On Friday, a bunch of people decided to go out to Ikebukuro to drink. (I promise I will not become an alcoholic.) We ended up at a nice place called Tsuki no Shizuku that isn't actually a nomihoudai (all-you-can-drink), but we thought it would be when we went in, and Michelle's friend, Aya, was able to talk to the people there and make it a two hour nomihoudai. It ended up being a pretty good deal, especially considering the people from UCSB had already been ripped off a few times because they look like foreigners. I must say, there was a lot of beer and sake, which one of the guys took to ordering 'atsukande!' (hot). I don't like sake that much, it turns out, but I do like umeshu sours. (Plum sake and soda) After our two hours were up, we went to a place called the Hub, which was basically an English style bar. I didn't drink anything there, but it was really funny to watch everyone try to use their Japanese on people in the bar. We ended up missing the last train, but since none of us wanted to be out until 6am, me and three others split a cab back to Kameido, which in itself is expensive, but considering the circumstances was reasonable. I didn't feel good, but that didn't last for too long. Anyway, that was my first nomihoudai experience, and probably not my last, but I definitely definitely aim to not get wasted, so don't worry. It's not something I could do that often. =)
The rest of the weekend, I just did housekeeping stuff. Laundry here is expensive. 200yen to wash (the loads are much smaller than America) and 100yen for 15 minutes of drying time. I also figured out how to separate and throw out my trash (burnable, unburnable, and plastic bottles), and that one of the cabinet things we have in our rooms turns into a desk, so I'm no longer desk-less! I also have more kanji to study. They're pretty easy, but I would hate to make stupid mistakes on the test or something. This morning I woke up to taiko and someone yelling, "Wasshoi wasshoi!!" but I didn't get ready fast enough to see what it was. Tom told me it was some ouendan thing. (Kind of like a cheering group.) I know I'm in Japan and I should be living it up, but I've been addicted to this drama called 'Coffee Prince', which is what I've been watching all weekend. Ah, class tomorrow. Off to practice kanji!
