nothing to prove

making new friends

Last weekend Melissa and I trucked it to Tokyo for me to visit Nichole and for Melissa to get a haircut, don't ask. Before I go into that, the previous Friday I was invited by Nichu to play volleyball with the PTA and teachers. I was really looking forward to finally play some real volleyball. Not that playing with the junior high school kids but there are only so many times you can slam a volleyball in their face before you start to feel bad. Anyway, I got there a little early to record a listening test with one of my teachers and work on my own Japanese test, yes I study. When I finally made my way down there I realized that they weren't using regular volleyballs. Instead I saw what appeared to be a ginormous dodge ball, like the kind you play with in elementary school. On top of that there were nine people on each side of the court. I figured I could deal with all that stuff but then when it was my teams turn to play they told me that I could not hit or block anything. Needless to say I played setter the entire game and those who have played volleyball with me in the past know that setter is not exactly my strongest position. Oh well it was still fun and afterwards I got some free dish soap and tissues out of the deal. In case you were wondering there was also an enkai afterwards which I got suckered into joining. Great idea the night before an 7 am wake up the next morning.

The next morning Melissa and I hoped the shinkansen (bullet train) down to Tokyo. We were supposed to meet Asuka, my homestay, for lunch but she had spent the night partying so we met up with her in Ginza. Instead we headed to Ueno to walk around the park and eventually headed to my old dorm to get Nichole. She wasn't there right away so I showed Melissa the university I used to study at and paid a visit to an old friend there, Michiyo. As our "advisor" Michiyo didn't go out with us too much but it was great to catch up with here and hopefully in the near future we will be able to hangout in Tokyo. Then we headed back to the dorm to find Nichole and managed to catch her and Katie before they headed out the door. Together we all went to Ginza to do some browsing. However Melissa had a haircut to get to so it was just Nichole, Katie, and me. It wasn't long before my homestay and old friend, Dondon, came to meet up with us.


After some good browsing through the ridiculously expensive department stores we headed to Shibuya to meet up with Melissa and more of Nichole's friends for dinner and drinks. Where did we get dinner? TGIFridays! That's right some good ole suburban American restaurant action but after four months without any it was great to have an ultimate long island to go along with a nice juicy burger and fries. Afterwards we got to hit up a nearby pub for some great drinks and volleyball on TV. I miss just being able to be out at a bar to tip a few back, watch some sports, and hang out with friends. It was amazing and to top it all off these random Japanese college students started talking to me. They invited me over but I doubt they thought I would actually come over and talk to them. It was a good chance for me to practice my Japanese and for them to see if they could still talk English. Ended up exchanging phone numbers and keitai emails so hopefully we can all enjoy some snowboarding and drinking together in the future.


The next day Melissa and I met Nichole at Korakuen for lunch. Sadly the mall wasn't open right when we got there so we had to wander a bit while we waited but for lunch we had a stellar Chinese meal before parting ways with Nichole, where she gave me a bag full of crap from the dorm. Anyway then Melissa and I did some casual browsing at Asakusa where I proceeded to buy Christmas presents for people. We decided to head back home about mid-afternoon since we thought it would be less crowded. However it was pretty packed and we ended up having to stand at the back of the train the whole way back to Sanjo. Oh well, we made a cute little Japanese friend that had a mullet who was shocked that we could speak English. Then to top the night off we saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! Granted it was way too much information to try and shove in a 2.5 hour movie but I think they did a good job with it. So much so that I read the Order of the Phoenix over again, I am such a dork.

posted by Aaron @ 5:50 PM