Skyscraper Welcoming Party

Skyscraper is a uni club...it basically consists of a group of people getting together and playing a random sport every Wed then go out drinking or something afterwards...anyway so this week was the clubs first meeting this year...the welcoming party...I went with Chris and well...it was an interesting night indeed...we were the only foreigners there and were considered somewhat of a novelty...everybody was quite shocked when I said I was from Australia...

Anyway the 1st stage of the party was as you can probably guess...heading off to a 飲み放題. The difference this time though was that the drinks that were ordered...were kinda weak (meaning no throwing up on my part)...the strongest drink they had here was beer!!...but most people seem to like this "chuuhai" stuff...which is kinda like a stolly and tastes exactly like fruit juice...still...drink enough and you`ll get drunk...

The 2nd stage then was Karaoke...and karaoke with these people is quite a sight...alot more roudy than any other karaoke session I`ve ever been to...but nonetheless I managed to hold some decent conversations with a few people...mostly in Japanese as well...I stand by my earlier statements that being drunk improves your Japanese communication skills by like 10-fold...in any case...below are photos of Karaoke that night...

Weird Stuff - Part 1

OK so I`ve been here in Sapporo for almost a month now and have decided that one of my many goals will be to document weird stuff that I happen to come across...weird stuff as well as examples of jinglish...The following photos were taken in a shop around Susukino...ok so this shop is like a multi-level variety store...these were on the 3rd floor, which sells things like costumes, toys, board games, electronics and sex toys...yep thats right...all on the same floor...

Now these two machines in the photo above are one of those skill tester thingys...and its kind of in the corner, in front of the escalator that goes down to the 2nd floor (which is a supermarket btw) and what we have on the right are pandas...fluffy cute pandas...the kind of soft toy you`d expect to find in any old skill tester machine...and on the left we have...dildos...well...vibrators actually...bright pink ones...sitting right next to the fluffy panda soft toys...

Pretty self explanatory really...gotta love the jinglish...

Non Japanese Asian living in Japan

You hear all these stories from foreigners about their experiences in Japan - how random people just walk up to them and say "hello...how are you?...how do you find it here?" etc etc...but they are all from the perspective of a caucasian living in what is predominantly a mono-cultural society. Well being from a Chinese background, I have a somewhat slightly different experience than a lot of other foreigners here.

For one thing, most Japanese people seem to assume that I speak Japanese fluently...if not fluently then well enough to hold a decent conversation...which for those of you that know me...is definitely not the case...anyhow, because they assume this, I get random people on the street coming up to me and start speaking, not english but Japanese...I try to go along with it but really...after they say a few sentences I get kinda lost then admit that I don`t speak Japanese...but even though I do that...they don`t dumb it down or anything like they do when I`m with the other exchange students...no they continue to speak at their natural speed...and while I`m flattered that they think I can speak Japanese fluently, I kindly remind them that I don`t understand what they`re saying...it`s at that point that they kindly leave me alone...

And on another occasion, I`m in an elevator with Chris (one of the exchange students from NZ) and a bunch of middle aged Japanese people get in...Chris asks these people if there were any good bars in this particular building and they kinda said yes then went on laughing and talking etc etc...then I happen to say the name of one of the bars in english and all of a sudden this lady goes "すごいすごい！！"...and I`m like "huh? what`s so amazing about that?"...that is before I kinda realise that they thought I was Japanese and thought it amazing that I could speak english so fluently...being a non Japanese Asian living in Japan can be quite interesting...I dunno if any of the other ICS students are experiencing the same sorta thing but...it can lead to some interesting possibilities...

to be continued...

1st days of uni

Well yesterday was my first day of uni and I must say...so far...its easy as hell...nothing compared to the amount of work we had to do back in Sydney. Then again, each subject taken is worth only 2 credit points...but the funny thing is they seperate the lectures and tutorials making them 2 different classes...and they seem to place a greater importance on the lectures rather than the tutorials or seminars...

And so, for the Japanese language class...we had to do a Japanese proficiency test...but it ended up being a 20min interview...which turned out to be pretty easy...i passed (well I`m pretty sure I passed) therefore I`m in the Intermediate Japanese class...but then again...i think anyone who managed to pass Japanese 2 at UTS would be put into the Intermediate class.

And today, my second class - Japanese Society and Culture...and by the looks of it...its way easier than the Japanese language class...the teacher said that...all we gotta do is turn up to class and he`ll pretty much give us whatever marks we want...and i quote.."If you want a AA+ I will give you a AA+...as long as you turn up to every class." Well that suits me just fine..hehe...but I understand now what they mean when they said that for the Japanese, uni life is like their easy years...an end to the harsh study regimes of high school and their final days of freedom before entering the work force...

Susukino

"飲み放題" - what can i say about these places. ￥1500 - 2000 (which is about $20-25 in Aus...i think) for all you can drink for 2 hrs!!..and believe me i definitely get my money`s worth. I`ve been to 2 of these places now and everytime we (as in...me and the other exchange students...yes I`ve got friends now thank you very much!!) go its a matter of us ploughing through the entire list of cocktails as fast as we can... and the way the Japanese mix their drinks here is quite different from back in Sydney...there`s alot more alcohol in the mix!!...for example...i asked for JD and coke at a club last night...firstly they dont serve it in one of those half glasses like they do in Sydney...the cup is twice the size here...but not only that...i could barely taste the coke in it...it was more like...JD and drop of coke... But the people here are really cool...both times we headed out to Susukino, we had no idea where all the decent clubs were...so using our extremely broken Japanese skills, we ask a bunch of young people and eventually were able to tag along to a few good places...but its funny because we try to speak to them in Japanese and they try to speak to us in english...much hilarity ensures...but I`ve found that when drunk...my Japanese communication skills improve quite significantly...hehe...there`s a tip for all you other ICS students out there...

Consadole Sapporo Vs. Thespa Kusatsu

These were the two soccer teams that were playing at Sapporo Dome on Wed...and with Sapporo university being a major sponsor for Consadole, we got free tickets to watch the game...actually the university gave out free tickets to all first year students...though I`m not sure how many of them actually turned up. The stadium sure is big though. And the soccer field itself is actually on a sort of platform...on wheels...and it literally gets rolled in whenever it`s needed...the same goes for the dome`s baseball field as well...the whole place can transform from one field to another in about 5hrs...pretty cool if you ask me...

In any case, the stadium wasn`t packed that night but there were enough fans out there to make a strong cheering crowd...at least that was the case for the Sapporo team...for Kusatsu i think there was only about...20 people who were cheering...as opposed to the hundreds that turned out to cheer for Sapporo (not surprising considering it was a home game).

For the game we were accompanied by a staff member...Hatakeyama-sensei(at least I think I should call him sensei...I don`t think he teaches a class though)...and I gotta say he`s a really nice guy...not only did he accompany us to the game but he also paid for the taxi trip there AND also paid for our dinner as well!! We didn`t want to accept and all but he was quite insistant...heh...I can`t imagine any of the staff members at UTS doing this for anyone...

First week in Sapporo!!

Well Ive been in Japan, here in Sapporo for about a week now and what can I say besides the fact that it`s FREAKING COLD HERE!!!...ok maybe I exaggerate a little...it`s freaking cold at night...it`s meant to be spring time now and but the top temperature here is...hmm...about 3 degrees??...ok maybe it reaches 4 degrees celcius sometimes...but at night the temperature drops below zero...which means the snow that was around or that was melted during the day turns into ice during the night...which makes walking around the streets a lot harder that what I`m used to...but it`s also alot more amusing (especially when you see other people slip and fall on their arses...hehe)

Sounds like I`m having a little bitch here but I`m not...in fact I like the fact that it`s freezing cold and quite different from Sydney...it`ll make life here alot more...interesting...