The cult of IJ700

Okay, so a couple want to hear about who I hang out with. Well, it is pretty simple. I hang out with those people who are in my intensive Japanese language course. Why, you ask? Well, in general, it is somewhat difficult to make friends with study abroad students in other levels of the language. Last semester wasn't as bad in the fact that my linguistics and history course were both open to anybody, so they had a nice mix of people. However, both of those classes involved getting talked at for 90 min and 135 min respectively. The one common thread we had was bitching about the classes, which was fun, but it wasn't as if we ever hung out on the weekend or anything. This semester, all of my elective classes have a proficiency reequirement, so only people from the top 2 levels can take them, which leaves me seeing largely the people I just saw all morning in the Intensive Japanese class. We pretty much eat together almost everyday, and then occasionally go on karaoke outings or check out a film at the Picadilly Theatre near Nagoya station, which is generally preceded by dinner at a nearby ramen place (which has a 'happy hour' of sorts-half price gyouza(dumplings) and you can't beat that). The two guys I hang out the most with are Ken (from UW-Madison) and Tom (from UI-Iowa City). We often head out to the various game centers (read: arcades) and have a good time remembering exactly what an arcade is (since I haven't seen one in America for years). Aside from DDR, Mario Kart Arcade is always a good choice, along with the slew of 2D fighters. They still have freakin Street Fighter II cabinets. Not to mention the Neo Geo stuff, Guilty Gear, Tekken 5, and oh, how could I forget, Virtua Fighter 5, which is a disease in Japan. A lot of the arcades I have been to have a separate LCD display so spectators can watch the matches currently being fought. They're hardcore over here. Why does the group consist of so few? Because a fair number of people in the class seem to only go out if it's for karaoke. There is a guy named Kevin in the class as well, who is a gamer and that provides for some nostalgic conversation. He also has a rather dark sense of humor (always a plus) and I'd say he rivals Wallin in emo-ness. Erika is from Hong Kong, so natively she speaks Cantonese, but she also has stellar English and a good sense of humor. Pao, from Thailand is easy-going and fun to joke around with. She takes teasing well, so I dish it out liberally...and she has taken one lesson of Taekwondo from me. She wants to exercise more, so I may have a training partner soon. Running through forms by myself leaves a bit to be desired. Then there is Yongkyu (or Pak-san) from Korea, who is about as stylish as it comes. Rather concerned about his looks, but and all around good guy, and I just found out today he is a huge WWF fan, and has been for awhile. He started talking about Wrestlemania VI's Hulk Hogan v. Ultimate Warrior match, which I have no recollection of. I was rather surprised, and entirely amused that WWF had made to Korea, and more than that, it has taught him important English phrase's including, but not limited to X-Pac's 'Suck It' (with appropriate x hand gesture). Sara is from New York, she likes to read books a lot, and got screwed in terms of her home stay situation. She's currently trying to get a bowling outing planned, which I am completely in favor of. They are others I didn't bother to profile here, but they are all good people. However, to answer Busha's query, they are not as cool/awesome, etc. as Brian himself, or all of my other friends in the U.S. I look forward to seeing everyone in a few months!

Randomness

Okay, so the evening is a whole lot of studying. Miki and the kids go into the bath, and after they come out it is generally not too long before they head upstairs with an 'oyasuminasai' (good night). Miki generally comes back down once the kids are asleep, and almost always makes some sort of drink, whether is be black or green tea. She also occasionally has these mildly fruity drinks made from a syrup, and few times it has even been blueberry vinegar, which is actually really, really good. There is often some sort of dessert-type thing that she brings out as well. This often serves as a study break for me. We sit and chat for awhile about whatever, sometimes rather random stuff. For instance, I found out she doesn't know what macaroni and cheese is. I guess there are just certain things I assume have been assimilated from Western culture, but apparently Kraft dropped the ball hardcore on taking advantage of the Japanese market. I mean, c'mon Easy Mac and Instant Ramen co-exist in the U.S., why not Japan? Weekends...let's see. They generally involve going out to eat at least once. A couple of times, when Takashi really can't get away from the office, we drive to Sakae (the entertainment/business hub of Nagoya) and have dinner somewhere in the area. Speaking of which, the other week we went to a small ramen shop (counter only, seats maybe 12-15 people) and had by far the best ramen to date. It was Garlic Butter Spicy Miso ramen, and it rocked my world. I generally wouldn't expect garlic with ramen, and probably because of that, loved it. Mixed with the spicy miso...seriously good stuff. I am going to cry when come back to America and have to eat Instant Ramen again. Oh, Mass Transit...the mood on the trains to and from school is something close to death. Most people sleep or read, play their DS, or again, look dead. The subway is where you can tell just how tired everyone is, just how much the life of a salaryman has eaten away their soul. Okay, that might be a little much, but still... It is etiquette to not talk on your cell phone while in the train car (and most people can't anyway once the train goes underground). Yet a ton of people type away text messages to pass the time. You are theoretically supposed to give up your seat for older people, but I only do if they look like they want it, which is pretty much what all the Japanese do as well. If you have an empty seat next to you, and someone sits down next to you, you must, by some unwritten rule, scooch over, or pretend as if you are making room for them. And if after sitting down, they readjust themselves, an acknowledging readjustment of your own is a must. It doesn't matter if you actually move anywhere, just fidget a bit in place. That'll work fine. Busha, what else? I know this still is far from comprehensive, but class calls again.