[Mid-end May 2011]
The dorms became increasingly lonely without Brittany and Sarah visited less with her gone too. So if Wes wasn’t visiting I tended to venture out to hang out with the other dorm people more. Which was good ^^ I got to know Alena, Stef and Jessie more, a trio of Supernatural loving trouble makers XD They were really cool, and really nice. It’s weird that I didn’t get to know them better sooner, which I kind of regret considering they were in my Japanese class and the same dorm, and had been present the previous term.
Now it might not be that obvious but the last month or so in Japan was incredibly quiet and uneventful. This may be because a large portion of our friends had been forced to leave Japan, or that we’d already been to all the exciting places in Japan, or because everyone had essays and exams to prepare for. Or a mixture of everything. Our get together were reduced mostly to meetings in the CIE and Wes and I spent more time together either studying or watching films. Large adventures in a group became few and far between.
(My amazing Kanji class with Jess, Stef and Wes)
We still hung out at Uni of course! In fact that was around the time I found out more interesting information about couples in Japan. The first incident was when I found out that Gabe’s friend Ya-chan had a boyfriend, who she’s been seeing for almost 2 years but they NEVER talked! He had his own friends and she has hers. He had his own interests and she has hers. It’s as if they were dating because it was expected of them, and they were likely to get married after university. WHAT!? WHY would you date someone because it was expected of you? The same with marriage! If you never hang out or talk with the guy, except maybe once a week on a ritual date/shopping trip, then what is the point? Gabe had never even heard her talk much about this guy. Blows my mind.
SECOND incident, which I think blew my mind even more involved 3 first year girls. They were gaijin catching and came up to us outside and we were joking and playing around. Their couples radar goes off and they can tell instantly that Wes and I were dating (HOW THE HELL!?). But that wasn’t what blew my mind (yes, it’s creepy they can detect this stuff but still…) What was weird was their reaction when, knowing that Wes and I were a couple, I hugged Gabe. Ok, no big deal over here. In Japan though when people are a couple they DO NOT TALK TO THE OPPOSITE SEX. Not even a LITTLE bit because their other half would get jealous. They couldn’t understand why Wes wouldn’t get jealous, and we couldn’t understand why he should! It just…GAH! I had heard a similar story later in the week where the American teacher had made a deal with his Japanese wife not to talk to other Japanese women, but he was allowed to talk to other foreign women. Another incident was that friends who had Japanese friends and took them out to clubs, had to hold the boys back when their girls began to talk to other men. Men and women BOTH got very jealous of the other if they were in a relationship and talking to the opposite sex! I know Japan is pretty segregated when it comes to gender, infact this partially explains why guys and girls rarely hang out as just friends like over here. It’s a whole other culture. New place, new rules.
Mind being blown and just hanging out at uni aside, we did go on a trip to the flea market one last time because Wes had never been! Blasphemy! So Ariel, Nadezhda, K, Wes and I took our final trip to the market. With my camera only taking close up shots I didn’t get much of what happened on the day. I do remember Wes trying to meet up with us and we got separated and lost trying to find him, and then find the others >_< It was hot, and busy, and I don’t think I bought much that time. Although did sneak off from the others at one point to look at the new exhibition they had in the temple. They have different ones each month and although I’m normally able to sneak a picture or two (which you’re not allowed to do), I couldn’t this time thanks to the lens, so I can’t remember what it was an exhibit of :P
(Ariel and Wes looking sharp at the flea market)
A few days later on 25th May we were graced with a final visit from Aya! She was able to make it to the CIE one late afternoon after she’s finished work. It was good to see her again, although since she’d left Uni it had felt like she had become more and more distant from us :( So it was really good to see her again. We decided to go to karaoke (as you do) and on the way found a restaurant that wasn’t packed and had a really nice meal together. Aya had to leave before karaoke though because she had work the next day. But despite Aya’s absence (and Wes and Gabe Rick Rolling everyone, the #@£*$&”) Karaoke was awesome fun!
(My final picture of Aya)
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