Epic weekend
In which I get to hang out with my friend Jumpei, my other friend Okada-san spots me saying goodbye to him when she comes to pick me up and automatically assumes he's my boyfriend, I get to go to an onsen and I go shopping.
So, apparently my buddy spells his name as "Jumpei" and not "Junpei" which explains why I couldn't find him on facebook before. But that was resolved while he was here. Basically he came over because he's leaving for Canada soon. He's going to study abroad for a year and I will honestly miss him.
There are a few things about how he acted/acts with regards to me that are apparently a little "strange" because he's a Japanese guy. First off - he kinda just invited himself over to my place. Now that's odd no matter where you're from in my opinion. We were making plans in the week and he sort of just asked if he could come over. Now I do like this guy, he's a really nice friend - one of those "could be more than friends" types if either of us made a move. But neither has. Anyway. I said sure he could come over and so we hung out together. Now I put some effort into how I looked because I knew I was going out for dinner and stuff in the evening and I must say. I'm so glad I did because when he turned up my word he looked so damned fine. He had nice jeans on as well as a button up shirt and a sweater - he really pulled off the smart casual look. So we sat around in my apartment and talked about all sorts of things. We sat curled up under my kotatsu and because I was showing him photos, videos and stuff on my laptop we were sat next to each other - legs touching more often than not. Second, Just before I got picked up for dinner by my friend we took a quick photo together. For a guy and a girl to take a photo together with just them in it - what's called a "two-shot" - is a very "couple" thing to do. (I asked him to mail me the photo - when I have it I will share it but here's a photo of him from when he was in a festival dance last year
Epic pose is epic)
And thirdly, when we headed outside for him to head back home and for me to get picked up by Okada-san we had a brief hug goodbye. Hugging apparently only happens between couples in Japan or friends of the same sex. Okada-san obviously saw this since she was waiting for me and as I opened the door to her car the first word out of her mouth was "boyfriend?" He's not, so I said no and we headed off to join the others for dinner. Then while we were at the izakaiya (a type of restaurant) Jackie decided to make my life more difficult by asking Okada-san "Did you meet Emma's boyfriend?" to which Okada-san said "Yes." Thank you Jackie for making things weirdly difficult. Not that I would say no if he asked. Not that he would because he's leaving soon. At least I don't think he would.
EDIT: I forgot to add something. I had some tomo-choco left from the stuff I made for Valentine's Day because I made too much. So I gave Jumpei some. He was so happy, I mean super happy. Which does make me wonder... and when we were mailing in the evening he told me he'd already eaten it.
Anyway. More of my weekend, Dinner was delicious if a little expensive and there was about 8 of us so there was plenty of food. After that we went to do a few hours of karaoke - I sang way too many songs because I kept doing duets with people. But it was so much fun.
After that we headed off to a nearby hotel for the main purpose of the evening - the onsen. It was a fake onsen but since I only wanted the experience of going to an onsen I wasn't fussed. So off we went. And I must say, once you get past the whole "everyone is butt naked" thing then it's a really nice experience. It's a little strange washing in front of a bunch of strangers, who are staring at you because you're a foreigner, but once you're all washed and in the onsen you can just relax. Since I didn't have my glasses on I couldn't see too well either so I was able to pretend that I wasn't being started at as much as I probably was.
After the onsen me and Jackie were wide awake and found the arcade bit in the hotel and played a taiko drumming game a few times before heading up to our room to sleep. We had a quick chat about various things - including a guy that Jackie knows who we thought was interested in me. Turns out he is sort of interested but he has a girlfriend. While it's annoying that in the 6/7 months I've know him he didn't tell me, I'm grateful to finally know. It means I can have some closure and not fret about him and if I was missing any signals.
The next day we went and got breakfast at a nearby cafe (we hadn't got breakfast with our hotel booking) and then drove up to Toba, stopping at a few sightseeing places on the way, for lunch. Lunch was delicious - I had what was essentially a cut up hamburger in a home made tomato soup. It was amazing.
After lunch me and Jackie then went up to Ise since it wasn't that far to go since we were already at Toba. I bought some more clothes - including a skirt and some tights to go with it.
Then it was driving back home and a quick meal. I'm sitting with some tea now and watching some Inazuma Eleven GO. I'll finish the episodes I've got and then get on with the little bit of prep work I have to do for school tomorrow.
So, any thoughts on the Jumpei thing people?
So, apparently my buddy spells his name as "Jumpei" and not "Junpei" which explains why I couldn't find him on facebook before. But that was resolved while he was here. Basically he came over because he's leaving for Canada soon. He's going to study abroad for a year and I will honestly miss him.
There are a few things about how he acted/acts with regards to me that are apparently a little "strange" because he's a Japanese guy. First off - he kinda just invited himself over to my place. Now that's odd no matter where you're from in my opinion. We were making plans in the week and he sort of just asked if he could come over. Now I do like this guy, he's a really nice friend - one of those "could be more than friends" types if either of us made a move. But neither has. Anyway. I said sure he could come over and so we hung out together. Now I put some effort into how I looked because I knew I was going out for dinner and stuff in the evening and I must say. I'm so glad I did because when he turned up my word he looked so damned fine. He had nice jeans on as well as a button up shirt and a sweater - he really pulled off the smart casual look. So we sat around in my apartment and talked about all sorts of things. We sat curled up under my kotatsu and because I was showing him photos, videos and stuff on my laptop we were sat next to each other - legs touching more often than not. Second, Just before I got picked up for dinner by my friend we took a quick photo together. For a guy and a girl to take a photo together with just them in it - what's called a "two-shot" - is a very "couple" thing to do. (I asked him to mail me the photo - when I have it I will share it but here's a photo of him from when he was in a festival dance last year
Epic pose is epic)
And thirdly, when we headed outside for him to head back home and for me to get picked up by Okada-san we had a brief hug goodbye. Hugging apparently only happens between couples in Japan or friends of the same sex. Okada-san obviously saw this since she was waiting for me and as I opened the door to her car the first word out of her mouth was "boyfriend?" He's not, so I said no and we headed off to join the others for dinner. Then while we were at the izakaiya (a type of restaurant) Jackie decided to make my life more difficult by asking Okada-san "Did you meet Emma's boyfriend?" to which Okada-san said "Yes." Thank you Jackie for making things weirdly difficult. Not that I would say no if he asked. Not that he would because he's leaving soon. At least I don't think he would.
EDIT: I forgot to add something. I had some tomo-choco left from the stuff I made for Valentine's Day because I made too much. So I gave Jumpei some. He was so happy, I mean super happy. Which does make me wonder... and when we were mailing in the evening he told me he'd already eaten it.
Anyway. More of my weekend, Dinner was delicious if a little expensive and there was about 8 of us so there was plenty of food. After that we went to do a few hours of karaoke - I sang way too many songs because I kept doing duets with people. But it was so much fun.
After that we headed off to a nearby hotel for the main purpose of the evening - the onsen. It was a fake onsen but since I only wanted the experience of going to an onsen I wasn't fussed. So off we went. And I must say, once you get past the whole "everyone is butt naked" thing then it's a really nice experience. It's a little strange washing in front of a bunch of strangers, who are staring at you because you're a foreigner, but once you're all washed and in the onsen you can just relax. Since I didn't have my glasses on I couldn't see too well either so I was able to pretend that I wasn't being started at as much as I probably was.
After the onsen me and Jackie were wide awake and found the arcade bit in the hotel and played a taiko drumming game a few times before heading up to our room to sleep. We had a quick chat about various things - including a guy that Jackie knows who we thought was interested in me. Turns out he is sort of interested but he has a girlfriend. While it's annoying that in the 6/7 months I've know him he didn't tell me, I'm grateful to finally know. It means I can have some closure and not fret about him and if I was missing any signals.
The next day we went and got breakfast at a nearby cafe (we hadn't got breakfast with our hotel booking) and then drove up to Toba, stopping at a few sightseeing places on the way, for lunch. Lunch was delicious - I had what was essentially a cut up hamburger in a home made tomato soup. It was amazing.
After lunch me and Jackie then went up to Ise since it wasn't that far to go since we were already at Toba. I bought some more clothes - including a skirt and some tights to go with it.
Then it was driving back home and a quick meal. I'm sitting with some tea now and watching some Inazuma Eleven GO. I'll finish the episodes I've got and then get on with the little bit of prep work I have to do for school tomorrow.
So, any thoughts on the Jumpei thing people?