Goldalization and Other Ramblings

I'm so excited, today I joined a gym!! Gold's Gym just opened up 15 mins from my apartment. I first went to join Monday morning, but apparently every 3rd Monday of the month this 23hr gym doesn't open until 5pm?!

So I went tonight. It was mostly uneventful, I had my Gaijin card (resident alien card) and my bank card so that kept any major problems from arising. I did have to provide -

my line of work - in 4 different sections
my employer's phone number
my employer's address
how many people Nova employs
Whether or not I am in debt, and if so how much (I said no debt - not in Japan)
and
I had to get a Gold's Gym credit card.

Tattoos are grounds for termination of the contract. I'm assuming it’s don't ask don't tell.

At a certain more Japanese gym (Konami Sports Club) you are not allowed to join if you have a tattoo. Although I'm assuming that is also don't ask don't tell.

Apparently only Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) have tattoos. They and a handful of daring Japanese.

Earlier when I was still riding the Sumo high I told my students stories about going to the tournament, but I mixed up the word for the highest Sumo rank - Yokozuna - with the Japanese Mafia.
- "... It was so exciting, my friends and I got to see the Grand Yakuza!!! ... Yazuka? Yokozuna?" My students were horrified.

It is also fun to tease them about Kabuki-cho, the red-light district (in Shinjuku). Kabuki-cho used to be really dangerous, but it's not so much anymore. A lot of Japanese are still afraid of it; Salarymen tell their children that it is a very dangerous place. The joke at Meidaimae (my Nova branch) is that this is what Salarymen tell their children so that they won't run into them there.

For one role-play I said to one of the students (an older woman)
- ok, imagine that you are in Kabuki-cho...
--but I never go to Kabuki-cho!
- yes, ok, I would like you to IMAGINE that you're in Kabuki-cho, we're imagining.
--what? Kabuki-cho? But I don’t go to Kabuki-Cho!

Confusion ensued. It may be worth saying that when asked about what she did the previous night this student told the class that she went drinking in Ginza (very shi-shi), passed out on last train and missed her stop. She came to class very tired.