Drinking in Japan

Through my blog I use nicknames for most of the people involved to provide them some degree of anonymity. As more people are referred to in my travels, I will add them to this page. When I am using terms like “The Wife” or “The Girlfriend” please consider them a nickname instead of an objectification in any way. To avoid spoilers, the descriptions may increase later on.

People from Canada

• My Dad – Air Traffic Controller, Tai Chi practitioner who loves talking to strangers.
• My Mom – Retired teacher’s assistant who got addicted to international travel after my Japan adventures.
• My Sister – Short, smart, and occasionally gullible 🙂
• Tiny Dog (TD) – My son
• The Ex – My University girlfriend of 5 years

Hello House

• Katsuragi – one of the few Japanese people living at Hello House. Nobody really knew how old she was or what her job was, but she was always a lot of fun to be around.
• Lux – Female friend and fellow Canadian from Hello House. Found in the dictionary under “doesn’t take crap from people”.
• Marshall – A Canadian living in Hello House. Named after Marshall Eriksen from How I Met Your Mother due to his height and plans for law school.
• Okonomi – An Australian teacher who I got into a few drunken adventures with. We also watched CSI together
• TimTam – Female Australian housemate from Hello House.
• Zoe – Female friend from Hello House who unfortunately had the noisiest room in the building – directly above the common room.

Kawasaki / Tokyo

• Asako – musician from a Beatles cover band that played at the John Lennon Museum.
• Anzac – an Australian teacher at Kawasaki NOVA. He spent some time in the Australian Army. One of my regular post-work beer friends.
• Jem – A British teacher and long time karaoke companion. She had one of the best singing voices I have ever heard.
• Phoala – a Vietnamese-Australian teacher at Kawasaki NOVA. Never failed to put me in my place in hilarious fashion.
  
• Maria – a teacher at Kawasaki NOVA that was about 10 years older than the other teachers and looking for life experience. Wonderful, outgoing, uninhibited.
• Missippi Mark – English teacher that did training at the same time as me.
• Yumi – language exchange partner from Kawasaki

Shizuoka

• Angie – A coworker at Mishima NOVA originally from Scotland. Her accent came out in a big way after a few drinks.
• Azeroth – Roomate from when I lived in Numazu. A good friend who loved beer and World of Warcraft
• Christopher Cross – Young British coworker who was unaware that he shared the same name as a famous singer
• Happyko – Friends with The Penpal and Klaxman. One of the friendliest people in the whole world.
• Kasparov – A coworker at Mishima NOVA. Was a part time programmer and chess expert.
• Koalako – an English student who became a good friend and drinking buddy. Is a classically trained singer with an amazing karaoke voice.
• Klaxman – Roommate from when I lived in Numazu. English teaching was his second career after being a game programmer for many years.
• Palmer – My big, bald Aussie roommate.
• Patrick – A supervisor at Mishima NOVA
• Super Dave – Australian friend and co-worker who had the same high tolerance for bad movies that I did
• The Penpal / The Wife – My language exchange penpal from when I studied Japanese in University. She was my first Japanese friend. Lived in Numazu, Japan and studied English during University. We got engaged in early 2006.
• Vivian – A very friendly and outgoing teacher from England who I had the pleasure of working late Saturdays with.

Fraternity Friends and Related People

• Code Red – Came to visit in 2004. Is capable of rocking a mean mohawk
• Green – If you look up “frat boy” in a dictionary, you would likely find a description of Green
• Flounder – Came to visit in 2004. Larger than a sumo wrestler but twice as awesome. Has an encyclopedic knowledge of The Simpsons.
• Hippie – Came to visit in 2004. Long time friend and drinking buddy who used to have long, flowing hippie hair. Was in my wedding party.
• Junk – My current gym buddy. Was the only non family person to see me off when I moved to Japan. Was the MC at my wedding.
• Sunny – Hippie’s wife who met me on one of my returns to Canada. Was in my wedding party.
• Triple D – Friend from my fraternity days who was my regular beer and pro wrestling buddy in University. Was in my wedding party.