Elementary School Reunion

Lately my blog entries been sort of backtracking through my stay in Japan. So it may be confusing, but that's ok, because there's only like two or three readers out there to confuse.

I arrived in Tokyo feeling deeply, deeply tired.Although I had had so much fun that semester, it left me feeling completely and utterly drained, phsyically and emotionally. While in Tokyo I averaged ten hours of sleep every night. I just felt like every last inch of my body and mind was tired. All I could think about was how badly I wanted to return home. I guess I was Japaned-out. Stuff everywhere was starting to look the same. Have you ever tried to enjoy a movie while fighting off sleep? I kind of felt like that.

Although I was running on empty, I decided to enjoy these last two weeks of Japan as best as I could. One day Pearl and our friend Daisuke took me on a little tour around Tokyo. We went to a famous fish market and also to Harajuku, a section of the city that I had been hoping to visit for many years. By the time evening came around, I was exhausted and just wanted to go home and crash into bed. But Pearl had a reunion dinner with friends from elementary school, so I sucked it up and prepared myself for more socializing.

About five guys and one girl were at the reunion, all of them laughing and joking about the old days in elementary school, gossiping about who used to have a crush on who,do you remember the time you hit him on the head with your lunchbox, or do you remember that one teacher we had together? Those were good times, man.

At first they were kind of uncomfortable with me there, wanting to include me in the conversation but not knowing how much Japanese I spoke. And actually, because I was so tired my Japanese was worse than usual. Some doodles on a notepad aided me. Somehow I ended up drawing a hippo; I don't remember why. The one girl who was there besides Pearl was obviously in awe of me. I think I was the first foreigner she had ever met, and she was totally thrilled. We went to the restroom together (because that's what girls do) and as I was washing my hands, she complimented my oh-so-white skin. I laughed and said,
"In America tan skin is considered beautiful!"
"Really?" She said. "Maybe I should go to America."

The meal was more dreaded Unidentified Objects. The room was also thick with cigarette smoke. But Pearl's friends were so friendly and kind that I was enjoying myself. Then suddenly, all of the guys had their foreheads on the table, their eyes shut, and one hand extended towards me, as if for a handshake. I shot a flabbergasted look at Pearl.
"Oh," she said with sort of a drunken slur. "They want you to choose who is the most handsome. Just shake his hand; they aren't looking."
Oh geez,I thought. Why are they doing this? How am I ever going to get out of this situation tactfully?
"Wow, this sure is a hard decision!" I said loudly. The guys chuckled but unfortunately didn't move.
"Onegaishimasu!" They pleaded. It really was a hard decision- Pearl has good-looking friends. So after it became apparent that they weren't going to let me off the hook, I finally gave one of them a firm handshake.
"Ok, you can look!" Pearl announced, and the guys lifted their heads. The Chosen One kept a poker face while the others exchanged disappointed glances.
"One more time!" They decided, and once again slammed their foreheads onto the table and stuck out their hands. But the results were the same, and the unlucky boys finally decided to accept their fate, I guess. I hoped that things wouldn't be awkward between me and the guy whose hand I had shaken, but he was a gentleman just as before.

After dinner we went out to a section of the city that seemed dedicated to karaoke places. Since it was in the evening, the karaoke buildings were packed full of business people waiting to party together and sing their little hearts out. We were ushered into a dark little room with a disco ball in the ceiling and couches gathered around a TV and stereo system. By this time Pearl was quite drunk, and she belted out songs while standing on the couches. The girl with the tan skin sang a song called "Sakuranbo," the chorus of which has been stuck in my head ever since. The boys sang too. I only know "Grandfather's Clock" in Japanese, so I sang that, one song by Evanescence, and one by Avril Lavigne. (Shut up, she's big in Japan.)