Having people in town is way too enabling

[dr4b]

So yesterday I dragged mdw and his girlfriend to a baseball game in Yokohama and then to okonomiyaki and stuff in Shinjuku.

This evening they were silly enough to hang out with me again. I made them come up to Akabane, met them in the station a bit after 7pm, and we went to Anrakutei for yakiniku. I know there are nicer places to go to, but I know that Anrakutei at least has reasonable prices and the unlimited soft drink bar and they'll let us just sit there forever. I introduced them to the joys of the Super Big 500 plate, which I suppose technically means I was chmeating on the2belo, but it was really a perfect way to just have all kinds of meat. I ended up getting an extra plate of ロース, and mdw ended up trying a plate of the Wagyu beef, just because hey, we're in Japan and all. Funny part is, despite that yakiniku is like my favorite thing ever, I'm still pretty ignorant of what all the meats actually are. I'm just like "This one is really GOOD. This one is really fatty. This one kind of sucks. And let's NOT get cow tongue. Huh huh, fire is COOL!"

And oh man am I full. All I'd eaten today before then was two dorayaki (pancake sandwiches with red bean paste inside... breakfast of champions!) so perhaps I overdid it.

We did somehow end up sitting there forever, until like 11pm, just drinking more soda and hanging out. I meant to show them around more of Akabane just because it's the kind of Tokyo neighborhood they're so unlikely to see otherwise, but oh well -- by the time we left, everything was closed and it was pretty much time to send them home.

It's funny, there are all of these foods that I totally never eat on my own that it's great having people in town so I can make them eat with me :)

Comments

[guitarcries.livejournal.com]

I miss a lot of things, but definitely my friends the most. Many of them aren't there anymore, but the group was just something special and unique. Not to sound cheesy, but it really was like a family. I was lonely in Japan, but I think that was mostly due to living alone, which I had never experienced before, and being single after having been in a relationship for 2 years.

After that, the food. Going out to eat so cheaply. The delicious, high-quality food at restaurants.

I would love to come and visit, but I'm going to be broke for a long time with grad school. Maybe I'll be able to do a semester abroad in Japan, China, or Korea... I really hope so.

It looks like you've really settled in over there, so hopefully you'll still be there when I do eventually make it over again. :)

[dr4b]

Funny you should say that. I've been recently pondering exactly how much longer I'll be here. I have various reasons for wanting to go back to the US after about one more year here. But I can't help but get sad when I think about leaving -- but I also get sad when I think about staying... I don't have nearly the same kind of community you had here.

[guitarcries.livejournal.com]

Yeah, as much as I disliked living in Hakodate, I realize I probably wouldn't have found a group like I did there in a big city like Tokyo. And without that... I can't even imagine what my life in Japan would've been like.

What do you think you'd do if you came back here?

[dr4b]

I'd go back to Seattle, hopefully find a tech job, and start doing all of my regular hobbies again that I haven't been doing here, and spending time with my friends. It's terrifying though, because I worry about getting bored with the old stuff... and at the same time, the stability would be nice... as well as actually having friends that aren't either temporary expats or Japanese people who think I'm nuts :)

I mean, that's the thing, I have some friends here, but I still don't have any of the "just call up for the hell of it and hang out" friends, and I just doubt I'll end up with any.

[guitarcries.livejournal.com]

Those are the most important kind of friends. Here, my best friends live three hours away. So now it's the opposite... I have a boyfriend, I don't live alone, but no nearly close friends (well, other than him of course). That sucks.