Oh the People You Will Meet

You never know who you're gonna meet. This doesn't just apply to Japan either. Now I feel like if you are open and friendly, any stranger, any person on the street can end up becoming one of your good friends. Let my night illustrate this for you.

Met up with Travis and his friends at Fight Bar, where everything (drinks, food) is $3. I ate horse sashimi for the first time. It was good. I mean I'm not a food consiure and am not very good at explaining foods...but it didn't taste like beef for sure. Lol, it was really good. Had a drink but had to leave to meet some other friends.

I'm sad to admit that I almost didn't go out to meet my friends. It was one of those days. That's just a bad excuse. But I was debating whether or not to go out. In the end I kinda felt obligated, since I said I was going to...but again it was one of the better decisions I have made.

A guy from SU that is studying at Sophia has a friend, Ike, who is living and working in Tokyo at Goldsman Saks. I met him at a couple of things before and it was his birthday today. So he invited me to go out to dinner with a bunch of people and to a club after. I passed on the club, but dinner was totally worth it.

Everyone was friends with Ike, but no one really knew each other besides that. It was one of the most random, fun groups of people yet. Ike is really outgoing and will talk to anyone, so most of the people he just met on a whim.

One guy was a famous K-1 fighter from Nigeria (who speaks unbelievable Japanese), but the rest were Japanese. One of the girls there met him when she overheard Ike and Andy (the K-1 fighter) rating girls in a coffee shop. Lol she could understand English so I guess she kinda called them out, she is an announcer when there are events like at Softbank, etc. One of the guys there was a national beatbox champion, but during the day he is a train conductor. He always has a mic with him, in a pouch clipped onto his belt. The other girl is in a breakdancing group and met Ike when she was performing. She moves back and forth between San Diego. And the last guy works at the same place as Ike.

Almost the whole night was in Japanese. I was surprised. When its like that I tend not to talk, but my listening is getting really good. haha. Ike or Andy would speak in English to make sure I knew what was going on. Almost all the Japanese kids could understand and speak English as well.

We went to a really cute, traditional type of restaurant. It was a nicer one and everything was individual tatami mat styled with sliding rice paper doors and everything. Had a really good dinner: sashimi, two kinds of salads, karage chicken, special rice, horse sashimi (again, lol), and a bunch of other stuff. I was amazed because Andy knows not only where to go, but also what to order and pretty much took care of the food decisions for us.

Nights like this make me realize the possibilities. I almost stayed home and missed out. You'll never know who you'll meet or how much fun you have, just hafta do it. Put yourself out there. One of the guys is throwing a party at his place next weekend, so who knows I'll probably see these guys soon. It amazing the people you can meet. Not just in Tokyo either, really anywhere. Never pass up the opportunity to make new friends.