This Dude in Japan
(07/31/2004; 01:46am) - Vassar set in Osaka
This past Sunday Luke Mitchell,(Lok Dogg), and Ivan Levi visited me in Osaka. Luke just finished the JET program, and Ivan was just vacationing. Sunday night we went to Underlounge. I probably mentioned that club before. Nice Sunday night hip hop party. I borrowed Hiromis bike so Ivan rode hers and I pulled Luke on the back of mine. Its pretty entertaining to listen to him heckle pedestrians as we speed by. It was also funny to hear him tell girls in the club he was Tommy Salami from Jibuti Africa. I had to work on Monday, but Monday night we went to I to I with my friend Hiromi. I to I plays reggae music on Monday night and its always packed. We got to bed around 4am, then got up again Tuesday morning around 930 to go to Spa World. It was a sleepy good time. Ivan left on Tuesday, and me and Luke took it easy Tuesday and Wednesday night. Tuesday night we just went to an internet cafe, and Wednesday night we just watched a DVD. I was tired from Tuesday, and Luke had party fatigue from all the partying he did in Kyushu with his sayonara parties. Thursday we went to Sam n Dave 2 and drank too much. I hate hangovers.Also riding your bike when your really drunk is dangerous. Luke left Friday morning, so now I'm waiting on my next house guests. Who's it gonna be.
(07/21/2004; 12:47am) - Once Again
Last week my friends ex girlfriend came to visit him from Canada. He had been looking foward to it, and had been talking about how much he wanted to hang out with her for like a month. The first night they are in Osaka, they get in a small argument, and he talks shit about her to his roomates while she is supposedly asleep in the bed. The next morning, her and her bags are gone. He searches Osaka hotels for her to no avail until she calls him, and asks him to bring her a pair of shoes she forgot. So they make up, and we are all supposed to go out together on Saturday. When I finish work Saturday I call him and everything is all good. When I get to our meeting spot I call him again. He tells me they got into another drunken argument, and that she has threaten to call the police on him. At this point I am with my friend Hiromi. We wait for another friend and then go to this club Azure. Right before I enter the club I call him again, and he's like "the police are at my apt, that bitch, this is bullshit, talk to you later bye". So I have fun dancing you know...doin my thing thing. When I leave the club I call him again. This time he's like, "man she lied to the police and told them I hit her, could you please tell them in Japanese that I'm not that kinda dude", my Japanese isnt that good so I hand the phone to Hiromi, after about 10 minutes we decide it would be better if you went to the police sation. Here we go again. When we get to the police station they tell us that they know he didnt hit her, but she did let him borrow some money, and now she is threatening to sue him over that. I'm pretty much useless I talk to my friend and he's like "yeah I said some mean things, but so did she. Also she can never beat me in an argument so she told me she was going to make me pay, but I never thought she would just lie like this". The police don't have their translator that morning so Hiromi filled in, and she was the night or rather early morning MVP. She was very diplomatic in helping my friend, but at the same time being sympathetic to a girl with no friends in Japan, and not making her feel like she was being ganged up on. I think she was to nice to her, but it was for the best because we didnt need her to get all pissed off again or get on the defensive, she mighta stuck to her lie. By the end the police were calling her sensei. She explained to my friends ex-girlfriend that no one just spends one night in jail in Japan, so if she couldn't work things out then my friends life was going to be seriously messed up. She also translated all the paperwork they needed to fill out. They got everything settled, but it still took forever, all I could do was sit and be hot and try not to sweat. My friends exgirlfriend decides he could pay the money back later, and she was going to spend the rest of her trip in Tokyo. The part about him hitting her never really came up again, but its still really wack to lie like that and bring a personal argument to the police station. I hope this is my last visit to to police station in Japan...sheesh.
(07/15/2004; 12:50am) - Spa World/Raw meat
This may be a little hard to describe but I will try. Last Friday I went to this Onsen resort called Spa World that is about 10 minuted bike ride from my house. The price is usually 2700 yen on weekdays or 3000 yen on weekends($27-$30), but now their is a special summer rate of 1000 yen. Its a really great deal. The resort is eight stories but I only visited the lobby, the sixth floor and the eigth floor/roof. The lobby has an arcade, which I didnt visit. When you enter they give you a plastic arm braclet which you can scan over the vending machines to buy food and drinks, if you lose it your charged 5000 yen. The fourth floor is divided into another arcade and a women's only section. The womens onsen is decorated in European style. No I didnt sneak in, my friend just told me. The sixth floor has a gym, and a mens only section. The men onsen was decorated in asian style. I was told that the decoration are switched about once a month. I only used the sixth floor to change clothes, too many penisis for my liking...heh. The eigth floor is unisex so you have to wear clothes. Under the eight floor roof is a circular wading pool. In the center is a water playground. and on the outside are little mini pools. Their is also a water slide. The water slide is good quality. The is another roofed section that has about 6 or 7 hot pools with different types of jets. Also their is a steam sauna and a hot sauna. On the eigth floor patio their are several hottubs. Thier is also a small roller coaster outside on the roof that goes down the side of the builiding, I didnt ride it, but it looked pretty decent. I think it has a seperate charge of 500 yen. Spa world was a really good time.
Last Sunday I went out with some friends and had yakiniku. It was my second time enjoying yakiniki. Yakiniki is Korean style barbecue. The waiter brings raw meat to the table and you cook it yourself on a circuler grill in the center of the table. This time I ate some raw beef. It was served with a raw egg on top and sesame me seeds. I have a strong stomach, and "I ain't never scared" so I tried it without hesitation. It tasted pretty good. I probably won't pay for it, but if someone offers I'll eat it again. It didnt make me sick at all, but it was buried in my stomach by a lot of cooked meat. Raw horsemeat is pretty popular in Japan, but I havent had the opportunity to try it yet ....I will keep you posted.
(07/09/2004; 03:58am) - College Bums
Thier is this club called Underlounge that I sometimes go to on Sunday night. They play pretty good hip hop, and I always get my dance on. When famous people come to Osaka Underlounge is the first club that they will go to. Last Sunday I was told Boyz to Men was there, but I didnt believe the guy that told me so I didnt even look around. My friend told me later that two of the members were actually there on the dance floor, but it was hard to get near them because of the all the girls surronding them. He was also angry that they were taking all the girls .....heh.
Last thursday I visited a college near Kyoto ...Gaida College. I hoped I spelled that right. I went with one my friends...Gavin, who studied Japanese for a year there, and this other ECC teacher Ian. One fun thing about hanging out with Ian is he looks Japanese, but he's really a Chinese Candian. Japanese people always get so shocked when he speaks English to them, and can't understand thier Japanese. Anyway we went out in the ridicoulsy hot weather to visit the campus and some of Gavins old friends. Very pretty campus, and it had grass...one thing I miss....no grass in Osaka. Nice to walk barefoot on the grass, reminds me of Vassar. Around three we were about to leave campus to eat at this restuarant. The best restaurant in Japan. For 500 yen you get a huge plate of good food. Before we left the campus so old guy came and got rude with us and told us to leave. He was very rude, and he pissed me off cause we werent causing any trouble. I asked Gavin why he didnt tell the guy he was an alumnae and to shove off, but Gavin was like that guy doesnt have any power so he doesnt count and we were leaving anyway. So we take a 45 minute walk in the crazy heat and then eat at the restaurant. It was the best deal I had on food since I been here and it tasted really good, especially after that walk. The food and the airconditioning sedated us so we went to a nearby park and took a nap on some benches, only three benches werent in the sun. Gavin and me had concrete and Ian had wood, but we were tired so whatever. After that we went by a supermarket for some ice cream. Gavin is funny, he was unplugging the sign in front of the supermarket so he could charge his cellphone, but he couldnt get it to work....ah well. A girl from the college texted Gavin cause she wanted to meet him and she brought two friends so we bullshited in in a little park next to the train station, it was ok, but I was ready to go home and that point so I was just being nice to be nice, but soon we said our goodbyes and went home.....Hot day....Fun Day.
(06/20/2004; 06:27pm) - The Po Pos
Saturday night 3am, or rather Sunday morning 3am. Always a good time to have a run in with a police. Usually my Saturdays go like this. I wake up late. Clock in at work at 3:50. and clock out at 9:30. When I finish I rush home to eat, shower and get ready to go out dancing. Get to the club around midnight and get back home between four and eight in the morning. This Saturday started the same as all the others. I went out to this hip hop club called Azure in America Mura with my friend Hiromi. If you read my earlier posts Hiromi is the unamed girl that I dropped at the club when I -lost my cool-. We hang out a lot now, and I have failed to drop her again. Anyway we leave the club early around 2:50 on our bikes in search of tabemone/food.
Five minutes into our bike ride we hear this lady screamin. I couldnt understand what she was saying, and I didnt know if she was in trouble or just being loud, but we could hear her long before we rode up. When we came wthin eyesight of the scenerio we saw a running car sitting in the middle of the street, a screaming girl clutching a roadside post, an ugly Japanese guy dressed in pretty boy style trying to pull her off, and a smartly dressed Japanese guy and an elderly security gaurd standing by. Me and Hiromi tried talking to the girl and sperating from whoever this guy was. The guy was clearly not happy that we showed up and began to take action, and I quickly began to dislike him. Hiromi was able to get the girl to stand up when the guy directed his attention to yelling at me and the other guys. I just replied wakalanai....I dont understand. She then told me that the girl who was still crying and shaking uncontrolably was going to park the car, and wanted her with her. I was like thats cool, but then the guy tries to open the door, I 'm a forienger so first I ask Hiromi "its not cool for him to be in the car right? I need to stop him right?" Now I'm not a violent person and I don't really fight, but I was evilly looking foward to roughtng this guy up ;). So as soon as she said get him away. I grabbed him under the arms with my palms on his necked and yanked him out of the car. He started screaming some shit I didnt understand and struggled a little bit. I think he said he was dangerous. So I replied "Yamelu, Oli wa abunai...Stop it, I am a dangerous man. " After that he stopped struggling and I let him go. Also just to be an asshole to him when he was cussing me out and telling me he was going to sue I was like "Watashitachi wa tomodachi" Which means -we are friends-. After that he called the police, when I told Hiromi, she was like "Good, we need the police here". When the po pos showed up the security gaurd told them -something?- and they immedietly put the angry guy in the back of their car. Then they all asked us to tell them what happened. While we were explaining the angry guy called an ambulance...cause I hurt him.....whatever. So he was the first to leave the scene. Next the the elderly security gaurd went back to his post after saying sorry for being useless, which is not true I think. His official word helped our case. The police then said they would need me and Hiromi to go to the station to give official statements. The smartly dressed Japanese guy complained about this on our behalf, but then he left too. I would like to not that this entire time no policeman asked to see my gaijin card which is props to me.
I would like to note that after 23 years in America I had not seen the inside of a police car, so I think its funny that after 2 1/2 months in Japan I am already in one. Japanese police cars are different from American ones because they have no divider to protect the policeman from back passenger. As we were going up the steps to the station I put my hands behind my back and said to Hiromi "Maybe I should hold my hands like this for the fantasy"to which she physcially replied to with a slap. Real cool girl. So we talk to some detective, or rather Hiromi talks to some detective and i try not to fall asleep. I sent a few text messages to my friends to see what they were doing, but I held my phone under the table to be polite. After the last questioning a nice officer buys us coffee and taxis us back to our bikes. I'm just glad I was with Hiromi, cause my Japanese skill is not all that, and it would have been hard for me to explain to the police that I dont just grab guys for the fun of it.
(06/13/2004; 09:25am) - Nara
Nara is a medium sized city outside of Osaka. It is one of the most historical cities in Japan. I go twice a week, on Mondays and Tuesdays, to work. Even though I go twice a week I havnt had time to see any of Nara besides the train station and my school. Today I went with one of my friends and looked at a coupla temples.
I was also able pet some deer in the park. The deer were really tame today, I say today because I've heard their disposition changes frequently. I was kinda nervous, but it was no problem. Some little kids did make me feel like a punk after I watched them play around the deer with no care to whether they were dangerous or not. I havnt really been up to anything else too exciting. Just working and going out to dance on the weekends. Rainy season hasnt been too bad so far. Today was sunny and really hot. Soon I will buy some fireworks, you can buy them at the 99yen shop, and go wreak some havoc....not really, but I will have some fun. Its pretty ill that you can buy fireworks at the dollar store. They look decent too. Well I will try to write again soon. My apologies for the short blog, but heh.I'm just chillin these days....no crazy crazy.
(06/01/2004; 08:27pm) - Bad Blog
Hey sorry for not blogging in so long, but I have done nothing to unusual. Sunday before last I went to a festival in the park. Nothing to special a coupla bands and vending stalls. The highlight of the day was watching the Japanese drummers. That was really cool. Besides that I have just been going to work and going out dancing. I might go to Kobe or Kyoto soon to get a little traveling under my belt, let you know how that goes. Oh yeah I've been sick twice already, not bad colds but colds nevertheless...thats is half my yearly allotment already. I usuallly only get sick about four times a year. I know what its from though...its from teaching kids. Hard to believe kids carry stronger sickness than you Vassar bastards. I hardly ever got sick from you guys. Maybe I should be drinking more hard liquor for sterlization. Kids are cute but dangerous. After teaching for a year my immune system will be really strong. I joined a gym last Friday so now I can play basketball again...very happy about that. I think I will buy some fireworks soon. I just noticed they had them for sale at the 99yen shop. In my conversation lessons sometimes I tell people how on New Years and the Fourth of July some people in America like to shoot guns in the air, they always get freaked out. I think its kinda funny. Should I not be revealing that aspect of American culture. I thought they already knew our affinity to firearms. I think I'm a good teacher. The staff doesnt tell us if students request of specifically, but I have had a coupla students tell me they asked for me. One lady said she wanted me to go to dinner with her because I made her laugh. My students are always asking if I have a girlfriend, and when I say no they offer to find me one. I just reply I'm to poor for a girlfriend now. Once I told a lady I liked older women, and she said I should talk to her mother. I politely but firmly declined....anyway I'm pretty sure she was joking. People always asked me why I came to Japan, but only one guy said...'I think you like Japanese girls'...to which I replied 'I like pretty girls', I don't like to limit myself. Once these ladies asked me what do I look for in girls. I had to tell them it would be unproffessional for me to go into that. Well I hope this blog isnt a waste to read, but if it is...what are you going to do about it. Nothing punk. I talk mad shit from the eastern hemisphere...recognize wha what.
(05/14/2004; 12:50am) - Nothing
I have nothing really to post about. Just doing this just cause, so this will probably be my worst post...hmmmmm. The rainy season is about to start or is starting. It is supposed to rain almost everyday in the month of June, and I just broke my pimp umbrella too. Broke it in the spokes of my bike...wack shit. I bought some wack lil small plastic shit from 7 Eleven, but its not going to cut it. I need to join a gym soon, but gyms are so expensive in Osaka. I'm getting out of shape. The only excercise I get is walking, bike riding and dancing at the club. No lifting, no basketball, no boxing, no swimming, no running from the cops. I gotta find a basketball court soon....I'm fienin...I'm itchin inside. Maybe I'll go sing some more kareoke soon. The one time I did it was a lotta of fun. I think I posted about that earlier. I know....I need to visit an onsen/hot spring soon. I'm all about the hot water. Even though I don't really deserve it now, seeing as how I'm never sore from physical exertion. Whoever reads this should look up Bob Sapp on the interenet...he is a really famous K-1 fighter here. He's huge, and funny. When I teach I like to tell my students I broke his arm for reaching into my plate, they love that story. I really wish I could watch the NBA playoffs. I check scores and read stories everyday, but its not the same. I'm missing some great games. I really would like to watch the Roy Jones fight on Saturday. Somebody tape that and send it to me. In fact somebody tape any big boxing match. K-1 is fun because 9 time out of 10 somebody is going to get knocked the fuck out,and sometimes they do some crazy martial arts moves but I still like boxing better. When I get more settled in I will acquire some kung fu and become even more dangerous, if thats possible. If you didnt already know...I am a ninja. Probably the first black ninja from Alabama. Well I gotta go, I know this post was bad, I just hope it doesnt make anyone angry....if it does whatever..I'm in Japan...what you gonna do...come to my crib and pimp slap me. Come on I sleep with the door open.
(05/06/2004; 02:02am) - Golden Week
Golden Week might be the biggest vacation time in Japan. Most people get a couple of days off work to travel, see their family and party. Golden Week for me started last Thursday and ended this Thursday. I think ECC gives one or two more days extra compared to most companies. On Thursday went to a club with a friend of mine. I lost all my cool, but I got it back quickly. I lost my cool by carrying the girl that I came with and dropping her as I walked down some stairs, she didnt care one bit, but I was pissed at myself. Tripping is not my style let alone tripping while carrying a date, but she didnt care in the least. We both had been drinking, but niether one of us was drunk. So then I just started dancing while being mad at myself. These Japanese guys started breakdancing in the middle of the floor and my date was like you should join them. I'm no breakdancer, I only know one basic step, but I can fake it, I have before at raves. I didn't really want to do it, but I got in the circle twice, and all the Japanese guys were giving me props so I felt like I got some of my cool back. As we were living the club one guy came up and told me he digged my dancing so I felt like I had balanced everything out. The next day on Friday I went to ride one of the two ferris wheels located in Osaka. I think the one I rode may be the largest in the world. It was pretty fun. Sat I went club hoppin with this dude Gavin. We paid for one club then went by about four others when it was late enough for them to let use in for free. At about 7 in the morning Gavin showed me where the Bum Village was, cause I wanted to buy a bike. The Bum Village is an entire nieghborhood filled with bums selling watches, bikes, porn, louie vutton bags, viagra...the list goes on. The bike shop was closed so I had to come back that evening. I got a girls bike, I didnt realize until after one of my friends told me, but I dont care. It came with a backseat, a light, a lock, and a basket. I got a great deal. I ride my girls bike proudly. Sunday I showed the girl that I went to the club and ferris wheel with the bum village, she really dug it, but she really digs anyplace you can shop. Then Sunday night I went to Underlounge, which is a good hip hop club for Sunday night. I randomly saw this guy Chris and Jay Condry from Vassar. My friend got me in the club for 1000 yen as opposed to 2500, and I got Jay and Chris in for the discount also. Monday I went nampaing with some guys. Nampaing is when you just stand around and try to get numbers from girls that walk by. Its not really my style so I mostly just watched and laughed at these guys. Especially when they said explicit shit to girls who didnt understand English that well, and still got their numbers. Tuesday I just hung out and rested. Went to an all you can eat sushi restaurant and ate way too much. Wednesday I rode my bike around and went to my friends house cause she was cooking curry. Gotta love the spicey curry. That was Golden Week. Not too bad.
(04/23/2004; 03:32am) - Random Shite I
Ok mmmmm first here in Osaka you must be very aware when walking, anywhere a bicycle can ride it will ride so you have to be careful not to get taken out. Walking over to the internet cafe I saw an old lady almost get taken out. Also anywhere a car can drive it will. Some streets are pedestrian only during the day, but at night cars, motorcycles and mopeds will use them as shortcuts, I don't know if its legal, but that doesn't matter if you get ran over.
One thing I like about Japan is they will play unedited hip hop and rap anywhere. I can be chilling in MacDonalds, and internet cafe or a even in the lobby at work and 50 cent, Beyonce, Nas, or whoever is popular will just come on from the computer mix.
The amount of porn here is ridiculous, yes its all edited with the fuzzy genitals, but its porn nevertheless. No matter where I am their is porn within rock throwing distance (rock throwing distance....official Alabama measurement). I mean like come on. I always laugh when I see places that say 18 and over. Thats a real joke, any kid that wants porn can have it in under 5 minutes any time.
People here party hard, but really only on Sat. Cause everyone works mad hours everyweek. You can party on Friday, but Sat is the day when it goes down. Everyother day is pretty dead. I know one club thats jumpin on Sunday. Thats about it.
Most Japanese people think I'm older than I am. Now I always make people guess how old I am before I tell them. I usaully get between 26 and 30. The oldest I got was 34. Makes me feel kinda bad. When I tell them 23 they always cover their mouths laugh, and apologize.
Another thing their are more Africans here than African Americans here, and the Japanese like African Americans more, I don't know why maybe just cause were Americans, or they like hip hop. It might that the Africans are too aggressive and grabby with the girls. At least the ones I've meet. A lot of them front and say their from New York even though their not. I always tell people I'm from Alabama, but I usaually tell them I went to school in New YOrk, cause not many people know about Alabama, surprise surprise. Sometimes girls ask me if I'm from Africa. And any time I show somebody my passport they get all happy when they see United States.
So many times I've approached a girl and engaged in conversation thinking she was around my age. And when I get around to asking her age she comes out with something like I'm 30 or 40. I've meet more than one 40 year old you could tell you she was 25. If you want a suga mama Japan is probably your place.
Some Japanese girls do have asses.
A lot of Japanese guys are taller than me.
Their are some fat Japanese girls.
It might be the American diet that is imported.
I've been eating way to many double cheeseburgers myself. 157 yen each...you can't beat that. I mean I can get full for 314 yen. I got to stop.
Well thats it for Random Shite I.... I will have some new stuff later.