(no subject)
I used to do quite a lot of bitching about my roommate (whom I shall call A from now on) and his psycho girlfriend, but now that I got to know him better, I feel rather sorry for all my negative comments. (The girlfriend is still a psycho, but now that she's back in America, it's no longer my problem.)
Anyway, turns out A is a really nice guy when on his own. He is from Los Angeles and finished college last year. He is working as an English teacher in Tokyo, because he has no clue what else to do with his life. He has a guitar in his room, but never plays it, he loves karaoke, and used to take swing dance classes back home in the U.S.
He is also totally messy, but I can't really judge him for that, because I have similar tendencies...
And I have some new roommates, AC and M:
AC is this really nice girl from Australia. She teaches English while also trying to learn some Japanese. She is super social and talkative and loves cooking. She gets the main "blame" for having turned this apartment into a very warm social place. She always tries to get us all to go out dancing and drinking together. It's not very successful though, as the rest of us are anything but party animals. A is working on weekends, so he has to be home early and doesn't drink. M also never drinks as he is muslim, and I think clubs and bars frighten him a bit. As for me, I am extremely uncomfortable when guys hit on me in a club, but for some reason I am also too shy to be openly gay in Japan, which kind of takes the fun out of partying for me. That's why on our last outing the three of us spent about two hours playing darts and drinking coke and then we called it a night. AC quickly found new friends and ditched us killjoys. But she hasn't given up yet. Apparently, she has made it her mission in life (or at least life in Japan) to teach us how to have fun. XD
M is part French and part Arab. He is really tall and broad-shouldered and looks like a boxer. He would probably be totally intimidating if he hadn't such a huge baby smile. He is by far the kindest in this group. He is also hopelessly naive and impractical. We all feel very protective of him, because he constantly needs help. Seriously, he is absolutely incapable of doing anything. For example, first time I met him, he was standing in front of his room, with a look of utter despair on his face, because he didn't understand how to lock the door.
He is always talking on skype with his family in the kitchen, so every time I walk by, he is like: "Say hi to my mom! Mom, look, that's Martina. Can you imagine, she speaks eight languages! Even French! Isn't that cool?!" and I, totally embarrassed, mumble "Bonjour...". But his enthusiasm is really sweet.
The four of us hang out a lot in the kitchen. A is usually updating facebook and stuff on his computer while telling us funny stories about his students. AC and M are both diligently studying Japanese and constantly asking me questions about grammar and kanji. As for me, I just sit there and drink tea. And translate. Because M speaks very little English, and A and AC don't speak any French, so I have to translate a lot between English and French. And as none of them speak much Japanese, they also constantly ask me to translate things into Japanese for them. Having to constantly switch between those three languages is really hard, especially because none of them are actually my native language. Sometimes my brain feels like it's about to have an aneurysm, but I am slowly getting better at managing the linguistic chaos in my head.
A few days ago, a Chinese guy moved into the last available room. I haven't actually met him yet, but according to AC, he doesn't speak much English and no Japanese at all. Looks like I will have to brush up my Chinese as well now. I came to Tokyo to study Japanese (and watch tons of Zuka...), but it seems that I am learning so much more here. It's really amazing and I totally love my roommates (even the guy I haven't met yet). <3
Anyway, turns out A is a really nice guy when on his own. He is from Los Angeles and finished college last year. He is working as an English teacher in Tokyo, because he has no clue what else to do with his life. He has a guitar in his room, but never plays it, he loves karaoke, and used to take swing dance classes back home in the U.S.
He is also totally messy, but I can't really judge him for that, because I have similar tendencies...
And I have some new roommates, AC and M:
AC is this really nice girl from Australia. She teaches English while also trying to learn some Japanese. She is super social and talkative and loves cooking. She gets the main "blame" for having turned this apartment into a very warm social place. She always tries to get us all to go out dancing and drinking together. It's not very successful though, as the rest of us are anything but party animals. A is working on weekends, so he has to be home early and doesn't drink. M also never drinks as he is muslim, and I think clubs and bars frighten him a bit. As for me, I am extremely uncomfortable when guys hit on me in a club, but for some reason I am also too shy to be openly gay in Japan, which kind of takes the fun out of partying for me. That's why on our last outing the three of us spent about two hours playing darts and drinking coke and then we called it a night. AC quickly found new friends and ditched us killjoys. But she hasn't given up yet. Apparently, she has made it her mission in life (or at least life in Japan) to teach us how to have fun. XD
M is part French and part Arab. He is really tall and broad-shouldered and looks like a boxer. He would probably be totally intimidating if he hadn't such a huge baby smile. He is by far the kindest in this group. He is also hopelessly naive and impractical. We all feel very protective of him, because he constantly needs help. Seriously, he is absolutely incapable of doing anything. For example, first time I met him, he was standing in front of his room, with a look of utter despair on his face, because he didn't understand how to lock the door.
He is always talking on skype with his family in the kitchen, so every time I walk by, he is like: "Say hi to my mom! Mom, look, that's Martina. Can you imagine, she speaks eight languages! Even French! Isn't that cool?!" and I, totally embarrassed, mumble "Bonjour...". But his enthusiasm is really sweet.
The four of us hang out a lot in the kitchen. A is usually updating facebook and stuff on his computer while telling us funny stories about his students. AC and M are both diligently studying Japanese and constantly asking me questions about grammar and kanji. As for me, I just sit there and drink tea. And translate. Because M speaks very little English, and A and AC don't speak any French, so I have to translate a lot between English and French. And as none of them speak much Japanese, they also constantly ask me to translate things into Japanese for them. Having to constantly switch between those three languages is really hard, especially because none of them are actually my native language. Sometimes my brain feels like it's about to have an aneurysm, but I am slowly getting better at managing the linguistic chaos in my head.
A few days ago, a Chinese guy moved into the last available room. I haven't actually met him yet, but according to AC, he doesn't speak much English and no Japanese at all. Looks like I will have to brush up my Chinese as well now. I came to Tokyo to study Japanese (and watch tons of Zuka...), but it seems that I am learning so much more here. It's really amazing and I totally love my roommates (even the guy I haven't met yet). <3