So, last week was the conference for recontracting JETs. What that means for a lot of us is a chance to go to a big city, party with other gaijin, and make asses out of ourselves. I am definitely one of those people!
Suzie and I started off the journey on the overnight bus...what a mistake. Thinking back on it, we should have brought either alcohol or tranquilizers...or maybe a gun. Should have taken the Shinkansen, but in my effort to make myself look like a thrifty gaijin, I ended up screwing us over. Sorry Suzie!
After arriving at Osaka (instead of Kobe; one of my cost-cutting measures), we took a train to Himeji, the city where the famous castle stands. It was pouring down rain, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves. The highlight of the excursion is this photograph:
At first, we thought it was a raindrop, but I doubt a raindrop would have that whitening effect. The weird thing is that we had just been reading about how samurais would kill themselves, then be beheaded and washed in this special area near where this photo was taken. No conclusions have been drawn, but most people concur that it is definitely weird (except Will, "I'm not fockin' stupid, mate!").
After the brush with the ghost, we headed to Kobe to check into the hotel for the conference. Along the way, I couldn't help but notice the degree of urban sprawl in the Kansai area: it seemed to never end. I have a greater appreciation for my inaka lifestyle after seeing how ugly everything is there...I love green forests and mountains! So we checked into the Portopia hotel, and it had fabulous and very large rooms:
Unfortunately, my roommate and I didn't hit it off but luckily, Suzie was right across the hall. There were many Nagasaki people there who had also stayed an extra night, so we all hung out together that night along with a really sweet girl from Okayama. We met some random people at the convenience store, and ended up chatting out there for a while. We then proceeded to the hotel bar, which was on the top floor of the hotel. It reminded me of the bar from Lost in Translation, so I tried to take a "Suntory moment" photo:
But sadly, due to our douchebaggery (mainly mine), it didn't really work. ;)
The Conference:
yadda yadda yadda internationalization yadda yadda i'm a douche yadda yadda look at me i'm genki yadda yadda let's only have presentations about high school yadda yadda yadda -Actually, there was a really awesome presentation about learning Japanese, in which we learned pick-up lines and some REALLY bad words- yadda yadda yadda -It's not that I don't appreciate the effort that went into it, it's just that hardly any of it applied to me- yadda yadda yadda
What really matters: After the conference
The first night wasn't so great. Went to a Chinese buffet, but there wasn't anything veggie so I ended up paying 1500 yen for a salad. Wandered around a few bars after that, but the party seemed to be in a place we couldn't find. Went home at 2am, making it an early night. Talked to some random people in the lobby, saw my first mukade (poisonous centipede). That's right - not in the humid backwaters of Kyushu, but in Kobe!
The second night was much better. To start off with, we found a superb organic vegetarian restaurant. The night could have ended there, and I would have been satisfied but it got even better, because we were all in such a good mood after our fabulous meal. Here we are chilling in a nice bar:
While wandering the streets, Suzie randomly managed to break the heel of her shoe off. This resulted in her hilarious effort to mend the shoe with sugarless chewing gum. I suggested trying the sugary kind instead, which seemed to work a bit better. While we sat on the street waiting for it to dry, money started falling out of the sky. It was our night!
We walked (Suzie limped) to a club to cap the night off, and it turned out to be spinning drum and bass. Perfect! Danced for a while, got hit on by a drunken JET, and rolled out of there a little earlier than everyone else, since my roommate insisted on turning in the key at 7:30am.
Oosaka
Many people don't realize that Osaka actually has 2 o's. Don't forget to say it with a longer "o" sound if you come to Japan, because they won't know what the hell you are talking about! We went to this megalopolis after the conference, and I was quite impressed. Our capsule hotel was kind of lame, though. One shower on the women's floor? You've got to be kidding! But at least it was in a love hotel district. Look at this gem:
We had a good laugh in the capsule lobby because some people noticed that Will was with a big group of ladies and were calling him "playboy." During our okonomoyaki dinner later, I was harassed by a father-son duo who insisted that they were samurai. I think the son fancied me because he gave me a towel. Osaka people are weird.
Later, we stumbled upon the best bar ever. Ever! I swear, if God could create the perfect bar for me, "Rock Rock" would be it. They were spinning Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines, The Hives, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, etc. Everyone was dancing and having a good time, there was a chillout room, an area to stand outside, you could actually walk up to the bar and order a drink, and the people were fun. We partied there until dawn.
The next day was miserable, though. The capsule hotel wouldn't let us leave our bags there, so we had to wander around various stations for 2 hours before finding a locker big enough. After that, however, we found a great veggie food place, where I got a pizza with fake ham on it! Mmmmm. And then we found the jackpot of all that is weird and idiosyncratic about Japan:
And it gets better:
Japanese people are obsessed with their dogs. I think the most illustrative example is the "Dog Cafe Italiwan." We wandered up there, and found a place where dog owners can eat with their dogs. The waitress brings out a tray of food, along with a dish for Fido. Hmmmm, still not sure how hygenic that is. Then we wandered up to the pet store, where I saw the CUTEST thing ever: a pug puppy was chasing its tail for like a full minute, then without interruption, squatted and took a shit. I just about died.
Then: vintage stores and toiletry shops and Mexican food, Oh My! (can you tell I'm getting lazy, now?)
After nearly missing the overnight bus (we came within a minute of missing it), we were cruising on it back to Nagasaki.
Final Thought: I need to get out more.
