Tokyo Orientation

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Yesterday was filled with workshops and seminars. In the evening, I went to my perfecture party. All the people from Mie went out to eat at a place called Heaven and Hell. You had to ring a gong three times to get in. A creepy mask answered the door and you were escorted into a "hell" like area. The best part was the bathroom. In the stall there was a huge, and I mean huge, face that came out of the wall and towards you as you used the bathroom. It sang in a high tone and scared everyone!!! We then all went out for my first night of karaoke. In Japan, you get a private room with just your friends to sing in. There were over twenty of us so it was really fun. I've never enjoyed karaoke so much. Then a few of us went out to another bar and didn't get back to the hotel till 5:00am. I was tired the next day, but it was such an incredible night.

Tonight, I went out with Eric, his roommate Matt, and Eric's Japanese friend Eriko. Eriko took us to the 45th floor of the government building for an amazing skyline view of Tokyo. Later we went to the red light district of Tokyo. Honestly, other than the massive amount of young drunk people passed out on the street, it didn't look much different than the rest of Tokyo. We went to an arcade where the boys played a Taiko drum game and we all took pictues inside the coolest photo booth ever. After taking many pictures, you get to digitally draw on them and create lots of special effects. The pictures are printed out as tiny stickers. Eric said that all Japanese girls love doing this and have the stickers all over their stuff. It was a great experience.

Tomorrow I leave Tokyo and head for my new home, Ise. Although I am excited to get settled in, I am also very nervous. In Tokyo, my lack of Japanese hasn't been an issue because there are so many people speaking English and I have had the help of other JETs that speak Japanese. Tomorrow, however, that will be over. I will be heading to Ise with Kristine, who will live 5 minutes from me. She doesn't speak any Japanese either, so I guess will have to figure things out together.

Although I've only been here a few days, I have loved every minute of it so far. I have met so many interesting people and have really enjoyed being in Japan. I look foward to the adventure that is ahead of me.