Could I be Doing This in America?

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Last night was interesting but not thrilling. I went to the party that Sayuri had invited me to last week. I was afraid that it would have something to do with that makeup business but I asked her (via Adam on my cell phone) if it had anything to do with that and she told me no. All she said was that it was a party with Japanese style so jeans were a no. I asked if Adam could go and she said yes. I was debating if I wanted to invite him because I really want to work on my Japanese and I have this mind set that when he’s around that I only speak English. But I thought he might enjoy it, so I invited him.

I was really curious what the party was going to be because it didn’t seem like a normal event. We met up with Sayuri at 5:30 and headed off to AEON. There, we met up with her two friends and Adams friend Yushin and his two friends. It made 8 all together. The more the merrier!

We had a fantastic dinner at which time one of the girls who seemed so awesome came up and in beautiful English said that she wanted me to teach her.

*sigh*

That is getting so old. First of all, why do these people want to learn English so badly anyway? They’ll have almost no opportunity to use it! Second, it’s not even true! They don’t actually want to learn anything more than a few phrases or words that makes them feel like they’re learning and then they get over it. Which really, is all the better for me because I (1) don’t want to be teaching anyway and (2) would rather be trying my Japanese which btw is way easier said than done. I feel like a complete dumb ass the grand majority of times. I can’t make jokes and I can’t even say much more than “that looks interesting/delicious/scary” Which, just fyi, is not enough to get you by when it comes to making friends.

So anyway, I brushed off yet another request for English instruction and gave her my number. I think she’s a good person and I’d like to hang out sometime.

Afterwards, we finally got to the party which turned out to be a café/restaurant grand opening party. Nothing big deal actually. It was $15 to get in and everyone was dressed nicely (term used loosely) and it seemed more like an art gallery viewing than anything else. The Japanese are all about networking. It’s all about who you know. If you meet anyone from Japan they’ll always tell you about some person they know that can handle blah blah. And the truth of the matter is that most of these people aren’t very close friends but it’s more of, I’m happy to do the favor for you because it makes me feel good and I’m sure you’ll help me out one day too. So it’s all good in the end and this party was put on with almost the soul purpose of networking. Of which I could do close to none because Nina doesn’t speak enough Japanese. (can you tell I’m bitter?)

Anyway, after the party, 11pm. DoCoMo called me. He said he wanted to hang out. I was trying to think of a way to get out of it because I had work the next morning. But Adam said he wanted to go and I wanted him to meet the guy and I couldn’t think of when a situation like this would arise again (when Adam and I were out at night and DoCoMo invited me to go somewhere) So I agreed but said I would leave at 1.

Sayuri, who was my ride home, was a little worried but I told her it would be ok. Three of her friends tagged along because they invited Adam (whom they were smitten with) to go out with them and instead he invited them with us. Along the way, a creepy English teacher that we met (through a friend) at the party tagged along as well (without being invited). This whole time I was hoping that DoCoMo would get annoyed with me bringing so many friends along and never invite me again but at the same time, I do always have fun with him.

We get to this place which is way nicer than the host bar we always went to with Monique. I think we only go there because Monique likes lively (and cheapish) entertainment. It doesn’t seem to be DoCoMos style but he likes to be the one providing the good time. This time, we went to a hostess club. It was very nice. There were so many different types of girls!! First, the main waitress was in a playboy bunny outfit complete with ears and tail. There were three women dressed in nice dresses (almost prom like) and the last girl was dressed in a Kimono. They were all very nice and did their job very well. The three girls who tagged along were not prepared for where they were and the tension among them was so thick you could cut it. But the Kimono girl made them feel much better just through interesting conversation. It’s an art!

Anyway, DoCoMo was with his friend who is a chef (male) and another woman. He ended up hitting it off with Adam and I hit it off with a woman in formal dress who spoke perfect English. She was a very interesting person. By the time 1 rolled around I wanted to go home to bed because I had work but truly I wanted to do what Adam did. He stuck around and called in sick the next day. I have yet to hear what became of him in the evening. But I can only hope he had a good time.

I woke up fine this morning but I really didn’t want to go to work. Today was a bad bad day. I woke up wishing I were waking up in my American home with my family.

I then sat between lesson writing thinking about what it is exactly about Japan that made it so damn special to me when I was in America. What am I doing here that I couldn’t do in America?

I’ll find the answer to that question. It’ll be a good one too. I know there’s something here that is important to me. There’s something keeping me here and I just need to find it!

Btw, if you’re wondering about the creepy English teacher, personally, I think he was just around to get in the pants of one of the three girls that came from the party. By the end of the night he was totally smashed and he somehow made it home…I assume. Also, he spoke worse Japanese than the woman I was speaking with the entire night and that was before he drank anything!

I gotta learn Japanese faster than this.