swept away
I'm so incredibly busy. I have no idea how to find time to work out or even go out with so many of the people in my program. I'm not sure how they find the time and energy to go drink and socialize so often but given the vibe I get from them all, I'm not sure I care. It's... akin to a frat-house-crowd but even more offensive as a group of rowdy foreigners. So many of the ryuugakuin (exchange students) just don't give a thought to their behavior, as they wouldn't in the US. It's nauseating.

I went to a pub with a group of them after class for Happy Hour. That's all they seem to care about, drinking. I'm sure it's similar in the states with some of them but more ... uh, what's the word... accentuated (?) here. It's just so expensive to go out all the time. Drinks are anywhere from 300Y to 1200Y and that's more than I want to spend on a daily basis to imbibe sugar-water and liquor. It'll just make me fat anyway.

I just couldn't believe the way they were talking (even jokingly) about "blacklisting" people who didn't come out with them or said something disagreeable. Totally juvenile. But am I really better than them if it means being lonely? Eh... heck yeah I am. Haven't really been too lonely yet and I have plenty of other people to spend time with who aren't so busy looking like a massive foreigner freak-show.

So here's the plan for the next few days.

WEDNESDAY: No class. Sleep in a little. Study for big Kanji test on Thursday (easy stuff). 6PM meeting for International club at Waseda campus. Dinner either with club or at home. Meet Chris Covert (Eugene coworker @ Nova) for chatting and drinks after 9PM.

THURSDAY: Class until 4:10. After class, conduct a research-walk with photographs and note-taking for Literature class project presentation next week. Probably eat dinner out unless we get done early.

FRIDAY: Morning classes. Go home or go exploring (Harajuku? Shibuya? Ginza?) in the afternoon. Celebrate several people's 21ers by going out to a club in Shibuya. Am apprehensive about traveling in such a large group of Americans. I know I'll find this as depressing as the few keg-parties I've ever gone to. People (Especially Americans) are IDIOTS in large groups. Idiots with alcohol. Yay. But maybe I can do my own thing and dance and meet some people. I do want to check out some of the clubs here because I've never really been and all the clubs in Eugene are lame. We're going to go to Velfarre (a world-famous techno-mix club in Roppongi) on the 25th. ^^

SATURDAY: A break, thank God. Probably go do Karaoke Saturday night. (I'm so excited to try it!!!) Kim, you guys free?

SUNDAY: Waseda International Club trip to Yokohama area to see Chinatown, the port and local shrines. All you can eat Okonomiyaki and all you can drink (Nomikai) afterwards. (2000Y) Might go to that or might save my twenty bucks for some other time. Going to be so poor soon.

MONDAY: No class-- holiday, YAY!! I hope I can do something fun with my host family. Host mommie and daddy are great. Host sister is nice and I'd like to get to know her better but I still think she's a bit weird. Not that I have anything against weird people; she's just not like any weird people I know.

TUESDAY: Back to the grind

WEDNESDAY: No class (per the usual). International club meeting at 6PM... repeat cycle.

I need a part-time job. Beh. But I still need to settle-in more first and get both my alien-registration card and a bank account, which I need said card to open. That'll happen next week. :)

So that's all I care to write at the moment. I'm not feeling particularly introspective right now either, which I suppose is good because it means I'm not particularly lonely. I'm still mad at myself over certain feelings I'm having but I don't think that discussing those feelings here would be appropriate or productive. Rather, I'm going to busy myself in hopes that they go away and if they can show me that they're truly enduring then I will listen to them for good.

I hope I can make some good friends while here and not just acquaintances. I hate being around shallow, chatty people who can't seem to handle one-on-one and thrive in big group self-esteem wallowing sessions. There are a few people I haven't discounted yet, so I'll depend on them to remain at least on my "potential friend" radar until I find some Japanese or Gaijin friends from outside the kokusaibu. Here's hoping!