the national pastime

drinking.

japanese people love to drink. being drunk at 4pm is nothing unusual (certainly not common, but not unusual). there's something called nomihodai in japan ~ all you can drink. it can sound like a horrible idea, but i don't think there's anything wrong with it if one knows where to draw the line. since drinking is an inherent part of socializing in this country, i wonder how japan compares to the united states in terms of alcohol abuse.

i guess this post will be more about my observations than anything else. things i see:

1. drunkenness in the afternoon. a few months ago, i was surprised to see drunken people on the subway when i was going home from classes. however, my friend informed me that it's not unusual. and i've seen this a couple more times since.
2. vomit on the streets. also not unusual late at night. i suppose it's cleaned up before morning.
3. people who often look nauseous in or around bars.
4. vending machines that sell alcohol ~ present everywhere.
5. middle-aged men with severe asian glows before it's even 8pm. 
6. salarymen passed out on the train. they usually take up two or three seats because their bodies are sprawled out. 

so what does this have to do with me? for one, i've had more alcohol in japan these last few months than i've had in my entire life. but with the exception of new year's eve, i've been responsible in terms of knowing my limits and when to stop. since the drinking age in japan is twenty, all my friends and i are legal. since this isn't the case in the united states, one would assume that we'd "take advantage" and drink as much as we can. for me anyway, this is far from the truth. it's nothing special anymore. being able to buy alcohol whenever we want has simply become a way of life. (furthermore, a night out at the bar can become quite costly.) 

if teenagers were to be taught how to drink responsibly, and if the drinking age were lowered to 18 in the united states, i wonder if there would be fewer deaths/incidents amongst college students relating to alcohol abuse... 

new year's eve!

i suppose i'll start off with the events of new year's eve. in a nutshell, ben came over to my house because his laptop unexpectedly died the night before. while he was building a new one online, i finished the rest of my "top-to-bottom" new year's cleaning. we stayed at the house and hung out until dinnertime. i wanted to take him to osaka osho, an inexpensive and extremely delicious (japanese) chinese restaurant in katsura, but it was closed. so we went to shijo, where he wanted to take me to gyoza no osho, another inexpensive and supposedly yummy chinese restaurant, but that was closed too. *surprise surprise* it was new year's eve, after all. we walked around for a while and finally decided on a matsuya-like restaurant.

then we went to starbucks (sanjo) to meet becca, eric, and lauren before going to the hub. ben and i had gone to lawson's just before, but i was already glowing from the can of 5% peach cocktail. (he finished a stronger, larger can of beer looong before i did >_<) when we got to the hub, it was surprisingly relatively empty. we found coat hooks on the wall and managed to get a table. i waited a while before i got a peach cooler, followed by a tarantula (yummy, but 30 proof), some of becca's beer, some of ben's mojito, and then too much champagne (ben generously got the table a bottle). there's a reason for listing what i had to drink last night---i'll get to that in another post.

the rest of the night involved: immature 16, 17-year olds at the next table over who couldn't dress themselves from australia, brutal/hard-to-watch boxing matches on tv, party poppers at the end of the countdown, followed by four kisses to open the new year, warding off older guys who wanted to do karaoke,  and meeting ben's girlfriend rika for the first time. 

i got home around 2:30am ~ i wasn't feeling too well, but a lot better than about an hour earlier. elliot texted me, hoping that i could make it to the pig & whistle, another british pub. i would've loved to go, but i was already at kawaramachi eki (and was in no condition to wander back to sanjo by myself in dress heels). i texted danielle earlier too, but she was nowhere close to where i was. with the exception of mia (and elliot), i haven't hung out with the other midd kids in a while. the other day, my host mom asked me what they had been up to, and i couldn't give her an answer. *red flag* why didn't i know? even if we were all going in different directions, i felt like i should've at least had an idea of what everyone had been doing-- but i didn't. 

i'll say this much, "it shouldn't be this hard."

[holder entry]

no worries. i have much more (than just superficial things) to say about the first half of my time in japan. however, it's now nearing 1am, so i think i'll head to bed. i'll collect my thoughts over the next few days and hopefully write an entry on the reflections before the clock strikes midnight on the last day of 2008.

-jean

ten days

...since my last entry.

i figured i'd have to make some time to update. it's nearly midnight, and it's been an exhausting week, so i'll do my best to be somewhat coherent.

first big news: my sister alice has been accepted to middlebury (early decision) for the class of 2013! the couple days leading up to december 13 were too full of anxiety and excitement--sooo glad it's done and over with. congratulations, alice! you've worked so hard ~ you deserve it!

second big news: leslie came to kyoto and stayed with me this week. it was great to finally see her again after four months :)  leslie, have fun in hokkaido and tokyo with your family! i'll miss you, but september will be here before we know it... can't wait!

not big news: three more "meetings" with starbucks guy since the last entry. the next time i have an opportunity to talk to him, i will. for real, this time.

now on to smaller updates...

#1 end of fall term class party with imao-sensei

￥10000 (about the equivalent of $100 USD)

this was really yummy, but it was also really difficult to eat.  

we called for reinforcements after a little while... 

not even half-way in, and most of us were about to give up.

#2 starbucks.

i'm still going. everyday. overkill? perhaps. 

why am i going so often? many reasons. 

for one, obviously, the coffee. 

two, i love the atmosphere (awesome for reading). 

three, it's a great place to meet up with friends. 

four, it's one of few places in kyoto where 

one can actually sit down and 

have conversation for hours on end. 

five, i come across (interesting) people 

that i normally wouldn't otherwise.

#3 finals week.

i have never been so relaxed around exam time.

there was no need to cram or study excessively.

i reviewed the material with some friends at starbucks

in between good conversation and just plain silliness :)

[elective grades aren't in yet, but i received an A for japanese]

#4 leslie!

mia and i were able to spend a lot of time with leslie

over the past few days. we did a ton of shopping and

ate delicious ramen. we also had yummy chinese food with

nestor and greg before they went to nagano for part of break.

grant also met us at starbucks for more catching up/reminiscing

over some good coffee before he had to head home to pack.

#5 awesome finds.

(the perfect) off-white wool coat on sale.

cute deep purple dress from zara.

new bag! similar style. different color.

beautiful handmade pouch with eiffel tower.

lots of inexpensive, but pretty jewelry.

<3

magical.

is what today has been.

....well, not in the cheesy sense. but it has been an amazing, amazing day.

it started off with cinnamon toast ^_^

then my last class of fall term let out 30 minutes early.

yummy lunch with good friends.

wandered around doshisha library.

starbucks. enough said :)

hung out there with friends until food time.

[oh, and starbucks guy happened to be there too. the third meeting, and i STILL couldn't say "hi"]

make-your-own okonomiyaki <-- DELICIOUS. explain more later.

"let's become beautiful" purikura XD

returned to starbucks and hung out some more.

walking home, i noticed the BEAUTIFUL full moon.

....and then i saw a shooting star.

soaked in the [hot] tub for a while.

came back to my room to find skype msgs from matt.

whs had a snow day, so alice was home to chat with me.

i really couldn't have asked for a better day ^_^

chicken x2

i saw the starbucks guy again.  i was on my way to get parfaits with my friends when we passed each other on the street.

next time [if there's a next time] i'll say hi.

i hope.

>_<

books :)

i love them.

i'm about to finish my fourth book in two weeks.  because of my extremely high productivity levels lately, i've had a lot more free time to read (for pleasure!)  i go to starbucks, satisfy my coffee addiction, finish homework, curl up on one of the couches and just turn pages for hours and hours. and then wander around a nearby five-story bookstore when i have even more free time.

sound wonderful? 

trust me, it is.

^_^

chicken.

not the food.

me.

=]

went to starbucks again after classes. finished a separate peace and got a lot of work done. silently played what felt like a waiting game for several hours... 

i should've just said hi.

>.<

a temporary band-aid

i've never been one for starbucks. 

coffee in general, definitely <3

but not starbucks.

yet, today marks three full months since i've been in japan, and i've been to starbucks over a dozen times already. it's not that i think starbucks coffee is the best thing that has ever graced the planet. it's just that home-y feeling of america that i get when i'm there. or maybe more specifically, the grille at middlebury. i'm sure being homesick has something to do with my recently frequent trips to this overpriced (especially in japan!) café, but more than that, i can unwind and productively do my homework and studying there.

i would've gladly extended the time i was there this afternoon (from four hours upward) if i didn't have to catch the hankyu home for dinner. after a series of events yesterday, i broke down crying in front of a couple of my akp friends. luckily, they lent me a shoulder and an ear until my stop at katsura. i took it easy for the rest of the night yesterday and looked forward to some coffee after class (today). i got a friend to go with me, but he headed home a little thereafter. (not a big fan of coffee. or starbucks, for that matter.) 

so i curled up on a big, comfy chair and read john knowles' a separate peace for the first time since freshman year of high school. (thanks for the lend, mia [...or rather, mia's younger brother] ^_^)  great book, but unfortunately, its content didn't really take my mind off of what i was trying to forget. in any case, being in a café atmosphere and enjoying a cup of caramel-flavored coffee over a good read did wonders for my spirit... at least for a little over four hours.

i hope i'm not conditioning myself to turn to starbucks every time i need a pick-me-up, but i've learned that i want little coffee shops and/or diners around whatever town i'll end up settling down in.