February 19, 2004 – Learning English hurts your head
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on February 19, 2014
Today in my 5 lessons at work I had 3 good lessons, one lesson where I totally forgot what I was doing half way through, and one lesson where a student hit her head on the table when helping me pick up some flashcards that I dropped on the floor.
Learning English really does hurt your head.
February 16, 2004 – Interesting train people
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on February 16, 2014
Wow was I tired today. I slept through several alarms, and managed to wake up around 2:00pm. On the train to get to the internet cafe, a random Japanese man started talking to me in Japanese. I managed to hold up my part of the conversation reasonably well. He was also talking to himself quite a bit, and started singing a song about NOVA.
You really do get to meet some interesting people on the train!
February 15, 2004 – Train Simulator
Posted by Barniferous in Shizuoka, The Penpal on February 15, 2014
Mt. Fuji from Izu Mito Sea Paradise
Today I went to Numazu and hung out with The Penpal and Williams. I really love the change in scenery when leaving the greater Tokyo area and getting into Shizuoka. Mt. Fuji was snow covered and looked spectacular.
The first stop of the day was Izu Mito Sea Paradise, a marine park just south of Numazu along the coast. Sea Paradise has tanks with a great selection of fish and other underwater life. They also have a dolphin show, which is much like a dolphin show just about anywhere else in the world.
After Sea Paradise, we went to a beach along the coastline where people were practicing various water sports. For the first time ever I saw someone kiteboarding. Imagine someone on a small surfboard holding on to two handles connected to a large parachute like kite. Unfortunately for the man, he wiped out and his kite started blowing away. None of the onlookers at the beach stopped to help.
Following the beach, we went 10 pin bowling and then spent some time in a game center. I specifically mention that the bowling was 10 pin because bowling in Canada is typically 5 pin. I prefer 10 pin, except for the time it takes to find a ball the right weight with proper holes.
In the game centre I played a Dance Dance Revolution clone (badly) and tried a very strange train simulator game. You can’t drive off the tracks, but you lose points for being late to the next station or for giving the passengers a rough ride. I was very fast but I actually had a passenger fall out when I opened the doors at top speed.
It’s always good to get away from the Greater Tokyo area for a while, and I had a fun day with The Penpal and Williams. Fortunately the train driver on the way home was much better than I had been on the train simulator.
(partial rewrite of original post for detail)
February 14, 2004 – Japanese Valentine’s Day
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on February 14, 2014
Click on the picture for the original source
Valentine’s Day in Japan is just about the greatest day ever (if you are a guy).
Growing up in Canada, Valentine’s Day was not a very good day. If you are a guy in a relationship, you are expected to get gifts, flowers, candy, cards, etc. for your significant other and usually take them out for dinner. Lack of planning is punished, as the price of flowers will double or triple as you get closer to the day. I was actually laughed at one year while calling for a restaurant reservation a few days before February 14.
Being single on Valentine’s day is also no fun. Everywhere you look you will see with images of happy couples enjoying life together, reminding you that you are single and will probably die alone surrounded by cats. I don’t even like cats!!
Japan, for all of its quirks regarding holidays, gets Valentine’s Day right (if you are a guy). On Valentine’s Day, men are not expected to do anything. Women, on the other hand, have to give chocolate to men. Chocolate gifts can usually be divided into two categories: honmei-choko, which is given to people you actually like, and giri-choko (obligation chocolate), which is given to male co-workers, your boss, and other people that you are obligated to give chocolate to.
There is a holiday one month after Valentine’s Day called White Day. White Day was first celebrated in 1978 as a way for men to provide gifts to the women that they received chocolate from on Valentine’s Day. It has caught on, but is not quite as obligatory as Valentine’s Day.
If you are a foreign man in a relationship with a Japanese woman, I highly recommend getting some kind of gift for your significant other on Valentine’s Day. It is not expected or required, but will make you seem like a super boyfriend / husband. It will also cost you a lot less than what Valentine’s Day would have in your home country.
(The above post contains several sweeping generalizations and information from my own experiences. Your Valentine’s experiences may vary)
February 13, 2014 – Recovery
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking on February 13, 2014
I woke up in the morning feeling terrible after the previous night. Most of the day was spent re hydrating, trying not to get sick, and trying to get the train track grease off my jacket. After about an hour of scrubbing with soap and water, I managed to get most of the stain off. Not a very fun day.
Don’t be a dumbass – drink responsibly (or not at all).
February 12, 2004 – The night I fell on the train tracks
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking, Life in Japan, Marshall, Tokyo on February 12, 2014
Train safety sign found in a JR station
This will be a substantial rewrite of my original post, as I left out a lot of detail the first time. (For reasons that will become obvious)
Today was a day off thanks to a shift swap so another teacher could see the Super Bowl. Since Marshall and I enjoyed our last night out in Tokyo, so we decided to plan for a night out in Roppongi. We had a beer or two before leaving Hello House, then took the Odakyu line to Shinjuku and switched to the Oedo subway line to Roppongi.
By day Roppongi is an upscale part of Tokyo, home to foreign embassies and company headquarters. At night Roppongi changes into a busy night life area, with most of the establishments catering to foreigners. There is a good mix of classy upscale pubs, dance bars, meat market hookup bars, and expensive hostess and strip clubs. One of the most remarkable features is the touts. Walking down the street you will encounter a row of large African men who get paid to bring people into their bar. The pitch usually starts with a handshake and “my good friends”, and then you get a hard sell on why this particular bar or restaurant is the best in the neighbourhood. Saying no will usually result in a promise of a special price “just for you”. Some of the touts will give up easily, others will continue talking and negotiating until you agree to go in, or keep walking. If you have a particular destination in mind, just say no thanks and keep walking.
Our first stop was Hobgoblin, a pub style bar. After a few drinks we went to GasPanic, which is bigger and better than the Shibuya location. Thursday night is Gaspanic night, featuring 300 yen beers. There is a sign up on the wall informing everyone that “everybody must be drinking to stay in GasPanic”. On this particular night I took the advice too literally, and proceeded to get very, very drunk.
When you are going out for all night drinking, it is important to treat the evening as a marathon, not a sprint. Pacing yourself is the key to staying upright until morning. Also, if you happen to be stressed out or in a bad mood, going out for an all nighter is probably not a good idea. At the time we went out, I was homesick, stressed about work, trying to get my visa switched, and aware that February 12 would have been a 6 year anniversary with the ex. All of the ingredients were ready in the recipe for disaster.
My memories of GasPanic got a little fuzzy as the evening went on. Marshall and I were hanging out with another group of people and pounding beer. At one point I asked the bartender (who was blond) what night of the week would be good to bring a group of Canadian University students for a good time. He told me in broken English that he didn’t know because he had only been working there for 3 weeks, and that he was from Russia.
Eventually Marshall and I realized that I was in no shape for an all nighter and we decided to call it a night before last train. We walked to the Oedo line subway station and went to the platform. Like a good train passenger in Japan, I lined up at the front of the platform behind the yellow line. The subway station was spinning around me, and at some point I lost my balance, spun around, and fell backwards off the platform onto the train tracks. Through luck or some instinct I managed to fall on my back instead of on my head. I instantly jumped up to my feet and there were several people reaching down to pull me back up on the platform. Marshall was not one of them – he looked on shocked at my sudden fall.
After falling, Marshall and I decided to wait for the train sitting on the benches safely away from the tracks. A few minutes later the train came and we started the 10 minute ride to Shinjuku. Near the end of the ride I got sick in the subway car, causing everyone around to quickly move away. Marshall snapped pictures with his cell phone.
At Shinjuku we stopped in the men’s washroom so I could clean myself up. Assuring Marshall that I was okay to continue, we waited for the Odakyu line express towards Noborito. The train ride from Shinjuku to Noborito is about 20 minutes long. I made it until the second last stop before I started to feel sick again. My drunk brain decided that barfing on the train once was enough for the evening, so without any warning I bolted off the train as the doors were closing. Marshall didn’t have enough time to react so he couldn’t get off the train in time to stay with me.
I believe I got sick in a garbage can on the platform, and a friendly train line employee showed me to a nearby sink to clean up. My brain, in survival mode, managed to send enough Japanese to my mouth so that I could ask if I had missed the last train to Noborito. He assured me that there was another train, and made sure that I got on it. I don’t remember anything from that point until I was in the toilet stall in Hello House. Somehow I manged to get off the train at the correct station, used the ticket gate, and then navigated the zigzagging path back to Hello House.
Marshall found me in the stall and expressed relief that I was okay. I thanked him for trying, and apologized for being a mess. After drinking as much water as I could handle, I went to sleep in my slowly rotating room. As you are reading this, please be aware that I am not proud of this story. Getting drunk and falling on train tracks should not be a badge of honour for anybody. Getting that drunk is NOT cool, it is NOT a good time, and if you feel differently you should probably stay away from alcohol. It still scares me to this day to think of how things could have ended up much worse, and I am thankful that I am here writing the story now.
Usually when someone drinks too much and acts stupid, they make the empty promise “I will never drink again”. My resolution to myself as I drifted off to sleep in my spinning room was “I am taking a break from drinking, and I will never drink that much again”. Since February 12, 2004 I have been drunk many times, but never blackout falling down drunk, and I never will be again.
February 10, 2004 – Revenge of the elbows
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on February 10, 2014
On the way to work, the guy next to me on the train kept falling asleep. This isn’t unusual as I have found that Japanese people are able to fall asleep in virtually any moving vehicle. What was unusual was that his head kept drooping to the side until it was resting on my shoulder. Being a polite Canadian, I kept trying to gently nudge him away with my shoulder. This didn’t work very well at all.
On the ride home there was another guy sleeping next to me, snoring loudly. I was shocked when the passenger on the other side of the sleeping man elbowed him HARD. This briefly stopped the snoring. Every time the snoring started again the sleeping man received another vicious elbow.
What I learned was that it is now okay to elbow people on the train. Watch out drunken businessmen, beware nosy grandmothers, caution screaming children: my bony elbows are coming for YOU!
February 7, 2004 – Working with a hangover
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on February 7, 2014
Working with a hangover is no fun. Working with a hangover and teaching kids classes is less fun. Working with a hangover, teaching kids classes and having a completely overcrowded and disorganized work environment is, well, you get the idea.
Drinking in Japan 
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