Craft Beer Fest

Who knew there were microbrews in Japan?

Went to the 2nd annual Craft Beer Fest in Asakusa today. The admission ticket got us 8 beer tastings and a souvenir glass! The size of the tasting varied by who poured it for you. I found that if a girl poured it, they weren't very generous, but guys gave me A LOT. I don't know why though, I wasn't wearing a low-cut shirt or anything...maybe it was the "white girl bonus." We were also able to get a bunch of extra tickets by asking drunk japanese people who couldn't use all of theirs, finding them abandoned on a table, or just asking for more at the very end when they were cleaning up. One older lady didn't have any tickets left, but she gave us each a cube of individually wrapped cheese (mine was ham flavored) and a mini croissant. So, all in all, a good Sunday afternoon.

Oh, Japan.

I have Fridays off (but I have to work Saturday...) so today I went to Shibuya for the first time since I came back. And, I was reminded why I love Japan so much...because there is always so much weird shit to see!

While I was waiting to meet my friend, at the Hachiko statue, I passed the time by watching the two host-wannabe guys who were going around and trying to drum up some customers by trying to chat up every young woman there (except for the foreigners of course :( ). They even tried to talk to the guys cross-dressing as a Sweet Lolita in pink (I guess she fooled them).

Then, once my friend arrived, we went to a caffe for a snack and while we were there, a guy sporting a hard on walked in...yeah, he totally had a boner and he just came in and sat down...I don't think he even ordered anything. (he was Japanese btw so off course he was also wearing super-tight pants) He sat down at the counter by the window and, instead of trying to hide his erection under the counter, he sat akwardly sideways and started stroking himself...all the while absentmindedly checking his cell phone. But, my friend pointed out later, he wasn't even doing it in a normal way...as she said, "he was petting it like you do a puppy," even gazing affectionately at it. He did seem pretty out of it, so maybe he was actually mentally handicapped and thought there really was a cute little puppy sitting on his lap...but, I really doubt it. Just an exhibitionist in Japan, where it is so normal to take your clothes off in public, that it is more exciting to just keep them on-- while sporting a boner of course.

Needless to say, when boner guy moved to the table next to us, we decided to spend some time just walking around Shibuya. We went to Shibuya 109, a shopping mall that is great for skanky people watching, where we saw store clerk who was wearing his bright blue and orange hawaiin flower print tighty-whities poking out the top of his jeans, the way some guys where their boxers...yeah, not cool dude--FYI, no one wants to know that you wear those.

So, after a fun afternoon, I headed back on the train, where I ran into one of those "densha-otaku" (train super-fans). He had his camera and was taking pictures of every part of the train--first from outside, then the train's identification number, then the doors, seats, and a picture as our train passed an on coming one. Okay, whatever guy...I really don't wanna know what you plan to do with those pictures...

So, yeah, a very eventfull day...sorry I don't have any pictures (I know everyone wants to see boner guy...)

Finally...Some Good Old-Fashioned Drankin'

So, I started work the other day...and so far it has been good. I am just going with the teacher I will be replacing to observe her classes and meet the students, and learn how the school runs. On some days I don't have to be in until late afternoon so, since we didn't leave for work until 3pm yesterday, I took a walk around the area I am staying right now (Higashi-Kanagawa). There is a really big temple about 5 minutes away, so I explored that.

After work was more exciting though. I met up with friends from the punk club I was in when I studied abroad. One of the guys invited me, but didn't tell the others, so when I showed up at they were super suprised and excited! They had also been drinking since 4pm, and I came a little after 8, so that could of been part of the reason they were so loud. It was really awesome though! It was so much fun to see them again (though there were some people that weren't there) and cool to go back to Hiyoshi again (I used to live nearby, so I know the area well).

The best part of the evening had to be when some of the guys decided to climb on top of the big silver ball in Hiyoshi station...

The things you can get away with when you are drunk in Japan...well done guys.

Back at Last!

I arrived at 5:30pm on Saturday, Sept. 22 (Japan time).



I stayed at my friends' apartment for Saturday and Sunday night, and had a great time seeing them for the first time in a year!



So far I have eaten some "soup-curry," which was a very interesting concept and, though a little odd, the combo of hardboiled egg, potato, fresh tomato, green beans, baby corn, and beef ravioli in a spicy broth was tasty. I also had some of Japan's lovely "Italian" food, including pumpkin gnocchi, and cheese and mochi pizza (we asked them not to put the mayonaise on top).



I also tried the new fall flavor of "swirkle" at Tully's (coffee shop): Cassis Orange--I highly recomend it! While Erin tried their new "salty caramel latte."

Mmmmm...these were so good we just kept drinking them! Well, actually we just kept pulling out paper ones we got at the at the coffee place and "drinking" from it.











I start my job tomorrow, so there may or may not be anything interesting for me to write about...we'll see.


Sorry this post is so lame, but I have only been here 3 days, and don't have any funny stories yet.


By the way...it is almost 6pm on Monday the 24th, so if you are reading this in the US, it is like I am talking to you from the FUTURE!!!!