Crowd Surfing
Being a tall, white, American dude certainly sets you apart from the general populous of Tokyo, but it’s never so noticeable as it was today. Jouchi has a period of about four days during which hundreds of college-age kids crowd the streets of the campus attempting to recruit new members. I couldn’t progress from building 8 to building 11 (halls here are very conveniently named) without being assaulted by a thousand kids who desperately wanted a foreigner in their group, for whatever reason. I’ve got a pile of assorted-color flyers to prove it.
This did have its advantages though, as I’m now a proud member of three new groups; Shorinji Kempo, a rockband, and Sophia Alpha. The other sweet deal about this last week is that I have been given two free, pretty sizeable, dinners. The senpai, older students, are expected to treat the new inductees to a meal, and I have taken advantage of this for several groups I don’t really intend on joining. Maybe I should feel guilty, but they just seemed so genuinely pleased to have a foreigner in their midst that it’s hard to feel anything but popular.
The groups I ended up joining also sound like a pretty okay time. The kempo group meets three times a week and typically goes to lunch afterward, and they aren’t overly serious about what they do. There are some strange people in the group, strange even by Japanese standards, but there are some more sane ones to help balance everything out. The rock band group consists of a bunch of people who mark which instrument they would like to play, guitar, drums, bass, or vocals, and then pair themselves together to form their own bands. I have absolutely no experience, but somehow I feel as though this won’t propose a problem. And Sophia Alpha is a volunteer group that teaches english to elementary students and does other work with the children of Japan, which will honestly be a lot of fun.
All in all, the groups should keep me fairly busy, and give me quite a few chances to interact with the locals, who are otherwise reserved to a position of awkwardly staring at me on the morning train.
April 10, 2008 at 1:58 am
[...] Maybe tomorrow. I was really debating doing the rock band club that Jeritt and I saw (description here), but I think that between intensive Japanese, shamisen, these two other clubs, leaving time for [...]
April 10, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Grasshopper, you have come a long way. I think you’ve done fetched the pebble from my hand. Thats from Kung FU (hes’ over there somewhere). Its tough for me to see you so far from home, but understand your need to roam. What you left with, was a little fear of the unkown. What you’ll come back with, will be the knowledge that you faced it head on. You seem to have done that since about seventh grade. We couldn’t be more proud.
. I’ve had a few requests from friends here also. Japanese Jack Daniels is one item. We’ll discuss that later. And last but not least. Stop worrying about money to call home. Drop a little of the man pride, and let me cover it for you. Your mental health is more important. Solitary confinement is not healthy.
You can feel free to email me with a list of things you would like shipped to you. Fortunately, I own an internet shipping company, that ships worldwide
Love, Dad
ps- did the japanese like maytag blue cheese?
April 10, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Hi Jeritt, keep the news coming!