Sunday, September 25, 2005
Here We Go Again
We've all heard the expression "You can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs." In that spirit, I offer this analogy: "You can't go to college without throwing up."
We'll get back to that later. I took things easy on Saturday, sleeping in and lounging around the dorm, mostly. Some guys ordered a pizza (which I will probably look into trying sooner or later) and rented Old School. Fun fact: in Japan, they call it Adult School (in English). I ended up watching a good chunk of it over their shoulders and amusing myself.
Eventually I went out to eat dinner as well as pick up more milk and eggs. I kept things local, eating at the little okonomiyaki place around the corner from the dorms (although I actually had yakiudon) on my way to the nearby supermarket across the river in Makino. In the market I ran into Ryan from UAlbany and we shared our mutual frustrations with trying to figure out what to buy and how to cook it. I think the university should offer a supermarket orientation and cooking advice. Even if I was a big cook back home (which I am not) it would be difficult to adjust to new ingredients and recipes.
A small crisis emerged when I tried to pay for my groceries with the 500 Yen coin I had received as change from my dinner. It wasn't Yen at all, it was a 500 Won coin. The cashier described it "Chinese" but it is actually Korean. Regardless, it was worthless to me and I had to do something about it. This kind of thing happens to me in America all the time as Canadian coins of similar dimensions to ours often get given to me by accident. In those cases I usually let it go because it's merely a matter of a quarter or a penny but this was 500 Yen. That's more than four dollars!
Thankfully, the matter was easily resolved. I went back to the restaurant and just showed the woman in charge the coin and she figured out what happened before I even started to try and explain in Japanese (not that I had a very good idea of the right words to use). An elderly woman (presumably her mother) had made my change and I guess she just didn't notice. At least, I hope it was unintentional. She did appear old enough to remember the war. Meh, it's best not to entertain that sort of notion.
With all of issues taken care of (food, shopping, money) I got in touch with Scott about our planned evening out on the town. Since the last train home is around midnight, I had suggested we get together earlier so I could meet it without feeling like my evening was only half over. He suggested we actually get together later and simply party until dawn. Since I had nothing to do on Sunday anyway I liked his idea a lot more. I had been here about a month already so it was high time for an all-nighter!
We planned to meet in Umeda at 11:15 but I ended up arriving much earlier. I had hoped to spend more time in that big electronics store I had seen last Sunday but they closed at 9. I ended up engaging in some "conveni" drinking and just walking around the various pedestrian bridges connecting the three major train stations. I purposely didn't bring my camera because I simply have too much stuff in my pockets as it is. Besides, this was a night out, not a sightseeing venture. When the weather allows for me to wear a jacket I'll never leave it behind again.
What did I see? Not so much of a skyline, but each of the three stations is a massive building with different colors of lights on the sides. There were a lot of other people hanging on the walkways, including vagrants, artists, rappers, and even a small film crew. One (presumably) homeless guy tried to ask me something about singing "acapella" but I couldn't figure out what he wanted. Did he want to sing to me or did he want me to sing to him? Perhaps a duet? No idea! So far as I could tell nobody was looking for money, not even a trio of musicians who had an elaborate set-up of drums, saxophone and a bass guitar with an amp on the street level.
I should take a moment to respond to a comment Hyde made on my previous post: I don't think alcohol is a big problem here because there's not much a stigma attached to it like there is in the U.S. Maybe I'm a sucker or a dreamer or both, but I think the dumbest way you can respond to a personal choice (or "vice" as we tend to call them) is to try and repress it formally. The logic supporting such a ban is always shaky and usually evokes religion. Here, people drink when they want to drink so there's just no big deal. I actually drank my first beer last night wrapped in a plastic bag because I didn't want anyone to see that I was drinking beer. As soon as I realized that there were plenty of other people drinking beer I threw the bag away. Nobody cares.
If it was legal to walk around New York drinking alcohol, yes, things would get a little crazy. However, I think once the "newness" of it wore off, things would level off. It's not like everyday would turn into St. Patrick's Day.
OK, enough soapbox philosophy. Scott and I met at the aforementioned time. He also invited his (male) friend Takayuki and Tôru (whom we met Friday night). Tôru brought along two friends, Kawase (male) and Rie (female). Takayuki spoke virtually no English which kind of surprised me, but I guess Scott's Japanese is good enough to talk about just about anything with anyone. I found myself able to talk to him too but I could not follow their conversations at all.
We walked to a "foreigner-friendly" club called Sam & Dave. I was very surprised by this, as I am not normally a "club" type of guy. Too crowded, too loud, too expensive. However, that's the old me. It took a little effort, but I simply reminded myself that everyone was in the club to party and I should be able to have fun too. So I did. I danced a little bit which felt easier than back home because I didn't feel intimidated somehow; usually I get all self-conscious and nervous that my dancing ability is somehow being judged. I don't know if shelving that fear was a breakthrough or merely a symptom of me being in a foreign country but whatever happened, it worked.
I didn't do so well in meeting new people though. I didn't speak to anyone outside of our group, although I do take a small amount of pride that I was able to speak to Rie in the very noisy club environment and understand most of what she said. I'm just not sure if I'll ever get comfortable meeting strangers in that kind of environment. Maybe it's a matter of "learning to crawl before you can walk." I'm still adjusting to the idea of meeting people in casual ways. Once I get that down, perhaps I can then move on to more "advanced" social settings like clubs and bars.
OK, time to get back to drinking. Paying the cover charge at Sam & Dave gets you two free drink coupons (hilariously featuring a photo of Chuck Norris) which I exchanged for a pair of screwdrivers. The bartenders were all foreigners so ordering drinks was easy despite the noise. After that I went back to beer, ordering one glass of their cheapest draft. I never got that tipsy but eventually I did get kind of hungry. A Japanese dude was selling grilled food from a cart outside and I had one of his quesadillas before getting very tired.
Somehow, I nodded off while sitting outside and woke up feeling sick. Perhaps it was the combination of beer and liquor ("Never sicker") or maybe it was the quesadilla (though it was delicious) but I knew I had to vomit. Scott picked up on this and led me to an alley behind the club so I wouldn't "make a scene," which I appreciated. I found a storm drain (which provided a big enough target) next a to railing (so I could stabilize myself). At first, there wasn't much to it, but I realized that I was holding back and I wasn't getting the job done. I paced about a bit longer until I realized I had to take matters into my own hands (or finger). Did you ever see that episode of Family Guy when Peter Griffin decides to find out if you can really make yourself throw up? It was a lot like that.
Purged of whatever toxins had afflicted me, I found myself feeling very cold which has happened before. The weather this weekend has been fabulously breezy but at that particular time it was most inconvenient. Still, a bit of pacing and some bottled water made me feel a bit better. I never went back into the club; Scott and I just hung out outside for a bit before heading back to the train station (bound for different trains though). I really appreciated his support in what happened and I hope he was able to have fun despite my accident.
I didn't get back to the dorm until 7:30 AM and I still felt rather sick at that point. A few hours sleep cleared up my stomach but I ended up taking it real easy the entire day. Indeed, I'm still in my bathrobe right now. Sooner or later I'll have to look into dinner; I had oatmeal earlier but I don't think that's going to hold me until tomorrow.
To sum up: It was fun. I puked, but it was still fun.
We'll get back to that later. I took things easy on Saturday, sleeping in and lounging around the dorm, mostly. Some guys ordered a pizza (which I will probably look into trying sooner or later) and rented Old School. Fun fact: in Japan, they call it Adult School (in English). I ended up watching a good chunk of it over their shoulders and amusing myself.
Eventually I went out to eat dinner as well as pick up more milk and eggs. I kept things local, eating at the little okonomiyaki place around the corner from the dorms (although I actually had yakiudon) on my way to the nearby supermarket across the river in Makino. In the market I ran into Ryan from UAlbany and we shared our mutual frustrations with trying to figure out what to buy and how to cook it. I think the university should offer a supermarket orientation and cooking advice. Even if I was a big cook back home (which I am not) it would be difficult to adjust to new ingredients and recipes.
A small crisis emerged when I tried to pay for my groceries with the 500 Yen coin I had received as change from my dinner. It wasn't Yen at all, it was a 500 Won coin. The cashier described it "Chinese" but it is actually Korean. Regardless, it was worthless to me and I had to do something about it. This kind of thing happens to me in America all the time as Canadian coins of similar dimensions to ours often get given to me by accident. In those cases I usually let it go because it's merely a matter of a quarter or a penny but this was 500 Yen. That's more than four dollars!
Thankfully, the matter was easily resolved. I went back to the restaurant and just showed the woman in charge the coin and she figured out what happened before I even started to try and explain in Japanese (not that I had a very good idea of the right words to use). An elderly woman (presumably her mother) had made my change and I guess she just didn't notice. At least, I hope it was unintentional. She did appear old enough to remember the war. Meh, it's best not to entertain that sort of notion.
With all of issues taken care of (food, shopping, money) I got in touch with Scott about our planned evening out on the town. Since the last train home is around midnight, I had suggested we get together earlier so I could meet it without feeling like my evening was only half over. He suggested we actually get together later and simply party until dawn. Since I had nothing to do on Sunday anyway I liked his idea a lot more. I had been here about a month already so it was high time for an all-nighter!
We planned to meet in Umeda at 11:15 but I ended up arriving much earlier. I had hoped to spend more time in that big electronics store I had seen last Sunday but they closed at 9. I ended up engaging in some "conveni" drinking and just walking around the various pedestrian bridges connecting the three major train stations. I purposely didn't bring my camera because I simply have too much stuff in my pockets as it is. Besides, this was a night out, not a sightseeing venture. When the weather allows for me to wear a jacket I'll never leave it behind again.
What did I see? Not so much of a skyline, but each of the three stations is a massive building with different colors of lights on the sides. There were a lot of other people hanging on the walkways, including vagrants, artists, rappers, and even a small film crew. One (presumably) homeless guy tried to ask me something about singing "acapella" but I couldn't figure out what he wanted. Did he want to sing to me or did he want me to sing to him? Perhaps a duet? No idea! So far as I could tell nobody was looking for money, not even a trio of musicians who had an elaborate set-up of drums, saxophone and a bass guitar with an amp on the street level.
I should take a moment to respond to a comment Hyde made on my previous post: I don't think alcohol is a big problem here because there's not much a stigma attached to it like there is in the U.S. Maybe I'm a sucker or a dreamer or both, but I think the dumbest way you can respond to a personal choice (or "vice" as we tend to call them) is to try and repress it formally. The logic supporting such a ban is always shaky and usually evokes religion. Here, people drink when they want to drink so there's just no big deal. I actually drank my first beer last night wrapped in a plastic bag because I didn't want anyone to see that I was drinking beer. As soon as I realized that there were plenty of other people drinking beer I threw the bag away. Nobody cares.
If it was legal to walk around New York drinking alcohol, yes, things would get a little crazy. However, I think once the "newness" of it wore off, things would level off. It's not like everyday would turn into St. Patrick's Day.
OK, enough soapbox philosophy. Scott and I met at the aforementioned time. He also invited his (male) friend Takayuki and Tôru (whom we met Friday night). Tôru brought along two friends, Kawase (male) and Rie (female). Takayuki spoke virtually no English which kind of surprised me, but I guess Scott's Japanese is good enough to talk about just about anything with anyone. I found myself able to talk to him too but I could not follow their conversations at all.
We walked to a "foreigner-friendly" club called Sam & Dave. I was very surprised by this, as I am not normally a "club" type of guy. Too crowded, too loud, too expensive. However, that's the old me. It took a little effort, but I simply reminded myself that everyone was in the club to party and I should be able to have fun too. So I did. I danced a little bit which felt easier than back home because I didn't feel intimidated somehow; usually I get all self-conscious and nervous that my dancing ability is somehow being judged. I don't know if shelving that fear was a breakthrough or merely a symptom of me being in a foreign country but whatever happened, it worked.
I didn't do so well in meeting new people though. I didn't speak to anyone outside of our group, although I do take a small amount of pride that I was able to speak to Rie in the very noisy club environment and understand most of what she said. I'm just not sure if I'll ever get comfortable meeting strangers in that kind of environment. Maybe it's a matter of "learning to crawl before you can walk." I'm still adjusting to the idea of meeting people in casual ways. Once I get that down, perhaps I can then move on to more "advanced" social settings like clubs and bars.
OK, time to get back to drinking. Paying the cover charge at Sam & Dave gets you two free drink coupons (hilariously featuring a photo of Chuck Norris) which I exchanged for a pair of screwdrivers. The bartenders were all foreigners so ordering drinks was easy despite the noise. After that I went back to beer, ordering one glass of their cheapest draft. I never got that tipsy but eventually I did get kind of hungry. A Japanese dude was selling grilled food from a cart outside and I had one of his quesadillas before getting very tired.
Somehow, I nodded off while sitting outside and woke up feeling sick. Perhaps it was the combination of beer and liquor ("Never sicker") or maybe it was the quesadilla (though it was delicious) but I knew I had to vomit. Scott picked up on this and led me to an alley behind the club so I wouldn't "make a scene," which I appreciated. I found a storm drain (which provided a big enough target) next a to railing (so I could stabilize myself). At first, there wasn't much to it, but I realized that I was holding back and I wasn't getting the job done. I paced about a bit longer until I realized I had to take matters into my own hands (or finger). Did you ever see that episode of Family Guy when Peter Griffin decides to find out if you can really make yourself throw up? It was a lot like that.
Purged of whatever toxins had afflicted me, I found myself feeling very cold which has happened before. The weather this weekend has been fabulously breezy but at that particular time it was most inconvenient. Still, a bit of pacing and some bottled water made me feel a bit better. I never went back into the club; Scott and I just hung out outside for a bit before heading back to the train station (bound for different trains though). I really appreciated his support in what happened and I hope he was able to have fun despite my accident.
I didn't get back to the dorm until 7:30 AM and I still felt rather sick at that point. A few hours sleep cleared up my stomach but I ended up taking it real easy the entire day. Indeed, I'm still in my bathrobe right now. Sooner or later I'll have to look into dinner; I had oatmeal earlier but I don't think that's going to hold me until tomorrow.
To sum up: It was fun. I puked, but it was still fun.
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Hey you party animal. How are the clubs over there. Any worthy to mention differences from NY? I know europe is diferent from NY, so what about Japan? How does the beer taste over there? Do they have all kinds of beer, or mostly national brands?
I don't have enough NY club experience to really compare the two, sorry. Like I said, I've never been much for the club scene. I know that I've always been annoyed that dudes in American clubs all have the exact same "look" and that wasn't the case on Saturday night.
Your average convenience store or supermarket is only going to sell Japanese beers and other products you're not familiar with, like chuhai. I'm not 100% familiar with them either because people tell me it's a "girl's drink" and it tastes sweet.
A bar or restuarant, on the other hand, usually has some international brands like Guiness or Corona. Naturally, they are more expensive than the domestic stuff so I stick to domestic. So far, I've liked every beer that I've tried, although I did buy something in a can on Saturday that turned out to be very sweet and not to my liking.
Your average convenience store or supermarket is only going to sell Japanese beers and other products you're not familiar with, like chuhai. I'm not 100% familiar with them either because people tell me it's a "girl's drink" and it tastes sweet.
A bar or restuarant, on the other hand, usually has some international brands like Guiness or Corona. Naturally, they are more expensive than the domestic stuff so I stick to domestic. So far, I've liked every beer that I've tried, although I did buy something in a can on Saturday that turned out to be very sweet and not to my liking.
Oh no! Party wounds! I hope you're feeling better by now...
What kind of music were they playing at the club?
-h
What kind of music were they playing at the club?
-h
I'm fine, although my forehead always looks a bit stressed after something like that.
The music was entirely American/European and very dancable, usually remixes. I remember a song from Trainspotting and a strange version of Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto which removed all the words and most of the melody. That's too bad because I dig that song. I'm going to sing it one of these days.
コメントがあります？ Type something, please. It's less work for me.The music was entirely American/European and very dancable, usually remixes. I remember a song from Trainspotting and a strange version of Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto which removed all the words and most of the melody. That's too bad because I dig that song. I'm going to sing it one of these days.
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