Plagiarising Carleigh's Email

Carleigh wrote her friends a giant email and I decided (and asked politely of course!) to use snippets of it in this post.  Any writing in italics is me editing/adding stuff.

Hey you guys!

Well, I guess its time for another cheesy group email. Things are going really well. I haven't been doing much on the touristy visit temples end, unfortunately, because this term is really busy. I've been working almost all Saturdays and some Sundays. I have been hanging out with new friends lots.

I've made some good friends here. Reena makes me laugh. Every time I hang out with her she introduces me to someone new. And she has lots of friends. Anand, Reena's friend is really cool too. I caught a taxi part of the way home with him last weekend and the cool taxi driver (he didn't even ask if I was Japanese!) asked Anand later if I was his fiance. HA! And Sam is awesome. I think I would be a lot more homesick if Sam wasn't here. We've become really good friends. She is trying to stay on in Osaka in January. I hope so. And yes, that was intentional - my leaving that there. Guess I better say something warm and fuzzy about her too eh?

Carleigh is wicked. I've mentioned this to a few of you already, but she has elements of ALL my friends so we get along fabulously. Funnily enough, it's BECAUSE she reminds me of everyone I know that I sometimes I start to miss everyone.

The Halloween party last Saturday afternoon was a complete waste of time and money. Sam and I met up with Anand at a train station downtown. We were meeting for lunch so we were not wearing the tanuki costumes. Anand was dressed as a Canadian (i.e. wearing a toque (beanie in NZ speak)). After an expensive meal of eggs and wieners we bought train tickets from the machine at the station. The machine was like nothing we had ever seen before. By mistake we bought tickets for the super deluxe express smoking/non train. We paid almost 1000 yen for our tickets, a ride that should have cost 560. The party was in Gose, a small town in the Nara prefecture. It was on the last stop of the last train. The party turned out to be a children's party and the foreigners were the entertainment. Besides Sam, Anand and I, Reena and Harrison were there. We looked like a Benetton ad: Reena and Anand are East Indian, Sam is Malaysian, Harrison is black, and I was the token whitey. Reena was late because she got lost and asked for directions at the police station. The cops detained her there for about 45 minutes, wanting to see her alien card and passport, and generally suspecting she was an illegal immigrant or terrorist. We spent an hour being poked and manhandled by 20 snot nosed, grimy children before heading back. A fun time was not had by all.

It was on the train on the way back from the party that the big earthquake happened. I didn't even notice. I've seen footage on TV and it looks pretty scary. People here are freaked out. I'm really glad that I live on the 3rd floor. Reena lives on the 11th floor of a 25-story building. No thanks.

Anyway, back to Saturday night. I headed back into town to Umeda to meet up with Sam, Kaori (the Japanese teacher who is in the room with us at all times) and one of Kaori's male friends, Naoyuki. We went for dinner at a really cool restaurant where we ordered lots of different dishes. The best was takowasabi, octopus bits in this wasabi dressing. So tasty. We drank a few beers there.

Then we went to a pool hall nearby. The customers were exactly the same as those in pool hall's in Welly - only with less visible tattoos and MUCH better dressed. I often feel like such a shabby tramp in Japan! I won us all free soft drinks by sinking one ball off the break. There was a little square of felt that you're supposed to put under the cue ball when you make a shot. Bizarre.

After pool we made our way over to the train station. On the way there we encountered a 6 or 7 piece jazz band playing on the street. They were really good so we hung out and listened for a while.

We went to Bentencho to a private party. This is an old ferry terminal. Here we met up with Anand and Reena and Reena's hairdresser Keiko. There were tons of gaijin (foreigners) at this party. The music was a bit lacking. I ended up giving my email to a Kenyan dude named Tipo. I really must stop panicking and giving my info out to random creepy guys. Sam was hit on by Tipo's friend who smelled like vomit and beer (and was standing WAAY too close for my liking). She hit the dance floor quickly.We stayed at the party until it shut down at 2AM.

After the party in Bentencho we cabbed it to Shinsaibashi - the popular nightclub spot in Osaka. We went to a place called Freeza and drank until about 4:30. I chatted on the couch while watching Sam and Reena do funny dance moves to the techno music. (think The Washing Machine, The Sprinkler... ALL the classics... oh yeah...)

Went out for Nepalese food last night (last Thursday). I had yummy curry chicken (not too spicy). I still crave a bacon cheeseburger and fries, though I refuse to eat at Makudonarudo (McDonald's).

Lets see, what else? The weather has taken a turn for the worse here. No longer do my clothes dry overnight (alas) but I still occasionally bust out in my short sleeves MUCH to the shock of my entire host family and students and possibly other teachers (who are just too polite to say anything).

Sam, her host sister Ako, her host sister's friend, and I are going to dress up as Maiko (apprentice Geisha with super ornate kimono and hair) and wander around Kyoto. There are many places in Kyoto where they dress you and put up your hair, paint your face and let you walk around for an hour. It usually costs about $100 - $120. Sam's host mum is going to put me in one of her kimonos and her son-in-law's mom is going to do my hair. We'll take the train to Kyoto where the others will don their kimonos. It'll look bizarre on the train were the only white girl is wearing a kimono and the rest who look or are Japanese are in regular clothes. As if I don't get enough stares as it is.

Thanks Carlinator!