Long Live the Weekend

Konichiwa Minna-san!
Well another weekend has come and gone (for the most part) and it was another interesting weekend in Japan. If I've learned anything in the past two weeks it's that I really don't have the grasp on the culture that I thought I would have when I left for home. Granted, I still know a fair amount, but I am left in shock and awe when I realize how certain things (whether it be the people, the customs, or even the architecture) are just so totally different than in America. Oh, and the picture above is Osaka, not the best picture, but just check out all those bright lights! I think I am actually starting to feel a sense of culture shock, but not a bad one. I'm just really beginning to notice how for the first time in my life, I'm not surrounded by people who can speak my language or automatically know my customs. I cannot tell you how many times I've had to explain what a fraternity is or what student government is. It truly is a different world over here. OK, enough of the philosophical rambling and let's get down to business.

Friday night was a lot of fun. I was able to meet up with my buddy Jason from Tufts and hang out doing Karaoke with his group of friends, who all seem really nice. I'm really enjoying meeting new people, especially cause a lot of the people here are from across the world. Currently, I've only met one other person from the greater Boston area, and while I wouldn't mind a few more of my Bostonian compadres here, I really like the fact that by attending this school and studying abroad here, I've been able to meet people and make friends with kids from countries I probably wont ever visit. Oh and on a personal note, I just have to say that one of the things I love about Japan is Karaoke. Now if you know me (and by goodness, if you dont, why are you reading my blog? =P) you know that I love singing, so naturally, I am a little biased. No where else in the world though will you find such a devoted social practice. These Karaoke "parlors" give groups their own rooms to sing in for up to eight hours, which is flat out crazy. The act of it in theory seems quite odd: sit in a room with friends and sing songs for multiple hours. That being said, as time passes and people put on songs that everyone knows, the carmaraderie really flourishes. I just love that there is a second (and in my opinion, better) option for the social scene here, minus the stuff you'd get at home. Oh and if any of my Tufts buddies are reading this, we are totally doing Karaoke next year, I'll show you all how awesome it can be.

Anywho, then came Saturday night, where my friend Greg and I decided to go to a club to see what they're like in Japan. We went to this club that was known to have Gaidai students regularly, so we figured it'd be fine. Now I have never gone to a club before, so this was an entirely new experience for me. Basically we got there and danced for a solid 4 to 5 hours, and it was really intense. Only problem was, is that we should've come in a larger group, that way we would've known more people in the grander scheme of the night. It was really cool to see who came, as it seemed to be about 40% foreigners and 60% Japanese, so it was definitely a different way to meet new Japanese friends. This was another time when the culture shock began to take place. Due to the loud atmosphere it was really tough talking to people, not to mention even harder to speak Japanese, but my friend and I were able to meet some nice people so we had a really good time. Oh, another thing, the DJ was awful, but I had no control over that haha. Nevertheless, this was definitely something I'd like to try again, and it'll be interesting to see how different an American club is, especially when all I have to base it on is the Japanese club scene. Enjoy a picture of Greg and myself, I wouldve gotten a better shot of the club itself but it was wicked crowded.

Anyway that's it for this time, sorry I did not give more details on Osaka, but I'm going to need to explore it more in depth after I've gone to visit again. We actually have a holiday on Wednesday this week, so hopefully I will be able to go on another misadventure of sorts to share with you all. In the meantime, my recommendation of this post is to go find the the song Clair De Lune, a masterpiece of the piano instrument, download it, and love it. Until next time, Ja mata!


P.S. Johnny, thanks for all the comments buddy, hope school is treating you well!