Tues. July 29 – I can’t stand the rain… let’s all go to the club

This was the last full day of orientation activities for JETs. In the morning, I attended a session about team-teaching in junior high schools. (I’ll be teaching at a junior high school in Motomiya. I’ll also have some visits to elementary schools.) One of the speakers reminded me of Crush from Finding Nemo (Dilys, ha ha!) He spoke with the same intonation, and he had a very laid-back demeanour. When he was handing out prizes, bags of Skittles sailed over our heads. I’m pretty sure he whipped at least one person sitting in the audience. Oh, the excitement…
We had a prefectural meeting, where we were seated in a circle and got the low-down on our schedule for the next day. I discovered that they took our passport photos, and published them in a “welcome” guide. This photo is even worse than the one on my learner’s permit, haha.
That evening, Canadian JETs were invited to the Canadian embassy in Tokyo. The building itself is gorgeous. To reach the main entrance on the upper level, you need to take an outdoor escalator with a canopy. There was a brief presentation, followed by some drinks and light snacks. It was my first time to try daikon, a huge white radish! We then headed back to the hotel. As we emerged from the subway station, it started to pour like nobody’s business. It was pretty hilarious to be caught in such a storm without an umbrella, and have other hotel guests give us weird looks.
I was ready to hit the sack, especially since I looked like a drowned rat after getting caught in the storm. But I was easily convinced to go out for my last night in Tokyo with some of the Fukushima dudes and my sempai. We first hit up some cheap bar, where I learned that I somehow earned the nickname “Princess” after they saw my fugly passport photo. We also went to some hole-in-the-wall bar called “Gas Panic,” where I saw a gaggle of people sporting clown costumes and parading down the street. They were promoting something about the Olympics. Oh, and I’m pretty sure I saw Cuba Gooding Jr. (No, no I didn’t).
On our walk to our final destination, we stopped by a convenience store. They’re allowed to sell alcohol, so I tried Chu-Hai Strong. It reminded me of Smirnoff Ice, so I was left unimpressed. ((“Vinnie! It burns!”) p.s. Channel Four girls – I’m still punny here. And I saw some boxed wine, which definitely reminded me of the j-skool ladies. Stay classy, now)). Don’t worry, Mom and Dad… I’m not drinking all that much! And now that I live in the sticks, I’m pretty sure I can’t party as much, ha ha.
We ended up at an expensive club, but hip hop night made it sooo worth it. It was interesting to see the Japanese boys and girls all decked out in their finest urban threads. And about all the girls in the line waiting for the bathroom… we are definitely faster back home. I’m pretty sure that the girls in Tokyo change outfits all the time, because it takes them forever and a day to get out of their stall, ha ha. I guess that’s the price it takes to be ridiculously fashionable.
I’ll be Captain Obvious for saying the following, but we stuck out at the club at times. I met some characters, and even ended up speaking French with some dude from France. I’d like to thank the boys for letting me crashing their sausage partay… and I’m sorry that I whined towards the end of the night. (We got home at 5 a.m.)