Starting off where I left off with of the week of December 10th. Early on in the week my instructor, Akagi-sensee, told the class about an annual international student Christmas party taking place on the 15th in Kirara, the cafeteria. Akagi-sensee excitedly approached Sean and I about giving a speech at the panel discussion occurring before the party, but we quickly declined. Why did we decline? Well it has to do with the fact that we both had given a speech for this teacher a few weeks prior and it was horrendous to watch. Regardless of what is lost in translation, the Japanese sure do love to give speeches.
While we bailed on the speech, we told our instructor that we would dance or sing at the event. Luckily, I say this with much sarcasm, I happened to get a minor case of food poisoning the day that we were scheduled to practice the aforementioned song/dance. The culprit? Cup Noodle, a delicious instant ramen that I unfortunately now loathe. We had a good run, but I just don't think it work out between us any more. A truly sad day...
Fortunately, the sickness wore off by the Christmas party I was good to go. When the party finally rolled around it turned out to be quite the happenin' shindig. When I entered Kirara, the place was jam-packed full of gaijin (foreigners). People from all different races gathered around the free yet delicious catered food and I had the opportunity to meet a lot of friendly people from Argentina, Peru, Iran, India, Bangladesh, etc. The night was full of ethnic song and dance from around the world and before we knew it everybody was dancing salsa or at least attempting to enjoy themselves. The university-sanctioned Christmas party ended with everybody circling up and joining hands to the tune of John Lennon's - Happy Xmas (War is Over). While the meaning may have been lost to some people, the idea was a noble effort nonetheless.
Immediately following the swaying and singing, we headed back to the International Dorms (mi casa) and were treated to a more intimate meet and greet with other international students and quite a few Japanese students. Sean and I met some people from our Karate class and from our department and invited them out after the party. The room was a smidge too small, but it was a lot of fun and a good change to mingle with the Japanese students. When the party ended, we all went out to Yuda, which, in essence, is like a smaller bricktown. We went to a local restaurant then headed off to a really nice bar/karoke joint named Johnny's. The people and the atmosphere at Johnny's rival few other places I've been to. Everybody had a blast and we stayed and hung out until the wee hours of the morning.
The following Saturday was Anne's birthday. We went to the local campus bar, Hakkenden, and had a few drinks and ate dinner. After the party, we headed to Funky time, a local pool hall. Now, this is where the fun started to happen. After a few games of pool, I decided to head home, but rather then opening the door normally I thought I would try something new. I meant to push open the door but as I approached my mind went wiggly and for some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to attempt to kick the door open. However, I misjudged and kicked through the door. At that moment, time stood still and everyone in Funky time turned around with gaping mouths and scared eyes. I'm guessing this doesn't happen much in Japan. Anyway, I quickly dusted myself off, apologized several times, and head on my way. While Funky time hasn't contacted me yet about payment, I learned my lesson. My feet + glass door = embarrassment.
The majority of the week of the 17th was uneventful but a few surprises did happen. On our way to Hakkenden to eat dinner on Monday, we stopped by this nice little bar/restaurant named Cocky's located next to Hakkenden. It turned out that we were the first customers in this newly opened venue. I remember, just a few weeks ago that the place was completely abandoned. Regardless, the workers there were very friendly and warm. The bar is a very small building that kind of sticks out but it's got a nice atmosphere. As we were heading over to Hakkenden's, Sean and I met up with our friend, Kaori, from Karate class who happened to be going to the same place we were. As the night progressed, Sean talked to Kaori and decided we should have a little get together and a Dirty Santa gift exchange on Friday.
When Friday rolled around we had two parties: the Humanities party and the one that Sean and Kaori organized. The Humanities party included free snacks, a random gift exchange (I received towels), and two of the strangest plays I have ever seen. The first play was put on by the sophomores and was entitled "A mysterious bus stop." What was mysterious about it? I haven't an idea. All I saw was a strange plot, some guy dressed up like a girl, and Santa. I guess that's all you really need.
The second play was just as bizarre. From what I could tell, it was a take on Romeo & Juliet with a "unique" twist. The play was set in the "Edo-period" Japan and the warring families were the House of Chomsky (linguistics) and the House of Shakespeare (Literature) and well you know the rest or do you. In this play, the "Romeo" and "Juliet" were miraculously resurrected by scantily-clad Santa women who danced around their pretend corpses. Sound confusing? Good, that makes two of us.
After the Humanities party, Sean, Michael, and I headed off to the other party. The party was more fun, less strange, and a good chance to talk to our new friends. As always a lot of people showed up. Apparently, the Japanese didn't understand the whole concept of Dirty Santa since not a single person stole a gift. Regardless, everyone was happy with their gifts. Hell, I scored some pretty sweet Zebra chopsticks. As the party winded down, we all decided to head to Johnny's to sing some karaoke and we did so until 4am. Everyone was tired, so we said our goodbyes and headed home to hit the sack.
And that leads us up to Christmas..
Christmas was a little lonely, but I made it through it. On Christmas Eve, everyone got dressed up and went to dinner and church then a few of us went to Karaoke with our friends from Cocky's. I slept in on Christmas morning went downstairs to see if my package had come and it had. So I got to open some presents on Christmas from my family. I think it all worked out.
Next up, New Year's and five days of traveling...See ya guys after the new year. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a rockin' New Year's.
