Home sweet home...I have some great memories of July 4th, 1997. But they really started on July 3rd. July 3rd was the last day in Tsukuba for the people staying in Tokyo. Because we were saying sayonara to our newly found friends who were staying Tsukuba, some of us thought a karaoke party was in order. After dinner a large group of us made our way to a karaoke bar near the Kenshu Center. Once inside, we pooled our money and purchased three hours of singing and alcohol. The singing was in the form of everything from the Sesame Street Theme to Born to Be Wild. The alcohol was in the form of something called "Triangle" which comes in a black bottle with one corner lopped off. Pretty potent stuff. Since I had never had it before I decided to drink it straight--that way I can more easily judge how much I'm consuming. Most people made mixed drinks with the stuff which can be dangerous (as some people found out). Having never done karaoke before (and being a bit on the shy side) I mostly watched and enjoyed everyone else perform. Of note were Laura Mazzola who has a very nice voice and Dan Hartmann who entertained us all with his Elvis impersonation.
But the best memory from the 4th came after the karaoke party. Those of us who were willing (and able) went up to the roof of our Kenshu Center dorm building. Probably the nicest spot in Tsukuba, the roof was a great place to get some cool air and hang out with friends. I wish those of us who spent most of the summer on Tokyo had such a gathering place. Well, as we were relaxing on the roof someone realized that it was now July 4th and began to sing the Star Spangled Banner. Everyone joined in and it was a great moment! After the song was over, I thought about what I would be doing back in the U.S.A and I was a bit homesick for a good ol' American summer, knowing that I wasn't going to experience one this year.
The next morning the Tokyo group packed up all our belongings and lugged them to a waiting bus. I had a a headache from the Triangle but I counted myself fortunate--some people were really in pain. The only thing good about the two hour ride came when it was over--we were finally in Tokyo! The bad thing happened at the same time--the heat! I thought I'd experienced heat before but I was wrong. It was well over 100 degrees F when we arrived with humidity to match. Luckily, we were staying in a hotel with airconditioning. Our hotel in Tokyo was the Asia Center. It was a nice enough place. The rooms were small but, hey, this is Tokyo--home of the "coffin" hotel. Our rooms weren't that bad, and they had a bathroom! On the negative side, the TV was coin operated but since 99% of the programs were in Japanese it really didn't matter. The only things I enjoyed watching were sports, Go matches, and the weekly movie in English. Over time, the English movie became very important to me as I think I was being starved for English communication. Anyway, as soon as I checked in to the Asia Center on the 4th I turned the AC on and went to sleep.
Home sweet home...
The rooms always
look bigger in the brouchure...
San ni ni, onegai
shimasu (322, please)...
I woke up a few hours later, hungry but well rested. I got some food at a nearby convenience store and then took a walk to Roppongi. Roppongi is one of the night-time hot spots in Tokyo but mostly for foreigners and those Japanese who want to hang out around foreigners. I'm sure the really cool spots are somewhere else. We were warned about Roppongi at our orientation: it's a fun spot but try not to have too much fun. I think that message was meant mostly for the guys--it has a lot of bars, strip clubs, and hookers. My walk was interesting but not very entertaining. Big cities make me nervous, even ones in Japan where it is very safe. And it was still hot! 95+ after 10:00pm along with the ever-present humidity.