STUDY abroad?

I just gotta say: SCHOOL IS RUINING MY STUDY ABROAD experience.

When people talk about studying abroad, they focus too much on the ABROAD part and not enough on the STUDY part. I'm just as busy as I am back in Philly and doing the same stuff back in Philly. It is ridiculous.

I'm always told by previous students "Oh it's easy. Such a joke." Whatever. It's a joke when you take Intro-to-this, Intro-to-that, and Japanese Elements I because you're an ignorant Gaijin who thought it'd be cool to come into another country to party without learning the language or any of the local culture.

That being said, it feels that some of the courses are designed as weed-out courses. International trade? 40 student class... ordering 20 books. Great. Study guide and none of the answers for the difficult questions on the answer key. Even better.
I have 3 classes, one of which is 1 credit, which are easy. But this International trade is HARD and my Japanese class is a close second.

Why my Japanese class is the earliest Japanese class? I don't know. They should make all the Elements I and II kids take 9 AM classes. But nooo, they get to enjoy later classes.

Coming to school at 8:45, staying till 4:15, and possibly sitting in the computer lab/library to study/write papers really leaves me little time to enjoy Tokyo.

WTF IS THIS?

First Time in Roppongi

Friday was interesting. EK called me about a modeling gig he got where he had to do martial arts. As a result, he had me take him down to Silver Wolf. So once there, we took care of all the information and then we got changed in the locker room, and totally passed Masato on his way out. Btw- Masato SMILED AT US!

As we're getting dressed, EK says, "Where's this Masato guy at?" and I said, "That was him, dude!" It was off the chain. EK's doing well. It's rough for him coming from a different martial arts background and having trouble speaking Japanese. But we're from the same Japanese class and he's athletic, so he should be fine.

Saturday was NICE. I been preparing for an Econ test I have on Wednesday, but aside from that, I decided to hit up Shibuya and later Roppongi with EK and ED, and met some other guys there too. At Shibuya, we were at a bar called Tasu Ichi, just hanging out. EK had me wear my Pikachu hat as a conversation starter. Worked perfectly. Some guy at the bar pretty much gave us his food. A Japanese beef tripe and vegetable stew and some fries to get rid of the tripe flavor. Eventually, we bounced and headed out to Roppongi.

At Roppongi, we went to a club called "Muse", which had a 2000 yen cover charge. Kinda alot, but really not that much for an exclusive place like that. Apparently, Masato used to hang out there when he was younger. Speaking of Masato, I love using his name to meet girls.

"Why are you in Japan?"
"I'm an International student, but I'm also here to train with MASATO."
"MASATO!?!?!?! OMGGG!!! HE'S SOOOO DREAMMMYYY!"
"He got married last year. His wife is very beautiful." (Gotta rub in that part - NO MASATO FOR YOU!)
"Yes, she is."

I literally pull the Masato card. Tell them I train with him and show them my Silver Wolf card. WHoo!

Anyway, Muse was a fun night, but not sure how much I'd be willing to continue clubbing. It was definitely more chill and relaxed than the last club I went to.

Cat piss!

Monday was cool. On my way back home, I felt social, so I told a girl on the train that she was very pretty. Suprisingly, I got a positive response. Later that night, I met with CP in Shibuya and got Kaiten Sushi for 100yen a plate later that night. I wasn't able to hit up training because I didn't have time to clear my bag from staying over and switching to training stuff.

Tuesday, I slept in heavily and then went to train, which was interersting. Other than an E-mail I sent out to my one professor, I don't think I spoke any English that day until 10PM. It was the shit! Later that night, I found the worst EVER. Cat piss. In my room. So I cleaned it up.

Wednesday, I got some cat piss deodorant and the day itself was rather monotonous.

Today, I woke up with heartburn and got some "onaka kusuri" because I had no idea how to say "antacid" in Japanese. The first stuff I got sucked, but when I returned with CP, she helped me get what I really needed. Also today, I did the MMA club, which was more fun. Many friends from other dorms were there and it was fun to see them there and watch them train.

Unhomestay?

On Friday, I went to the gym and there he was - the man himself, MASATO

Apparently, Masato told the trainers that he liked my right straight, but my kicks need work. So a trainer came up to me and fixed my kick. From now on, I'll kick the way I was tought here. If it's good enough for Masato, it's good enough for me.

Friday was also my first day sparring. They went light on me, but it was ROUGH. The leg kick is a staple of training here, along with volume punching. I'm not too impressed by the boxing of the guys I sparred, but the kicks were NICE. I personally was able to get in good jabs, but being out of practice, that was about it. My leg kick defense needs work.

This weekend, I volunteered to give my room off to my host-parents guest. On Saturday, after I was done with Karaoke in Shibuya and attempting to serenade girls with Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up", I stayed with friends at Ontakesan and slept in the TV lounge, where everybody got a good view of me drunk and in my boxers.

That night, I went home and roamed around in Shibuya for a little. There were many interesting things, but also somethings that looked rather shady. However, I found the Donkihote there and bought a nice hat and this fancy screen cover for my phone that prevents people from reading my stuff from my shoulder. This idea was given to me by EK, who told me it was an easy excuse to get close to girls when showing them stuff on my phone.

After that, I stayed at my homestay's friend's place in a nearby area called Hachimanyama, the place where all the nice restaurants are at. It was a nice older lady's house and she prepared a room for me. ANd this morning, even woke me up, which gave me so much extra time to get out for class AND eat breakfast, which I normally skip.

Living outside the dorms and homestay was a good experience. It felt like I was really roughing it, but at the same time, not.

Valentine's Day and SILVER WOLF BLOG

Last night, I had a DATE. That is right, I peaced out in the middle of my 3-hour Asian Business class to go on a DATE in Shibuya with a Taiwanese classmate who graciously gave me a cupcake for Valentine's. I expected it. I'm like super star here with my Masato connections.

Speaking of that, I made the Silver Wolf blog: http://ameblo.jp/silverwolfgym/entry-10072445868.html

Along with this very sexy picture of me:

It kinda pisses me off that many of the other study abroad kids have no idea how big of a deal it is that I'm training at the Silver Wolf Gym - A WORLD CLASS KICKBOXING GYM and that I'm meeting MASATO - Japan's David Beckham of Kickboxing.

For some reason, this girl was getting fed up with the fact that I was showing everybody the blog entry on the site. I quickly compared it to "Imagine acting on the same set as your favorite actor." And her ignorant response was, "But nobody knows Masato!" Bullshit. I actually got pretty heated at this point, but kept it inside. I simply told her that she doesn't know Masato, but ask any Japanese native, usually a girl, and she'll get giddy at the mention of Masato's name.

MASATO #1!

Yokohama Chinatown

So on Tuesday, I met Koji Taguchi, my father's friend from when he went to school in KU. He was a really nice guy. Kinda absent minded, but very helpful. Unfortunately, I left his omiyage at home and need to go back to Yokohama to get it to him.

Yokohama wasn't very far from me at all. ABout an hour train ride to the Yokohama Chinatown, which was really nice. The Yokohama station itself should be about 45-50 minutes. For the most part, it seemed more foreigner friendly than most other places I have been to. Possibly because the place neighboring the Chinatown, Motomachi, was one of the first first ports open for international trade.

Later that night, I went down to the gym and met the man, MASATO, again. One of the trainers got a pic of me airhumping, so hopefully it will make its way up on the Silver Wolf blog today.

ANyway, just today - I FOUND OUT I CAN DIRECTLY UPLOAD PICTURES AND HOST FROM HERE.. WHATTT??? So I'm going to go into my previous posts and make some posts with some pictures I have available.

Retirement from Clubs

On Friday night, I ended up going out. Sorry. We went to Shin-Okubo (I think that's what it was called), which was a major Korea-Town of Tokyo. There, we went to a Korean restaurant and got all this food which in my opinion, was overpriced. I spent the most on one meal this time - 3000 yen. Personally, not going back there again. After that, my new friend, who I met at the MMA club, JB, decided to go to a bar in Shibuya called, "Ghetto". ALong with us was our new friend, Y. On the way, I blatantly took off my shirt in the train to reveal my new shirt: "Looking For a Japanese GIrlfriend" in Kanji. When I purchased the shirt, I was worried people would HATE it, but people loved it. I had so many random people taking pictures of me. As for the bar, let me tell you - that bar wasn't Ghetto at all. When I heard "Ghetto," I expected something like Gas Panic, but this was more like a bistro. So we got some drinks and left.

Saturday was pretty lame, just me dropping by Ontakesan dorm and coming back quickly for dinner. Lately, I've had an unwritten rule for that whenever I miss dinner at my homestay, I NEED to be around for the next day. Since I skipped last night on Friday, I had to be around on Saturday, and so I was.

Sunday, I slept in till 4PM. Yeah, really wasting my time. Sorry. Again, I decided to go to Ontakesan. There, my friend EK talked me into going to another gay club. This was the largest club in Asia. Why he has an interest in gay clubs? I dunno. BUT, I had a great time there. My friend EK enjoys meeting many new girls and to him, it is an artful science. Not my thing, but DAMN there were lots of girls at this event, probably most of them transgendered though. But I met some nice girls. I'm not one to go meet random girls, but rather friends of friends.

Monday (today), didn't do much. Got back home at 8 AM because I had to run back to the dorm and grab some stuff. I saw my friend EK's blog and it puts mine to SHAME. Anyway, after I got home, I just slept in till 5PM. I know, lazy, sorry. I had plans to go out to Akihabara, but I decided to reschedule to have dinner with my homestay father since I skipped dinner last night.

Tomorrow, I go to Yokohama to meet Koji, my father's one friend from Kansas University when he was studying abroad from Bangladesh. Koji-san is now an immigration attorney and I'd like to meet with him to get his perspective of what America was like for him when he was studying abroad.

And one more thing - the reason for the title? I caught a cold from running around showing off my "LOOKING FOR A JAPANESE GIRLFRIEND" shirt. And clubbing after that wasn't a good idea. No more partying. I need to train harder. That's what Masato would do.

Mobile Technology

So my phone is wayyy fancy. Flashlight, ultra-thin, internet (not for pre-paid though), games, comics, etc.

When I picked it up on Wednesday, I had to try some goya chanpuru; bittermelon (Karela as we deshis call it), egg, and spam. It was good other than not getting rice with it (since I thought it would be included).

That same day, I got my gaijin nerd shirts - "Accepting Applications for Japanese Girlfriend" in Kanji and "Kiss Me, I'm Gaijin" in Katakana.

Thursday, I went to the Temple MMA club, where I sparred my one friend and then sparred another kid who I then discovered was pro. My friend was just starting out, but was decent. The other guy ripped me apart, even going as light as we were. I'll definitely be sparring him more often.

Friday, I wore the Japanese girlfriend shirt and got some comments. People like it. I'm still debating on whether or not I'll go out tonight. I'd like to train tomorrow at SILVER WOLF

Meeting Bangladeshi Compatriot

So yesterday, I got my Foreigner Registration Card.

I went to the ward office in Minami Asagaya and it was QUICK and EASY. On my way out, I decided to go to an Indian restaurant. There, it was rather awkward - two people with no real grasp of Japanese attempting to speak to each other in Japanese.

I started thinking, "Man, this guy would probably understand me better if I spoke Bengali," since Bengali is somewhat close to Hindi. Suddenly, he serves me my meal and asks in English, "What country are you from?" I tell him I'm American, but of Bangladeshi heritage. To my surprise, he says, "Me too." So I began speaking in Bengali, since I haven't had any chance to other than calling my parents.

They gave me a minor discount (100 yen) and told me that I'm welcome to come back and whatever I want, they'll try their best to accomodate me.

I got back and had to tell my parents. I didn't expect to find Bengalis in Japan. I'll definitely hit up that restaurant again.

Another thing I've been doing lately is dropping by the phone store before training in Sangenjaya. Yesterday, I bought my phone, but I had to pick it up later so they can activate it. Unfortunately, it was during my training time, so I told him I'd come back tomorrow, which happens to be today.

I might have purchased too many minutes on my phone, but hopefully they'll be sufficient until the very end of the semester.

K-1 Rules

Yesterday, on Saturday, I went to K-1 at the Nippon Budokan. The Nippon Budokan, meaning "Japan Martial Arts Hall" is primarily a Sumo Hall, and very traditional.

So anyway, I went there yesterday for K-1, with my 23,000 yen Ringside ticket. When I got there, I had missed the first 2 amateur fights of the U-20 60kg division.

The show started and the opening ceremony was OFF THE CHAIN. Pyrotechnics and Fireworks ALL OVER THE PLACE. It was electrifying. Another thing I noticed was that most of the audience were girls! In the USA, at MMA or Kickboxing events (I've only been to one pro show, though), the girls are mostly there because their boyfriends are there too. In Japan, it seems like they are at a NSync concert, going crazy over the fighters and most of the cheering is done by girls. This girl next to me ran to find Hayato and Buakaw after their fights.

Another thing is that Japanese fans are relatively quiet. They call out the name of their fighter occasionally, sometimes a chant is done when it's really a big deal, they react to impressive techniques and knockdowns, and at the end of the round, they give a golf clap.

I really felt like I was in the Mecca of Martial ARts. Unfortunately, I didn't meet many of the fighters. I got my picture with Artur Kyshenko, and shook the other fighter's hands (after my camera battery had died).

It was a great event. Now I feel more motivated than ever to train!