(no subject)
I'm going to recap my weekend in an effort to keep myself distracted.
On Thursday night, after work, my co-workers in the English department of my main high school threw me a belated welcome party. It was my first time attending a drinking party with my co-workers. It was a good time. Of course, it was held at an izakaya, as most Japanese work parties seem to be. This gives everyone the excuse to relax and drink, which is pretty much what happened. We ate yummy food, like sashimi and yakitori, and drank. The ettiquette at these parties is to make sure that your co-worker's glass is never empty, so as soon as you finish one drink, you immediately get another one. I had a couple cocktails (because I don't like beer, which is what everyone else was drinking) and then some of my co-workers switched to sake, which they wanted me to try, so I had a couple tiny cups of sake. By that time it was close to the end of the party and I was feeling pretty good. Then the teachers and I walked to the train station together (most of them usually drive, but in Japan you're not allowed to drive if you've had any alcohol), laughing and joking around.
On Friday, I met up with Eri in Kokubunji. We did karaoke together. I sang some stuff in Japanese along with the usual English stuff (like Gaga). It's definitely harder for me to karaoke in Japanese, but I knew that Eri wouldn't laugh at me if I fumbled my Japanese. I tried sticking to Japanese songs that I know really well, like Gackt (Eri and I both love him) and Gazette. I did alright, but I could still use some more practice. After karaoke we did a bit of shopping and then went to Denny's for dinner. I had spagetti with meat sauce and it tasted super delicious, probably because it's been a few months since I've last had it. For dessert I had crepes with murasaki imo (purple potato) filling and caramelized kabocha (pumpkin). It was yummy!
Saturday, I ventured out to find the nearest Lawson (a Japanese convinence store) in my neighborhood. I was on a mission to buy tickets to Gazette's new tour and Lawson was the only place to buy them that didn't involve needing a Japanese credit card. It was about a thirty minute walk to get to Lawson. Sadly, by the time I arrived tickets for all of Gazette's Tokyo show had sold out, despite the fact that they'd gone on sale that morning. Those were the only shows that I could've easily gone to, so I was pretty disappointed. I'm hoping that I'll have better luck next time. In the meantime, at least I can by their new album when it's released next week.
I went to Yokohama yesterday, to meet up for another date with Joe. I'd never been to Yokohama before. It was good! We had some coffee at Starbucks, then took a tour boat to Chinatown. We had dinner in Chinatown after a bit of shopping. We found a store that only sold panda themed items and I was much amused by it. I like hanging out with Joe and we have fun witty banter together. I think there'll be a date #3.
Think I'm going to head to bed now. I've got quite a few classes to teach tomorrow and maybe some sleep will help improve my mood.
On Thursday night, after work, my co-workers in the English department of my main high school threw me a belated welcome party. It was my first time attending a drinking party with my co-workers. It was a good time. Of course, it was held at an izakaya, as most Japanese work parties seem to be. This gives everyone the excuse to relax and drink, which is pretty much what happened. We ate yummy food, like sashimi and yakitori, and drank. The ettiquette at these parties is to make sure that your co-worker's glass is never empty, so as soon as you finish one drink, you immediately get another one. I had a couple cocktails (because I don't like beer, which is what everyone else was drinking) and then some of my co-workers switched to sake, which they wanted me to try, so I had a couple tiny cups of sake. By that time it was close to the end of the party and I was feeling pretty good. Then the teachers and I walked to the train station together (most of them usually drive, but in Japan you're not allowed to drive if you've had any alcohol), laughing and joking around.
On Friday, I met up with Eri in Kokubunji. We did karaoke together. I sang some stuff in Japanese along with the usual English stuff (like Gaga). It's definitely harder for me to karaoke in Japanese, but I knew that Eri wouldn't laugh at me if I fumbled my Japanese. I tried sticking to Japanese songs that I know really well, like Gackt (Eri and I both love him) and Gazette. I did alright, but I could still use some more practice. After karaoke we did a bit of shopping and then went to Denny's for dinner. I had spagetti with meat sauce and it tasted super delicious, probably because it's been a few months since I've last had it. For dessert I had crepes with murasaki imo (purple potato) filling and caramelized kabocha (pumpkin). It was yummy!
Saturday, I ventured out to find the nearest Lawson (a Japanese convinence store) in my neighborhood. I was on a mission to buy tickets to Gazette's new tour and Lawson was the only place to buy them that didn't involve needing a Japanese credit card. It was about a thirty minute walk to get to Lawson. Sadly, by the time I arrived tickets for all of Gazette's Tokyo show had sold out, despite the fact that they'd gone on sale that morning. Those were the only shows that I could've easily gone to, so I was pretty disappointed. I'm hoping that I'll have better luck next time. In the meantime, at least I can by their new album when it's released next week.
I went to Yokohama yesterday, to meet up for another date with Joe. I'd never been to Yokohama before. It was good! We had some coffee at Starbucks, then took a tour boat to Chinatown. We had dinner in Chinatown after a bit of shopping. We found a store that only sold panda themed items and I was much amused by it. I like hanging out with Joe and we have fun witty banter together. I think there'll be a date #3.
Think I'm going to head to bed now. I've got quite a few classes to teach tomorrow and maybe some sleep will help improve my mood.