Since Monday was a national holiday, a few (or twenty) JETs gathered in Kofu on Sunday night for a bit of izakaya action. The crab croquet was croquelicious, the pizzas were too personal, and a rumor was spread around that all of Japan was out of rice. OK, maybe just the restaurant, and that wasn't even true. It just took forever for the rice to appear. The selection at izakayas is a lot like at tapas bars, so the dilemma remains. One more app or one more beer? Is that an Andrew W.K. song? And did I just reference a nobody that a lot of people know?
After the izakaya, we boarded the Chuo east for Yamanashi-shi, former home of Cindy T. Lo. A Japanese man on the train asked me (in Japanese) to tell my foreignor friends to be quieter. Again, there are no Asians, only Japanese people, in Japan. I am everyone's Japanese tour guide. Hear me roar inaudibly.
We rolled deep into L-River, a bar that has hosted years and years of JETs in the past. (Cindy and Matt, did you drink here?) It's a tiny spot run by one man, so you actually have to go there early to tell him you are showing up. If you do, he'll keep it open until, judging by Sunday "night," 4:30 in the morning so that crazy kids can sing crazy American songs on the karaoke machine.
I wanted it that way, I asked baby to hit me one more time, I didn't look back in anger, and I hid from the karma police. Oh, and I also happened to sing songs by the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Oasis, and Radiohead.
Bex kept making this high-pitched whistling sound after each song, and I was tempted to jump through the glass windows for a less painful death.
The first train home was at 5:44, so I ate a bag of chips from the Family Mart and drank a Pocari Sweat. It's better than it sounds. A little better.
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On Monday, I drove my car for the first time. I'm not quite sure why my Georgia license is valid here (just needed to fork over $15 to AAA in the states), but I take what I can get. Remember those moats on the side of the road I mentioned a ways back in regards to biking? They are even more terrifying when driving. What if I get too close? My tire will fall in! When my tire falls in, the frame of my car will crash onto the street! When the frame of my car crashes onto the street, I will be embarrassed!
Honestly, the whole driving on the left thing is not that bad. Right turns are hard, Kevin. Left turns are easy. The difficulty is the large number of bikers and walkers who are literally on the road. The difficulty is the narrow streets. The difficulty is the lack of street signs. Oh, and the abundance of FAKE street signs that are meant to indicate that you are near the road you want to be on, but not actually on that road.
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L-River, my second home in Japan. Say hi to Ogawa-san for me! (He probably won't remember me... shit, I forget that it's been 6 years...) I think my friend Katie (yamanashi high school jet) and I are to blame for the fact that JETs take over this bar every weekend and cause a horrible ruckus and make the neighbors hate Ogawa-san. Anyway, check out the Chinese restaurant somewhat across the street from L-River. Mouth. Waters. At. Thought. Of. Hotto.
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