The Izakaya

Ok despite my attempts to `make` something happen this week, it has actually been fairly uneventful.

Monday I had work which was ok, and Tuesday was spent chilling.

On Wednesday I went to an English pub to meet up with the Polish/Australian Max, as I was feeling a bit of cabin fever, and like I needed to get out of the house. When I got there he was sitting at a very international table. There were 3 people from France, 1 from Salvadore, 1 from Spain, 1 from Hawaii, 2 from Japan, and 1 from America.

Everyone was pretty safe except for the American who was like something out of The Office. Seriously, for like the 3 hours I was there, he was just making the most rubbish, sex related jokes you could ever hear. Even the Japanese weren’t laughing, and they laugh at everything. EVERYTHING!

Despite this it was a pretty fun night. The Hawaiian guy was actually an aeroplane engineer for Mitsubishi and provided a nice break from the usual English teaching anecdotes. At one point a short Japanese man in a suit came over to talk to us. I think he must have been pretty drunk, cos before asking me my name he invited me to a party on Friday. He said it was his end of year party, and as the boss of a gas company I assumed that to mean his companys end of year party. The idea of getting wasted with a bunch of drunken Japanese salarymen sounded like an awesome cultural experience so I immediately replied yes.

At the end of the night, I got a train as far as I could toward my appartment, and then had to walk 40 minutes to my apartment. Its started to get really rather cold in Japan so it was a good thing I was wearing a sufficient `beer jacket`.

On Thursday I went to the bank, as it turned out my cash card would be ready before I initially thought. Thankfully I got it (although I went there on my own this time so got really lost again!), so I am now not so skint.

Friday, and I was really looking forward to hanging with some salarymen. I had agreed with Kawai-san (the short Japanese guy in a suit) to meet with him outside a central subway station. The plan was to then go to an izakaya (a Japanese pub). Never having been to an izakaya added to my expectations of the night. Since they were salarymen I decided I better dress appropriately, which obviously means wearing a suit. Everywhere u go in Japan 90% of people are wearing a suit so I figured itd be rude to turn up in a hoody and jeans.

When I got to the subway station I discovered that not only was no one wearing a suit, but none of the people were salarymen. They were all filthy gaijin like me!

It turns out that Kawai-san organizes international get-togethers once every couple of months or so. There was about 30 people outside the subway station and as usual they were from all over the place. Everyone was friendly, although I got lots of weird looks followed by `Why are you wearing a suit?`. I pretended that I had come straight from work, and most seemed to believe me except for one guy who took me aside and said `Don’t worry man I like to wear suits out sometimes, you know?`. Which was a bit weird.

The place we had met was outside Fushimi station which is where all the hip hop dancers hang out. There`s a big skyscraper with reflective walls, so they can see themselves as tho they were in a dance studio. They all had boomboxes and were doing their thing with no reservations or shyness, despite the numerous gaijin staring at them.

After everyone had arrived we headed to the izakaya. This was underneath another of Fushimis numerous towers. An Izakaya is, as I said like a Japanese pub although it’s a little different. There are lots of private rooms which groups can book (as we did), or they can be used by many small groups.

You sit on the floor, and whereas English pubs put the emphasis on drinking, in Izakaya drinking AND eating are the main activities. You order from a selection of small dishes, most of which are based around chicken (which goes really well with beer!). The idea at this particular party was that everyone ordered whatever they wanted and then the bill would be split at the end. Since I am a big eater, I stood to profit from this arrangement.

The food I had was really awesome. There was lots of Tonkatsu (Pork cutlet in breadcrumbs), sashimi, chicken legs, Nabes (kind of like a hotpot with chicken balls in), chips, and salad. There were also these slices of fried chicken skin which Im sure were terrible for my health, but which tasted awesome.

Despite not being a big beer drinker, I decided as it was the drink most commonly associated with Izakaya, I should partake in some. There were several pitchers constantly being bought to our table, so my glass never went empty. I also drank a lot of Sake which Im starting to really get the hang of now.

The people there were all really cool and I got lots of phone numbers as the night went on. I was however the youngest there (or at least the youngest gaijin male - there were lots Japanese girls about my age who I guess like hanging out with older foreign men. Fairplay.) Actually Im making it out to be far more sleazy than it was, the guys there were actually really cool and nice, and nothing like the drunk American I met on Wednesday night. The girls themselves were all really cool as well and it gave me a good chance to hone my Japanese skills.

I even met one Brit who had been there about 6 years. I proudly told him how I had discovered cider in Nagoya. “That’s nothing” he said. “A few weeks ago I discovered a Real Ale pub. In Nagoya”. Im not a big real ale man myself but im sure some of you will be interested in that fact.

Anyway, the night was a great laugh and despite being disappointed at the lack of drunken Japanese salarymen acting like fools, I had a great night and got to see lots of drunk gaijin English teachers acting like fools.

Yes, as expected they were nearly all English teachers, although most were now teaching in high schools or junior high schools which is apparently a slight step up from Eikeiwa (private schools). Actually there was also one German guy who was a computer programmer, but I think apart from that they were all teachers.

After everyone was full of fried food and alcohol we went to a nearby English pub. This was one I hadn’t been to before, but was quite similar to the other one except they had darts. The plan was to drink there for a few hours and then go to a 24 hour karaoke bar. That sounded great to me, except for the fact that I had work the next day. After a quick (but pricey) drink I sprinted to the subway to get the last train home before making the 40 minute walk back to my apartment. I had to be up early the next day which was not pretty, but I eventually got thru the day, and spent the majority of the afternoon/evening Christmas shopping. When I got home I went straight to sleep, knackered.

On Sunday I went to the center of Nagoya to pick up a couple more presents, before heading to Issha, a nearby district to get my haircut. Ayae had found an uber cheap barbers which given my current financial situation was much needed. My pay came a couple of days later than expected, and the Christmas shopping had wiped me out. I spent my last 1000 yen on my haircut and then I had officially had no funds. Luckily I would get paid Monday so it wasn’t a massive deal, but it was a staunch reminder of how much this country eats up your money. I am planning to go travelling at the end of my year here, but saving the money to do that may very well be harder than expected, especially with my trip to Okinawa for Christmas AND my trip to Tokyo for New years.

Anyway that’s about it for this week, next week I should be going to Raul`s (a guy I met on Friday) party at his school in Issha (he owns his own English school) which should hopefully be interesting.

Until then guys, take it easy and as always thanks for reading.

Jack