1. Seeing a friend I haven't seen in almost 2 years.
2. Going to the Niigata City "Round One"--an entertainment center where you can pay about 1,400yen to use all the facilities (roller rink, shooting gallery, badminton/volleyball/basketball/soccer/etc, mini-bike, karaoke rooms, huge arcade (all free play), massage chairs, comics, internet, and more) from 11:30pm to 6:00am.
3. Winning a bottle of sake in a blind taste test, and all my foreign friends winning as well when most of the Japanese people couldn't do it, awesome!
4. Seeing the original Iron Chef, Rokusaburo Michiba!
5. Meeting a guy over my cellphone email.
Yes, I am serious about the last one. That was the ridiculous part of the weekend, and the topic I would like to expand on for the remainder of this entry.
First off, an explanation: I wanted to send my contact info to my friend and add his to my address book, so I asked my other friend for his info. It is "really easy" because it is just part of the alphabet @cellphone.company.jp (address changed for privacy, but it really is a different part of the alphabet...yeah, he gets a ton of spam mail). So, I put in nopqrstuvw@cellphone.company.jp and mailed my email and number. Then, we realized that his actual email was nopqrstuv@cellphone.company.jp... BUT I didn't get an email from the server saying my mail couldn't be delivered because there was no one with that email. Instead, I got an email from that address saying, "Sorry, but, who is this? How do you know my email?"(in Japanese of course) Well, it was then that my friends and I decided rather than just write back and explain the mix-up, it would be better (ie. more entertaining) to pretend that I knew this person. The following is a translation of our email exchange that night. Please note that the guy was using Kansai-ben (a dialect that is often compared to a "southern" accent in English...but I think that doesn't fit b/c it can be both funny and bad-ass, so maybe, Brooklyn accent? Yeah, imagine this guy using a Brooklyn accent.)
Me: He~y! It's Sarah! my-email-address@japan.ne.jp , TEL: 555555555. Be sure to register me! Love, Winston Churchill (heart icon)
--the last part was really in English, and is an inside joke- I will not go into detail here.
Mystery Email: Sorry, but who is this?! Why to you know my address?!
Me: You gave it to me... You mean, you don't remember?!(shocked face)
M.E.: Who introduced us?!
Me: Se-cr-et (kissy lips)
M.E.: Whaaaaaat? (smiley face) Well, where are you right now? I'm free, so let's hang out!
Me: Right now, I'm having dinner at a Thai restaurant near the Round One.
--this was not a lie...I just didn't say which Round One...hehe...
M.E.: The R.O. in Hirakata?!
--name of an area of Osaka (where they speak Kansai-ben)
Me: No, actually, the one in Niigata... To tell the truth, I am on a trip right now.
M.E.: Where do you live?
Me: Where do you think I live?
M.E.: Well, Hirakata or Yabata, yeah?(cat face) Otherwise, we can't hang out (thumbs up)
Me: Ooooooh too bad...I live in Tokyo. By the way, do you like comedy? I actually do manzai. If you want to "hang out" you can come to my homepage anytime: http://gaijindantai.blogspot.com/
M.E.: I see (smiley face) Well, if you come to Osaka or Kyoto again, let's hang out! I like manzai (cat face) Good luck (thumbs up)
That was the last email...BUT then he CALLED me!!!!
I ended up telling him about the whole mix-up... And he asked if I ever go to Osaka... I told him, "Since I do manzai, I have to go on business trips to Osaka sometimes" (Osaka is the home of manzai)... So, he said we should deffinately hang out next time I am there, AND he will call his friends and we can have a go-con (a group date that young Japanese people organize)... OH YEAH! I am DEFFINATELY gonna send him an email next time I am going to Osaka.
btw, the caps aren't b/c of sarcasm it is b/c that is totally awesome!
Also, I haven't been able to get a date in forever...and all of a sudden, I pick up some guy with my cellphone...how much more ridiculous can you get?
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