Other Things That Happened in Japan

I’ve compiled a list of some other things that happened while I was in Japan. Since none of them fit in with the posts I wrote a couple months ago, I decided to wait until now to create the list. In no particular order, here are some thing that I remember happening:

• I didn’t know which direction the train station was, so I asked a young guy which way it was and he walked with us a couple blocks (in the opposite direction that he was going) to point us to where the station was.
• On my way back to my hotel from my parents’ hotel near Kannai Station in Yokohama, I walked through an area that I thought was pretty harmless at night. Instead, there were a lot of guys in business suits asking me to come into their bars and clubs. I hailed a nearby taxi and asked him if where he picked me up was a bad area and he said “Yes.” Oops.
• My parents and I walked into a bar in the Kannai area of Yokohama and the bar owner said “Sorry, Japanese only” in English and smiled.
• My friend Brook and I found a soul-music bar called Chap Sweet and Mellow that seated about 10 people. We chatted with locals and made music requests.
• On my way back from my mini Japanese bachelor party with Brook and our friend Yuhito, I got on the train, slept, and stepped off the train at its last stop, which was halfway between Tokyo and Yokohama. In Japanese, I asked a guy if a train to Yokohama was coming, slurred speech and all.
• While I was preparing for the wedding ceremony, the lady who was helping me asked me to strip down to my boxers so that I could change into my hakama. And then she stood there and watched me take off most of my clothes. Awkward.
• After meeting with my friend Doug, I saw a man sitting on the sidewalk near a crosswalk at a busy intersection; he was passed out and it was only 5:30pm.
• While I was waiting for Brook to meet me at a train station near his apartment, I watched a kid on his bike get sideswiped by another bicyclist and take a nasty spill. His M&Ms and other bags of goodies were a complete loss.
• A child kept pointing to me and calling me “English teacher” in a store.