new alts and george

Today will be a long day. After going out with the new ALT’s last night I don’t feel so great. Last night I had fun, but of course the Japanese kept serving drinks to us. One drink in particular got the best of me: Chuhai. It is so delicious and it tastes like sprite, so I kept forgetting it had any alcohol in it. Chuhai perfectly complemented all of the interesting food dishes. For starters we had deep fried chicken cartilage : don’t be fooled when people tell you Japan has the healthiest food. There is so much freakin fried food, so many pastries, and mayonnaise comes on everything. You have to have a strong will not to indulge in all the unhealthy food. Being in Japan once and making that mistake has made me realize that I don’t need to buy every new pastry I see. So I am leaving pastries out of the house, but I’ve already made fried chicken! Bad me, but it comes pre-battered and it’s so easy and so yummy. And the leftover chicken gets stuffed into rice balls (onigiri) with the left over rice – perfect for bento box (lunch box). During the school year I will get free school lunches but during the summer I either have to buy a lunch (around 500 yen, or 5 dollars) or bring one in. I have opted to bring in my own food, like onigiri or my leftovers from dinner. It’s much cheaper for me this way. Plus, I know what I’m eating. Back to food, I am an adventurous person and like to try everything. But, I don’t know if I’ll try raw horse. People eat raw (sashimi) horse, and some Japanese people think it’s funny to get the foreigner to try it. I don’t want to feed into the “foreigners don’t eat our food, so funny” stereotype, but I think back to my own pony Misty and can’t do it. Maybe after a while, but I have a mental block. I’ve already eaten raw sashimi beef, and lots of sushi, but no horse. Robin seemed like she might give it a try eventually, but I think Kelly might be on my side.
My new besties Robin and Kelly are so awesome. But I could tell that they were very tired. I know I was when I first arrived. Not being able to go to my house on the first day was a killer so I know how they felt. At least they got a welcome from me, Deborah, Nathaniel, and some Japanese co-workers and dinner. I got no welcome and no dinner, and they didn’t suffer Toki-san alone. Being stuck in the tiny hotel room was not my idea of a good time. I was so glad that we could take them out and make them feel welcome. Shinju had her own welcome in her town of Narao which is very far down south on the island. The four JETs living on the north side all got together: me, Deborah, Kelly, and Robin. First we went to dinner, where the drinks started coming. I really enjoyed my time there. To my knee’s benefit the table wasn’t a foot off the ground like at all the other places. Thankfully there was a pit that dropped down under the table where you could put your legs. All of the other places I’ve been to are sit on the ground places which hurt my knees after a while, but I guess I have no choice but to get used to it. So dinner was nice, we were all a little loud, but that’s acceptable here as long as you have had a beer. After a beer Japanese people feel free to shed their social fears and will not only start talking in English, but become extremely loud. No one cares at restaurants and bars how loud you are. And we took full advantage of the volume allowance after our drinks. However, the real experience was yet to come.
We met George. A foul mouthed, retro, pimp throwback. Somehow I don’t think George is his real name. And even though we were warned about George, nothing Nathaniel said could have cushioned George’s extreme character. His car gave all of us our first glimpse into George’s strange world. It was a pimped out car that looked like it was straight out of the 70’s with a black paint job, purple interior, and chrome wheels. Very distinctive. And then we saw his sign outside his shop that read, “Fuckin’ good pizza.” I have to agree his pizza was pretty good, strange, but good. The pizza had corn cabbage and mayonnaise on it. Not very American. The bar also looked straight from the 70’s with a piano – mike attached – sitting in the middle of the room, but the bathroom topped it all off. The toilet matched his car, it was jet black with a purple seat cover. A bunch of hemp like plants surrounded the toilet and in the alcove behind and above the toilet sat a lot of cherubs. I think he decorated it himself. So we sat there with George who himself looks nothing like a normal Japanese guy. His head is shaved bald – the only facial hair being a small patch of hair on his chin - and he wears some silver chains around his neck. He would randomly shout out, “Fuckin’ Bush, fuckin’ Reagan. Fuck America. I like the big breast.” Breast was always singular, and we kept trying to tell him Bush wasn’t in office anymore – and neither is Reagan. He would go, “Yes, yes we can! Obama!” I don’t think that you’ll be surprised to learn that conversation wasn’t deep. He only understands cussing. At one point George tried to do a British accent which of course failed terribly, but he thought he did a great job. Kelly hilariously made so many under handed comments that went straight over his head but definitely made me laugh. Suffice to say, I will not be going to get some fuckin’ good pizza very often. George I’ve decided isn’t really the type of person I can handle very often. But, once in a while I think it would be very entertaining.