Back In Sapporo

Unlike the previous cities, I have very mixed feelings about Tokyo. For a big city the trains etc. stop running around midnight which is weird and its here that I experienced the down and dirtiness of Japan. The culture is a pretty closed up one, its rare for foreigners to gain citizenship etc. Not only because of spatial issues etc but things are just so much more rigid here I feel. There's rules about everything- small to big. The positive is that there is almost no crime in the country (smallest police stations I have ever seen) but the negative as most of us know is that the pressures of the confinements make it so the country has a really high suicide rate. People killing themselves over test scores and such.

Anyway, back to Tokyo. Its rare to see foreigners in the country. It is an overwhelmingly Japanese population and there is a term for us foreigners- gaijin- that is somewhat derogatory. The group of us walking together brings alot of stares, which is fine by me, but it makes some of the others uncomfortable. So John and I were roaming the streets of Tokyo Tuesday, saw a couple girls and decided to try out our conversational skills. I walked by them and pulled out my "Konichiwa" (Good Afternoon/Hello)- no response. So we walked on and sat outside a starbucks for 40 or so minutes, saying Konichiwa to passers by- no response- except for this one guy who we had a nice little conversation with in English. According to the rules over here it is rude to speak to somebody you dont know in a public space so we werent being very kosher but at the same time if somebody is hailing you I think a reply is in order, no?

Sure the city has its bright lights or whatever but that soured over the Japan experience somewhat. Dave had told us all this before but it drove it home a little. Making friends at Hokusei will also be hard because of all this so we basically have to force our way in. Its not the same for all the people but its probably the majority. Wednesday we flew the Pokemon plane back to Sapporo (yes there is a Pokemon themed plane). I didnt take pictures because I never was interested in those things but it was exciting nonetheless, especially since we were on the second floor of the plane, another flying first for me.

Back in Sapporo we have been hanging out in the Guest House until tomorrow when we move into our host families. We had an orientation session yesterday that didnt really say anything but we met the three students from England who are here. We should be going out with them later so hopefully I'll have some people to discuss football with- too bad they are from Liverpool though. We also hung out alot with the HI-C group at the school. This is a club that basically just speaks English. They're pretty good at English too and are a nice group of people. One of the guys works at the Sapporo Dome sometimes (Consadole Sapporo, the local football team, plays there) and he's also a part of the indoor football club so I'll be jumping in that. They also have a regular football club I'll probably join too so I should be balling 4 or 5 days a week which I'm excited about.

Other than that I might join the fashion club just because i was informed they have the same musical tastes as I do and they also mix music (plus the girls are supposed to be real good looking). Jason advised us that joining clubs would be the easiest and best way to get to know people at the school, which would in turn lead to us being able to practice our Japanese more, etc. So thats the plan. As for my host family, its supposed to be a 40 min commute for me to school but I might get a bike and ride it, save some money, depends how far they actually are from school. I have a 10 mile/day roundtrip limit. I'm looking forward to meeting them, hopefully they speak a little English so the transition will be easier but there are the two parents and an 8 year old boy who plays ball so that should be interesting.

I tried to post pictures on here for the last couple of posts but its not working so I will try again.

Oh Yeah....We also rode the Shinkansen- Bullet Train- to Tokyo. Sat in front of some sumo wrestlers too.