Profiscor on the Your-Japan Blog Network

Sorry it’s been a while.

I’ve been busy with tests and exams and trying to balance my mess of a life.

Other than that I’ve actually had some writer’s block.

This entry was meant to be about something entirely different but I thought, screw it! Might as well just write what’s on my mind.

The last few weeks have been somewhat interesting. This place is changing me, I can feel it. I’m certainly not the same as I was before. It’s somewhat confusing.

A good friend of mine once said “They say you learn more about yourself when you’re on your own and can figure out what you want but me?…I learn more about myself through others, just talking to them”

I suppose I feel the same. I’ve met some interesting people here. Firstly Tsukuba University has one of the biggest exchange programmes in Japan, and I hear that the best Japanese language course is here in Tsukuba, for example our textbook is made by the university itself, and it pretty awesome.

Therefore there are many interesting people from all around the world here. I’m pretty sure all of the international students that I’ve spoken to at one point have made me pause and think about something I didn’t know or care to think about before.

So a few weeks ago it was Halloween and naturally there was some sort of party set up by some people in the International Society. Myself, Dixie, Smith and some others decided to go along. It was something called “Nomihoudai”, which means, “all you can drink” So we paid 2000 yen and had all we could drink.

Dixie started off the night telling everyone that she wouldn’t touch any alcohol, but within 10 minutes she had already had 2 cocktails (which may I ad were very strong, I had one and was feeling the effects before I’d finished it, It was literally half vodka half fruit juice).

Dixie then decides that she wants to finish people’s half empty drinks that were left unattended on the tables. Perhaps half an hour after we got there she was stumbling over herself. Everyone tried to make her sit down but she was so drunk that she would literally fall off the chair.

I look at Smith and think… Shit, what the hell are we going to do?

With the help of Hayden we took her outside and tried to sit her on a bench, but she was feeling very…let’s say…sexy? So she started to try and make various poses on the bench next to Hayden. I saw in his face that he was very uncomfortable.

Gee, Hayden with a girl sprawled out on his lap and uncomfortable? Shows how much of a woman Dixie is!

Smith and some American people took Dixie home. It was at this point that I realised I was pretty drunk. I came outside and tried to sober up.

I looked at my watch. Only 11pm.

The Halloween party was on the First floor (Second in America/Japan) of a building in what’s known as the “Red light district” of Tsukuba. So as I looked off the balcony, I saw pretty host boys and girls parade the streets.

I was looking off the balcony when Hayden comes up behind me and says. “Advena, don’t look them in the eye, they’ll seduce you”

I was quite tipsy so I blurted out “Like you did? Then I guess I’ll be okay”

Hayden blushed and smiled at me, then went back inside to dance.

I was looking off the balcony again and I saw one of the French boys drunkenly arguing with his gorgeous Chinese girlfriend. Smith and the other people who took Dixie home had been gone a while now so I was wondering if she was okay. They took her home without telling me so I couldn’t help them.

I stared at the skyline for a while thinking that I shouldn’t have said that to Hayden. It was quite a low blow. Looking at the drunk people down below trying to act sober I thought about the times that I’d been drunk. I must have looked like that, even worse.

A guy who was smoking a cigarette next to me turns to me to say “Cute outfit”

It caught me off guard. I turn to look at him. It was one of the other tutors wearing an expensive looking jacket and a witch’s hat.

I’m going to call him Ryuusuke.

I shyly thanked him and asked if he was a student at the university. He said that he was, and that he was studying economics in his third year.

The first thing I came out with was “MAN THE CONVERSION RATE SUCKS DOESN’T IT?”

He laughed slightly while tapping the ash of his cigarette and said “Not for me”

I don’t remember exactly what we talked about but I remember just giggling a lot and before I knew it Smith and the rest of the guys were back at the party.

They handed me Dixie’s key and told me to check on her when I got back. I carried on talking to Ryuusuke about Japan, England, clothes and culture. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much.

Ryuusuke told me he was the tutor for one of the American students and told me that he’d let me know when everyone was going out for a meal or something. We exchanged contact details and again before I knew it, it was time to be going home.

Ryuusuke very sweetly helped me get my bike out and told me to be careful and then sent me on my way. Hayden was walking with a few of the other International students next to their bikes up ahead (They were pretty drunk).

I arrived back at my building and decided that I should probably check on Dixie.

I knocked on her door. No reply, probably sleeping.

I opened the door just to check if she was okay, I expected to find her sleeping but I couldn’t see much so I ventured inside. The room was completely dark except for light from a streetlamp outside casting a shadow on her bed. I knew that I wasn’t the most sober girl myself so I tried really hard to concentrate and sober up.

The shadow on her bed seemed strange but I didn’t know if it was just me being slightly tipsy so I went over to her bed to find that all that was under the sheets was a beach ball.

I panicked and said her name, No reply. Shit! She’s not here!

I went over to the light switch and turned it on to find her kneeling down on the floor next to her bed. She was half naked and I think maybe in a puddle of her own urine.

I helped her get onto her bed so that she wouldn’t be cold or uncomfortable and let her sleep.

If this is the way that everyone had left her then why bother take her home in the first place?

I decided it would be best to tell her what happened in the morning and just let her sleep off the alcohol. It was almost 5 AM by then and I thought that I really ought to be getting to sleep.

The next day I awoke to an e-mail from Ryuusuke at 11 AM telling me that everyone was going for food at the local shopping mall food court in the evening. He said that I could invite more people if I wanted to. But as it would happen, my friends had also made the same plans so we decided to go together as one big group.

I met the massive group of people outside my building at around 7 PM and we cycled to the centre of town together.

I spent most of the night just talking to Ryuusuke and his friend and I genuinely had a great time. I know to the other guys it must have looked odd that I was talking to two boys but we were just exchanging information about things that we thought the others would find interesting.

Ryuusuke’s friend who I’m going to call Jimmy (Something about his hair screams “Jimmy” to me) stood out to me because he genuinely tried to make an effort to speak to me and the other people in English.

At one point he saw that the PG who was sitting next to Ryuusuke, went to talk to the people sitting elsewhere. He sits down and says.

“Ah! You eat Katsu Curry! It suit you!”

Smith: Did he just say what I think he said?

Me: …um…excuse me?

Jimmy: Curry, very suit you!

Me: *in Japanese* It suits me?

Jimmy: Yes! You are Indian so it suits you!

Me: I’m Indian so it suits me…Thank you. I think?

Smith: That was the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard.

But still, he was trying, and he wasn’t phased by the fact that we didn’t really understand him. Even if he was making a racial stereotype, at least he was doing it in English!

Ryuusuke was nicer to me this evening than last night. Last night I felt that I was just chatting with a friend but today he kept complimenting me and always wanted to stand or ride next to me.

Don’t get me wrong he’s a good looking boy I just didn’t expect that this was a date of sorts, but he insisted on getting my bicycle out for me or holding my bag when I was looking for my bike key and he even saw me home.

I told him that he didn’t have to but he insisted.

We had an interesting conversation about something or other on the way back. Again I don’t really remember much about what we were talking about but I just remember laughing at his good wit.

I told him that some of us had made karaoke plans for the next day and that he and Jimmy were more than welcome to join us. He smiled at me and said “Really? If Advena-chan is going then I’ll be there”

I smiled awkwardly and said, “Yeah…I’m going”

“Okay then I’m going!” He waved me goodbye and cycled off.

It felt a bit akward. I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. I do have a boyfriend and I’m not at all unfaithful so I felt a bit guilty even though I hadn’t really done anything.

But when I got back up to my room I found myself smiling and thinking about everything we talked about.

I checked Skype and Msn Messenger to see if my boyfriend was around. But he wasn’t there even though he promised he would be…again…

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