First Day and Night (in the Redlight District!)

I am really back. And it's pretty amazing. Everything was fine at the airport. An AEON representative named Ian met me along with another girl who had gotten in a little earlier named Katy. Both were super nice and I shipped my bags to my branch school and just took my carry-on with me for my orientation week. Unfortunately, I forgot to transfer some liquid stuff I needed for the week from my checked bag to my carry-on first in all the hubbub at the airport... ahh well. Some snags are inevitable.

The train ride from Narita airport to Omiya was about 2 hours long with a short taxi ride after. It was simply amazing because we took the Keisei line halfway there, which is the very same line I rode everyday on my way into school and back last year. We stopped at all the same stops I used to switch trains at and even passed my old, ghetto station that I lived near, Horikiri Shobuen. I was kinda freaking out and nostalgic, trying to explain to Katy sitting next to me why. This is her first time in Japan and she seems really nice and cool! We ended up rooming together at the training center in Omiya along with another girl named Megan.

Yesterday was our first day of training. It didn't start until 9:30, but everyone woke up pretty early on account of the jet-lag. We all put on our suits and headed downstairs to the big room with tables where we will be spending the majority of the next week. It seems kind of silly that we're required to dress professionally and here we are in our suits and stockings... and slippers. Since everything is indoors here at the training center we are still just wearing our indoor slippers along with our professional gear because outdoor footwear isn't permitted in the building, as is true with most buildings in Japan that aren't exclusively business. So I guess I didn't need to take up all that room in my bag with two pairs of professional footwear!

Training was fine. It went until 6 and was mostly introductory stuff and we were introduced to our lesson that we have to plan and teach on Tuesday. The funnest part of the day for me was the "Japanese lesson." It was predominantly to show us what it felt like to take a lesson exclusively in a foreign language, since that is what we will be doing for our students. I am pretty used to it though having taken a lot of classes conducted entirely in Japanese in school. Most of the other Aeon people though(there are 10 of us total in this training group), clearly were not used to it. The Japanese trainer, Katsu, taught us a very simple lesson on ordering food using the different number counter for objects. I probably learned this in high school in my remedial Japanese classes, but it was still nice practice even if I was a bit bored. There is only one other person in my training group who appears to speak ANY Japanese though! Most of the others were pretty lost and probably don't remember any of the words they learned today. It was kind f surprising to me that so many of them would want to come here and work without any knowledge of the language. But I'm sure they will still have a great experience and you don't really need any Japanese for the job.

Anywho, after training was over at 6 I tried to take a quick nap but was too excited. Why was I excited, you ask? Because I was going out to Shinjuku, the grand mecca of craziness in downtown Tokyo, to meet my friends from when I studied abroad. I ended up just getting ready and going kind of early since I couldn't sleep, figuring I needed to grab something to eat on the way and that I'd more than likely get lost in Shinjuku station. Because I don't believe there's been a single time I've been to Shinjuku station and not gotten lost...

Walking through Omiya to get to the station (about a 25 minute walk), I realized how crazy it is that it's considered this far-out little town in Saitama. It's high-rises, crowded streets, and neon lights near the train station would still put downtown Indy (when throwing a Colts Superbowl party) to shame. I was lucky enough to get a rapid train straight to Shinjuku that only stopped twice in between. It was still about a 40 minute train ride, but that's not bad at all. I got off in Shinjuku station , went out the South exit and was immediately taken by the bright lights and swarming crowds of Shinjuku. The amount of people there at all hours of the day is simply breathtaking. And then, whaddyaknow?! I got lost in the station trying to find the East exit where I was supposed to meet Stephen, Allen, and Tomohiro. It took me at least 25 or 30 minutes to get to it, even though I was looking at maps of the station the whole time. I just ate a little shrimp salad I bought at some shop in the station for dinner once I was finally near where I needed to be.

Stephen showed up first and we hugged and screamed like crazy gaijin in the streets when we reunited after so long. Stephen was working in Osaka for NOVA before they went bankrupt and now he has to go back to the states after only being here a few months. Allen came also, who was also a good friend here when I studied abroad and their friend Tomohiro who was an International student at PSU who I met there twice for our IES reunions. He is CRAZY and really fun. Plus, it always helps to have a native around. He figured out what route I needed to take to get back on the last train to Omiya! :)

We also met up with our friend Rachel, who's birthday it was and who also was a Spring 06' IESer. It was really great to all be reunited like that. In 2-chome, no less.

So, all the boys had their heart set on going to "Arty Farty," the famous gay bar in Shinjuku 2-chome (also known as Kabukicho or the red-light district), which was a favorite past time of ours in our IES days. It was the club's 20th anniversary party or something which meant it would be crazy and, unfortunately, that they were charging a bigger cover than usual. But it included 2 drinks! We danced like crazy, sweaty fools to Madonna, Beyonce, and other gay-favorite stereotypes. There was even a drag queen contest starting right before I left!

They were planning on staying out the whole night and taking the first train back in the morning. I was not keen on this since I had only just arrived in Japan the previous night and was going on about 7 hours of sleep for the past 48 hours. Plus, whenever I go there with them they end up pairing off with other clubbers one by one as the night goes on and I'm stuck dancing alone in the gay bar at 3:30am wondering where my friends went.

So, I stuck to my original plan and caught the last train back with the help of Tomo's friend, Kaori. I had to take a very different route back and she pointed me in the right direction. I got back to the training house exhausted but exhilarated at around 1:30 or so and went straight to bed, not bothering to wash the dried sweat off first. Come to think of it, I still haven't done that... Better end it here. Miss you all!!

And it's good to be back.