember the name) that apparently homeless people sell to make money. In order to have a job in Japan you need an address, and since they don't have one they are able to see a certain magazine. I don't know much about it, but I'll have to look into more. Obviously there are homeless people in Tokyo, but they are not as visible as they are in Chicago or New York.

After taking a new route back, and walking a bit, we had our SILS Academic Orientation today. I wanted to fall asleep during it since I was so tired (still not over jet lag yet), but there was a lot of important information they went over. There are so many things I need to do by certain dates, and it's a bit overwhelming to keep track of it. When I'm not doing orientation things I'm exploring/hanging out when friends, and by the time I return to my room for the night (10 depending on what I was doing), I just want to sleep.

Me and two other Team members went out to eat in Ikebukuro. We found this smaller ramen shop and ate there. I think it was a special type of ramen (I couldn't read the Kanji so i'm not sure) but it was delicious! I wish I would have taken a picture! And I really like restaurants that have a machine in front, with pictures of the food they serve, where you buy a food ticket and give it to a worker. It's super convenient (as are many things here). After that we walked towards Starbucks, and stopped in on a pet shop on the way, SO CUTE!, to observe people there for an hour or so in order to write a paper that we need to. I didn't buy anything since I was so full, but it was interesting to note certain things. I haven't written the paper yet, but I might post some of it here when I do. We also stopped by a department store where I bought a really nice handkerchief. I didn't really need it, and it was 1,050 yen, but I thought it was beautiful and would be a good investment, and just really wanted it so I bought it. There were so many cute things there: clothes, bags, shoes, hair things, wallets, etc. And most of it was expensive. But so cute. I can't wait for scholarship money haha.

Oh and something somewhat awkward happened today. I forgot/didn't notice the maids were cleaning today, and I left out a lot of dirty clothes, etc., and had my big suitcase on the bed. When I came back before dinner I noticed that the bed was made, and my suitcase was in the exact same spot. The maid moved my 40 pound suitcase on the ground, did the bed, then moved it to the same spot it was in the same position it was it. Then I noticed the bathroom where the maid neatly arranged all my belongings I had left messily on the counter. I was a bit embarrassed. I would have straightened up a bit if I knew they were cleaning today, but I just forgot. It's so crazy nice how she arranged everything in a cute, neat way. Like on the one had it's a bit weird, since that would never happen in America, and people would freak about someone touching their stuff. But I didn't feel weird about it, I just felt like I made her do more than she had to. I still feel a bit bad about it....but it's not like anything would ever be stolen. We literally saw a man asleep in front of the train station with his cell phone on his side untouched. We all agreed that if it we were in America, someone would have stolen his phone by then.

Well I hope that was a bit more of an in depth post. I still have a lot to do before bed, so until next time!