Kristmas Karaoke

In an effort to really look at the depth of my Christmas spirit, I've decided to document my festive experiences (effective now, not retroactive).

Last night my friends and I an awesome night of karaoke in Shinjuku. There had been talk of a special Christmas karaoke night for a week or so, but it finally materialized the morning of. As usual we walked the night streets of Shinjuku until we found an acceptable deal - usually no less than Y1500, nami hodi of course. The first place we great. lots of people, lots of drinks, a friend's parents (her dad was getting into it), and tambourines. i think i've felt my true musical calling - a tambourinist. i was playing the hell out of the songs. a few hours later my hand was bruised. it stayed so over 24 hrs later.

we only signed up for 2 hrs - the plan was to catch last train, but with about half an hour left word was spreading around the sauna sized room that some people we going all night. basically anyone who didn't have to work at 10 the next day. so when it was over the group poured into the street at a good drunken space, light our friends with early shifts. on the street deciding the next move a group of really friendly Japanese guys approached us. The ring-leader, White Glasses, spoke first saying, EXACTLY!!!!! I'm assuming that's the first English word that came to mind. As is our custom, we made friends. Sean and I started switching clothes with them, Sean and White Glasses practically traded outfits. Two of the guys really liked Allison.

Eventually we moved onto the next karaoke place. as it turns out 7-11 never has after-hours for my bank. There seems to be only 1 711 in Shinjuku, but thankfully it was near the karaoke booth. On the way back I noticed Santa hats displayed enticelying outside of a store, so i immediately bought one. I re-entered our karaoke booth in this festive manner, and I was greeting with rousing cheers. And it all went downhill from there...

The Meidaimae family sticks together, but 2/3 of the children of Meidaimae got horribly wasted. Let's just say I helped clean up bodily fluids AND solids. I came home and I told my roommate (one of those who we lost to the early schedule) that I became the caretaker of the evening. She was like wow, things must have been bad! cause i was pretty drunk too... I'll just file it as one of the more mis-adventurous nights.

Epilogue, or The Night Keio Line Shut Down

The background nuisance of ATM ‘after hours’ became palpable a couple of Wednesday’s ago. Coming home from Shibuya a little ahead of last train, I transferred as usual at Meidaimae, the place where I work. In Japan the trains are always on time, so I immediately knew that something was wrong when the timetable of incoming trains was hours behind and a completely empty train was sitting on the tracks. After a few minutes spent racking my brain for the proper thing – anything – to say, I looked at the station agent and said “Fuchu???” He said something that sounded urgent – and I understood ‘Shimokitazawa’ and ‘taxi’. I started to worry – was I supposed to take a taxi from Shimokitazawa? I left Shibuya before last train, but by this time if I was going to Shimokitazawa I had to do it fast, or else I might be sleeping in the Meidaimae station. That’s when I spotted a Jamaican Gaijin on the platform – on the phone with a Japanese person. He handed the phone to the train agent, and after a few minutes his friend gave him the translation. Apparently something happened to a train on the tracks, and NO TRAINS could move! Keio line was shut down for the night!

We were all supposed to take cabs home, and they were suggesting that we did it from Shimokitazawa. It’s not uncommon for Gaijin in Tokyo to ignore each other, so I was happy to have this Jamaican around, especially since he had access to someone who spoke Japanese. Ignoring the question of how to pay for a cab with only ¥2000 on me, I wanted to figure out the Shimokitazawa question. The Jamaican, however, had a different priority. Still on the phone with his Japanese connection he was getting angry that he had to front money for something. It appeared that his trip was being sponsored (common for Gaijin – many come here on tours, etc), and he hadn’t expected to have to pay for anything – even though Keio line was obviously reimbursing everyone. I waited a minute or two for him to calm down, but he just grew angrier. I got so annoyed! I was thinking – forget about the money! We may not even be able to get to Shimokitazawa!

At that point I left the platform to see if anything in the station made sense. At first all I saw was a mildly chaotic crowd, and then a confluence of factors saved me. I spotted Akane, one of the Japanese staff at my branch – she was just then leaving work. I was so relieved to see her!! I rushed over to her, my frantic words practically pouring out of my mouth. She was really calm (probably because she could understand what was going on), reassured me and explained as much of the situation as she was told and could relay in English. I didn’t have to go to Shimokitazawa for a taxi, a makeshift taxi-stand materialized in Meidaimae for the occasion. At that point I realized that I didn’t know how to pay for a cab. It was way after-hours; I was thinking that maybe Keio line would provide us IOUs to give the cab drivers, but I knew that was an empty hope. I wasn’t yet figuring out how to explain to a cab driver where I live – the streets of Tokyo are so chaotic (often nameless) everything requires a map and very specific directions – but with Akane there I felt that crisis was a little less imminent.

She is the reason I got home. Maybe the most crucial and serendipitous detail of it all: Akane lives two stops away from me on the Keio line. Not having money for a cab was no problem. Not being able to tell the cab driver where I live was not an issue. My background state of disorientation would not keep me from getting home. Akane and I found a cab together, she explained to the driver where to take me, and before she got out gave me enough money to cover the ¥8000 ride home. All I had to do was take a deep breath, and remember to get the receipt.

What You Don't Know About Tokyo

I recently did a lesson where the students learned how to debunk myths about cities and tourist spots. “People think that… but…” So I asked them to come up with the top 3 things that people don’t know about Tokyo. What they said:
1 – Not all women wear kimonos
2 – Minors are not allowed to stay out past 10pm (a law that is not enforced in the slightest)
3 – Tokyo is NOT in fact, a concrete jungle (fooled me!). Apparently there are a lot of parks and green spaces. I actually saw some postcards that had a view of the skyscrapers from some park, but I’m not going to buy it until I can verify its existence.

I would like to add another one.
4 – When using the ATMs there is such a thing as ‘after hours’. Essentially, the ATMs close, and you cannot get money. My bank has online banking in English, which is great, but the worst ATM hours of any bank in Tokyo. This has caused problems on a number of occasions.

One Sunday night in Shinjuku I had just unknowingly spent my last thousand or so yen on magazines. I was ¥60 short to get on the train, so I went to an ATM. A few minutes past 9:00, most stores had just closed, but a few were open. I went to the first ATM and everything was fine – it took my card, took my password, and made noises like it was producing cash. It then spit my card out – but there was no money! I went to 3 ATMs and started freaking out that something was wrong with my account before I remembered that it was after hours. How did I get home? I asked a stranger for ¥60. It was definitely one of the more soul-withering moments I’ve had in Tokyo.

The Holidays, Looking West

This whole 'holiday season' thing over here in the East is pretty interesting. Thanksgiving was the first of holidays not shared by the people around me - not the Gaijin, and certainly not the Japanese. In America Thanksgiving more or less officially kicks off the holiday season, and everybody knows about Black Friday. At work today my co-workers were comparing notes on when their families put up Christmas trees, and for Dan (from England) Christmas preparation was totally unrelated to Thanksgiving. I mean, obviously, but I certainly paused for a minute to think – here is someone speaking English, but November 23^rd is a complete non-issue for him. I wonder if Great Britain has a holiday kick-off.

The vacation is of course, different too. I got Thanksgiving and the day after off from work only because I always have Thursday and Fridays off. I'm working on Christmas day. Christmas is not really a big deal here. The major stores have light displays and play Christmas music, but nobody knows what it’s about or celebrates it. Christmas Eve is a big night for couples (think Valentines Day), but the real celebration happens around New Year’s. This is when everybody goes home to their family, makes special food, and exchanges gifts. This is also when Nova closes for 8 days!

Even though the holidays are going down really differently over here, I am getting the most important stuff. I could not find brownie mix (much less the ingredients to make it from scratch), but I am getting one thing that the holidays are really all about - family and friends! I feel really lucky and blessed in this respect: I live halfway across the world, and yet I'm able to be with family and friends for the holidays. Rob, a friend of mine from college, works for Nova near Nagoya (a few prefectures away) and came up for Thanksgiving! It was great to see him and to be able to spend time with somebody from my previous life. A couple of days after Christmas my sister arrives in Tokyo (!!!) and she will be here for almost 2 weeks! Tokyo better get ready for two McElveens… In the extended holiday season (the time from New Year's to my birthday at the end of January) I'm getting another visitor - Sarah Doe (!!!) the week before my birthday. I’m already pumped.

Wish You Were Here*

Per a conversation with a friend tonight, here is what I miss about the U.S.

Question: "what do you miss about the US? shopping? tokyo must have good shopping"
Answer: actually - yes and no. it does, but i can't fit into anything
(brief discussion about online shopping)

Question: "so what do you really miss about the US?"

cereal
tv
options
good beer
parks
brownie mix
bisquick
hair products
hair dressers
house parties
but i do love karaoke...

*Bonus points if you can name the song title, artist, and album this is in reference to. Post a comment!