Minna no Nihongo: End of October and a world of fun.

To say i've had a hectic couple of weeks would be boring and uninformative, so forget that. What i actually did is far more interesting. I partied like i expect they meant in the song 1999. Shibuya: east Tokyo, one of 23 wards, home to the famous scramble crossing where the traffic stops from all directions and people invade. The Starbucks that over looks it is interestingly the busiest in the world, not surprising considering its got a population of over 200,000. Also home to Hachiko, a dog that waited at shibuya station every day for its master to come home, for 12 years after his death. Moving.

We however went there for nothing but a good old rave. And we succeeded, with unprecedented vigour. Its two weeks later and my knee is still killing me from the epic workout it got. This part of town is amazing, its what i would expect everyones image of Tokyo to be if they had never seen the place, and when im drunk, it seems im brilliant at making records of things, theres no shortage of footage. Charlie, Jon, Snezh, Alex and I used the photo of google maps that i took to find the place and when we went in, realised that it was a brillaint find. Club Atom lets women in for 1000yen, which pays for two 500yen drinks, guys have no free drinks, but at £3.50 a drink, its not really a problem. Three floors of RnB, Pop and Trance (brilliant!) make for 7 hours until the first train pretty tiring. We did our best to out dance everyone. I must say i thought i would have some reservations about being a white girl in japan on a podium in the centre of a crouded dance hall, but these are the things you learn about yourself when you travel, and evidently, i have no fear. And everyone was so nice to us, especially when Charlie was dancing up there in her mini dress, theyre all so accommodating to foreigners. After we had a casualty of kamikaze's (a drink i dont think needs explaining) and saw the others off home, Charlie and i rocked out until about 5am when they shut and tried to get breakfast. I have never in my life enjoyed being trashed at 5am in public so much. We made friends with a few hundred Japanese, French and Nigerians (Walter was a bouncer we stole from the club, but he just took our stash of ubrellas we also stole and went home. Maybe, not so sure) Breakfast was paid for by a lovely man who wont leave Charlie alone now, and we made it back to the dorm in time to crash out before the kindergarten below us opened its doors.

The week following I joined the gym. I KNOW. Me, in the gym. As fun as it was, i cant go again until my leg sorts itself out or im going to do myself some permenant damage. Shame. I also settled myself into catching up on the ol'feminist movement in Japan, turns out they didnt need to turn to killing themselves in protest over here, the government got there first, which is interesting. The pressure to maintain the family system over here also didnt really boost its popularity. Its difficult to not spend a small part of each day reflecting the value of my life while im here. Its clear that my outlook regarding everything is changing bit by bit. Ive become more content. Probably because im living one of my dreams. Probably because ive got a chance to patch up all the holes that contributed to making me feel shitty unnecessarily all the time. Probably because Ive met people who come with no bullshit that approach friendship as a responsibility and will look out for each other to the deprecation of their own health. I could go on forever, but the point i was trying to make, is that there is a rut you get stuck in when you see the same thing everyday, and all it really takes to make you feel a million times better is to be kicked out of it, to leave your smelly comfort zone and do something you dont ahve the guts to. Ive surprised myself with what i can do, because the nerves that stop me at home dont have the opportunity to rise, when i know ive only got one year to experience everything i can. I love how getting involved makes you feel, who would have guessed university is more that writing essays and getting drunk? The angry attitude is something ive also been trying to banish, and i think i may be getting somewhere. ANYWAY, im getting emotional, i doubt thats what you want to hear about.

The post piss up gang, i nearly got ran over trying to get this one.

Moi with the birthday boy, Tomoya

On Jimmy's birthday, it was also Tomoya's birtday, and so we went for a quiet drink in Ikebukuro and got trolleyed mid week at an Isakaya. Nomihodai (all you can drink) tends to have this affect. Great fun. Wednesday was also the final day was also the final day of the Burgerking promo for the lauch of windows7: they were selling, in Japan only, a 7 patty burger for 777yen (about £5) and of course, we had to get some. I have to note here i played no part in this and was merely there to capture this.

The Bleurgh Burger, only 2200 calories.

Friday was Roy's birthday, ive just realised i havnt bothered to ask him how old he is now, but anyway, as it was Halloween, we combined the two and smashed fancy dress in the face. When we went shopping for costumes, we found a shop called Pandora, there are many shops like this in Tokyo, which sell food, cosmetics, DIY necessities, and costumes, but if youre larger than a Japanese person, youre going to struggle getting around corners.

Does not cater for fat people.

In terms of Halloween costumes, EPIC effort was put in on all fronts, ive never seen a better dressed bunch of people in my life, when we got to Shibuya there were many photo opportunities, and i felt a little like a Hrajuku girl for a few minutes, after everyone filled their memory cards, we went to club Atom once again, and once again, we did ourselves justice. Roy and Yasuo turned out to be most amazing escorts on a night out and rescued me in the swiftest manner when i got dragged away by my waist by a lecherous italian, before i realised what was happening i was safe infront of Yasuo and Roy was having words, i felt like a celebrity. They are both wonderful men, im lucky to find as friends.

Yuki and Roy at uni.

Yasuo pre photo shoot for uni brochure.

Today, it was the beginning of a three day festival at our uni. Tomorrow, were going to join the campus mates and some others and help make Wonton soup for the festival Isakaya style attraction, which may be more of a challenge than i thought, as in the practice session, we watched nothing but contributed greatly to the eating. Its going to be fun. And, as if that wasnt enough for me to dwell on, BENS COMING TO JAPAN ON FRIDAY! I cant actually wait, there are more than a million things i want to show him.

Im missing you people an awful lot, i see things all the time i want to send home to each of you. The fam are also on my list of people im desperate to see, the bro's are growing up without me, i miss you millions more than i can describe. Many loves and care. Heres some awesome shots from Halloween. xxxxx