Finding Ami in Akihabara was a nightmare. It is really difficult to find a specific Japanese person among the thousands of other Japanese people, even if you know she is in front of the train station. We eventually found each other than then it was time to explore. At first we just wandered around the different shops and chatted and such, but then we got hungry. And of course Ami wanted to try a maid cafe. I was feeling quite adventurous, so I consented. The cafe we went to was on the 5th floor of some building and we shared the elevator with a girl about to start her shift. I get the feeling she doesn't usually dress up as a maid (hey, some girls in Japan DO quite regularly) because she did not seem happy on the elevator. Either way, our welcome was quite warm. Every waitress yelled to greet us and they all looked extremely happy to be there, unlike the girl on the elevator. I suppose they could be good actors. Or they are getting paid a lot. That place was expensive. They charge you for the "atmosphere" with a sitting fee. It was $10 just to sit. Pictures weren't allowed, so I couldn't get pics of the decorations or the maids. Sorry.
Anyways, they spent a lot of time asking where we want to sit. It seemed like they settled on putting us at a table next to two other people, but thankfully we got moved to a table with just us. I already had enough people staring at me, I didn't want to sit next to one of them too. The stares eventually subsided, and then came the embarrassment. Maid cafes have certain... rituals for dining. Not only were there phrases that had to be said, everything had accompanying gestures and body movements. And everything made me feel like a 12 year old girl. Japanese guys have WEIRD fetishes. Just sayin'. I just found this video on youtube and it has English subtitles. You should watch it. It isn't quite the same, but there is an uncomfortable amount of overlap. Wow, I definitely missed a lot of what was said. Heh...
All in all, it was a fun experience. The atmosphere was amusing, and food was good (I got to eat pasta off of a heart shaped plate), talking with Ami was fun, and the customer service was great. I made sure to order something that included a picture with a maid so I would have something to remember the experience by. They take pictures with a polaroid, so I had to take a picture of the polaroid, but it turned out kind of well. And now I am done with maid cafes. Oh, and one of the maids had a ninja sword tied right above the frilly skirt. Unfortunately for her, she also walks like a man. I normally wouldn't have noticed but the entire cafe was about injecting ridiculous amounts of estrogen into everything possible. Now I'm done with maid cafes. Promise.
Pretty soon after that Ami had to go meet another friend, so I went back to Shinjuku to meet up with Arisa. It wasn't too late, so I figured we should catch a movie. So after a quick stop at Softbank (cell service provider) to use their display iPads to find a movie theatre, Arisa and I went and saw "Super 8". The movie was English subbed in Japanese, so I understood it perfectly. But from my limited Japanese, I could tell that the translations were pretty bad so I'm not sure if the other people understood much more than the main plot, but the movie was good. I also found out that Arisa doesn't handle scary movies well. Haha. It was really tempting to see X-men or Transformers, but I am waiting to go back home to see them with my dad and brother (plus Transformers hasn't been released in Japan yet).
My Sunday morning and early afternoon were equally lazy, but then I went to Asakusa again. Going on a Sunday was a bad idea. The entire place was packed with people. But I got there kind of late so most of the people had left within the hour which gave me plenty of opportunity to get souvenirs for the women of my life - my mom, grandma, and great grandma. That triple dose of increasing crazy might be hard to handle sometimes, but I would be no one and no where without their support. And they deserve good recognition. So I bought them things - exotic things: the universal way to please women (I'm kidding, of course).
Sunday at Asakusa also marked the first time a completely random stranger asked me to take a picture with him. That kind of happened in Kyoto with some of the Japanese students at Ritsumeikan and also with some of the Kogakuin students at the welcome party, but never before has it been a random Japanese person. And I also got stopped by two college students doing a video project on tourism and souvenirs in/from Japan, so I did a hasty interview for them. It would have gone much better if I had had time to think more, but I didn't say too many stupid things. Unfortunately for them, I got nervous and slipped into extremely casual English which will probably be really hard to translate.
My Fourth of July didn't start out that exciting, but it got really good at the end. I went in to start working on my clinic presentation on the 12th and went to lunch with Yunyi and Bunny (his real name is Ayumu, btw). After that I worked some more and then went with everyone (Ben, Arisa, Yunyi) to a presentation from Kogakuin's English Lecture Series. The presentation was on potty and ceramics in India. It wasn't particularly exciting but the English profs and the presenters went to dinner afterwards and students were encouraged to tag along. So we did. The restaurant was great, the food was delicious, and the conversations were grand. And the drinks were strong...
Normally, I spend Independence Day blowing things up with my Brother while Mom and Dad laugh at us. I couldn't exactly do that at a restaurant in Tokyo, but I did order a drink with a sparkler it in. To be more precise, one of the other students with us ordered it and then said it was for me and Ben. So I (carefully) took a drink while the sparkler was lit to get a Fourth of July worthy picture. I just have to get it emailed to me... Either way, I celebrated the Fourth well. Great food with good company with fireworks exploding in my face - and a Singapore Slinger (some drink a prof ordered for me. It had some kick. Imagine an Asian version of a long island iced tea).
I am running out of time in Japan. I have 12 days left (2 weekends) to experience Tokyo to the fullest. I have my clinic presentation next Tuesday (the 12th), but after that I am free of academic obligations. My "bucket" list right now:
- Freeline at the Imperial Palace again
- Buy more souvenirs
- Go salsa dancing in Roppongi
- See the people I've randomly met to say goodbye (James, Stephanie, Maya, Ami)
- Hang out with the college students
- Climb Fuji
I'll to go freeline at some point during the week, and I am buying souvenirs slowly when I see something that looks good (I bought stuff for Michael today). This coming Saturday is going to be amazing because Ryoko is coming to visit me in Shinjuku. Ryoko is a girl I met when I did my science fair in Kyoto two years ago. She is adorably small and Japanese and she has been very kind to me ever since we met. I couldn't make it to Kyoto so she is coming here. AHHHH!!!!! I also have plans with some of the first years I met at the welcome party on Saturday, but Ryoko is more important (and she can probably tag along). I am still planning my trip to Fuji, I need to find out if Arisa wants to come along or not. I could make a day trip of it, but I want to spend two days. The first to travel there and get part way up and the second to be at the summit when the sun rises. It will be exhausting, but I can't pass this chance up. Before I leave, I will climb Mount Fuji.
And here is the link to the newest album on Facebook. I hit the 200 picture limit on the other one.
David!!!!
ReplyDeleteYour adventures sound so freaken awesome... or is legenderry a more accurate description?
Can't wait to hear about it all in person!
Caro
PS Maids with ninja swords?? Say wuuut!
akihabara
ReplyDeletethe shit