shibuya: the first time
Masa took me to Shibuya where we walked around and explored the stores and hang-outs of the area. this is the "times square" of Japan, so there were a bunch of neon lights, and it was completely packed the entire time we were there.
as soon as we stepped off the train, we noticed about 30 people standing decked out in Medieval aromour, holding signs promoting the launch of a new video game. so gathering around them were about a hundred million tourists trying to take pictures. i took one, which i will figure out how to post here, in the near future.
we went from shop to shop looking at all the weird things japanese people buy and sell. i enjoyed the high-tech security camera/doorbell combos that let you confirm who was ringing your bell from the comfort of your living room. Masa showed me "comic book cafes" where you pay by the hour to read comics in reclining chairs. you can also take a shower there if you need to. it seemed odd to me, but Masa explained that once he missed the last train of the night, and spend 6 hours in one of these places until the trains were up in running. needless to say, all comic cafes are 24 hours--catering to not only those to missed the last train, but also anyone who really needs to read a comic book or take a shower at like 2:30 in the morning. Weird japanese people.
after about 2 hours of wandering around, Masa took me to the club/resturant where we were going to see the concert that night. The concert ticket was about 30 bucks, 3600Yen but i didn't find that too objectable. what i didn't know, was this club was going to be fully catered with all you can eat food-"tabe-houdai" and an open bar of all you can drink alcohol-"nomi-houdai". since Masa's friend was one of the people who organized the entire event (it was actually a gathering of college students who had been friends since high school, each playing in his or her own band) so we got into the club as one of the first people in line. we got to sit at one of the tables in the back, and each table had three HUGE Asahi beers, opened, and fresh glasses. Masa and i started right in before getting in line for the rows and rows of food.
The food was great--different kinds of chinese dumplings, japanese salads, fried everything (fish squid, ect) pizza, pasta, and a whole bunch of meat and fruit. i was really impressed by the quality and quantity. With our plates stacked high, i think we each had two, we returned to our table to find a couple about our age, sitting there. "Well, this is awkward" but Masa started talking to the guy, and i happily ignored them as it was much easier to eat good food and drink beer, than strain to understand what they were saying--japanese people talk too fast.
But suddenly, masa looks at me and goes "they speak english" and i started talking to the guy masa had been talking to. apparently, this guy, Soichiro, had lived for three years in NY as a child, then moved to London when he was a teen-ager for about 5 years. his english was very good, not perfect, but he understood everything i was saying. we kinda spoke "Japringrish" for about 10 mintues, until i told everyone that i was going to get my 3600 Yen worth at the bar, and got up to go get in line. His girlfriend followed me and jumped in line. I introduced myself in shaky japanese, to which she looked at me, and in PERFECT english, no accent at all, goes "yeah, i speak english. I lived in Canada from ages 12-18". That made things a lot easier, and although it wasn't ideal, i probably should have spoken a little more japanese, it was really nice to talk to someone.
we made our way back to the table and Masa introduced me to his other friends, most could speak english, but they humored me by letting me make my self-introduciton in japanese. only one of his friends didn't really speak english ( according to Masa,his english was about as good as my japanese--yeah, thanks). So i talked to him for a while in japanese, mostly guessing what he was saying, but it seemed to go well. by this time the bands had started playing, making it harding to hear what people were saying, in addition to it being japanese, and everyone was getting pretty drunk at this point.
I met Masa's friend who organized the whole thing. His name was June, and he attended Keio High school in New York, and is now a senior at Keio University. Talking with him was awesome. not only could he speak perfect english, he was the most american in terms of attitude and character. it was like talking to a friend from home. i just talked how i normally do, using slang and such, and he was fine with it. He organized the partying, saying he had to rent out the place, and buy all the food and alcohol--but he didn't a pretty awesome job as it was one of the best parties i've ever been to.
The rest of the evening i spoke to these new freinds is a mixture of japanese and english, and got contact info from almost everyone. Everyone was a keio student, at the same campus as me, so i should be hanging out with them again. Masa and i had a really great time, i was pretty happy that i got to meet some real japanese people, even if i got to know them mostly by speaking english. There was one girl who June introduced my to who wanted to talk to me because i was an american. Her english was terrible, but it made me feel so much better because she'd ask me questions in english (sort of english), and i'd answer in japanese, probably equally incomprehensible. it was a really fun experience, and i hope to have more like them.
Next task is figuring out how to get a cellphone. you think american plans are complicated, they don't made an ounce of sense here. Masa pays 40 bucks a month, and has 25 minutes. . .PER MONTH. he just emails with his phone to communicate. So confusing. he's helping me with it, cause the brochures are all in japanese. Oh well, japan is a crazy place.
as soon as we stepped off the train, we noticed about 30 people standing decked out in Medieval aromour, holding signs promoting the launch of a new video game. so gathering around them were about a hundred million tourists trying to take pictures. i took one, which i will figure out how to post here, in the near future.
we went from shop to shop looking at all the weird things japanese people buy and sell. i enjoyed the high-tech security camera/doorbell combos that let you confirm who was ringing your bell from the comfort of your living room. Masa showed me "comic book cafes" where you pay by the hour to read comics in reclining chairs. you can also take a shower there if you need to. it seemed odd to me, but Masa explained that once he missed the last train of the night, and spend 6 hours in one of these places until the trains were up in running. needless to say, all comic cafes are 24 hours--catering to not only those to missed the last train, but also anyone who really needs to read a comic book or take a shower at like 2:30 in the morning. Weird japanese people.
after about 2 hours of wandering around, Masa took me to the club/resturant where we were going to see the concert that night. The concert ticket was about 30 bucks, 3600Yen but i didn't find that too objectable. what i didn't know, was this club was going to be fully catered with all you can eat food-"tabe-houdai" and an open bar of all you can drink alcohol-"nomi-houdai". since Masa's friend was one of the people who organized the entire event (it was actually a gathering of college students who had been friends since high school, each playing in his or her own band) so we got into the club as one of the first people in line. we got to sit at one of the tables in the back, and each table had three HUGE Asahi beers, opened, and fresh glasses. Masa and i started right in before getting in line for the rows and rows of food.
The food was great--different kinds of chinese dumplings, japanese salads, fried everything (fish squid, ect) pizza, pasta, and a whole bunch of meat and fruit. i was really impressed by the quality and quantity. With our plates stacked high, i think we each had two, we returned to our table to find a couple about our age, sitting there. "Well, this is awkward" but Masa started talking to the guy, and i happily ignored them as it was much easier to eat good food and drink beer, than strain to understand what they were saying--japanese people talk too fast.
But suddenly, masa looks at me and goes "they speak english" and i started talking to the guy masa had been talking to. apparently, this guy, Soichiro, had lived for three years in NY as a child, then moved to London when he was a teen-ager for about 5 years. his english was very good, not perfect, but he understood everything i was saying. we kinda spoke "Japringrish" for about 10 mintues, until i told everyone that i was going to get my 3600 Yen worth at the bar, and got up to go get in line. His girlfriend followed me and jumped in line. I introduced myself in shaky japanese, to which she looked at me, and in PERFECT english, no accent at all, goes "yeah, i speak english. I lived in Canada from ages 12-18". That made things a lot easier, and although it wasn't ideal, i probably should have spoken a little more japanese, it was really nice to talk to someone.
we made our way back to the table and Masa introduced me to his other friends, most could speak english, but they humored me by letting me make my self-introduciton in japanese. only one of his friends didn't really speak english ( according to Masa,his english was about as good as my japanese--yeah, thanks). So i talked to him for a while in japanese, mostly guessing what he was saying, but it seemed to go well. by this time the bands had started playing, making it harding to hear what people were saying, in addition to it being japanese, and everyone was getting pretty drunk at this point.
I met Masa's friend who organized the whole thing. His name was June, and he attended Keio High school in New York, and is now a senior at Keio University. Talking with him was awesome. not only could he speak perfect english, he was the most american in terms of attitude and character. it was like talking to a friend from home. i just talked how i normally do, using slang and such, and he was fine with it. He organized the partying, saying he had to rent out the place, and buy all the food and alcohol--but he didn't a pretty awesome job as it was one of the best parties i've ever been to.
The rest of the evening i spoke to these new freinds is a mixture of japanese and english, and got contact info from almost everyone. Everyone was a keio student, at the same campus as me, so i should be hanging out with them again. Masa and i had a really great time, i was pretty happy that i got to meet some real japanese people, even if i got to know them mostly by speaking english. There was one girl who June introduced my to who wanted to talk to me because i was an american. Her english was terrible, but it made me feel so much better because she'd ask me questions in english (sort of english), and i'd answer in japanese, probably equally incomprehensible. it was a really fun experience, and i hope to have more like them.
Next task is figuring out how to get a cellphone. you think american plans are complicated, they don't made an ounce of sense here. Masa pays 40 bucks a month, and has 25 minutes. . .PER MONTH. he just emails with his phone to communicate. So confusing. he's helping me with it, cause the brochures are all in japanese. Oh well, japan is a crazy place.
posted by Hella Cool Half-Asian Lumberjack at 1:44 AM
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