An interesting few days

Thursday: Penultimate day of work at the Missouri Office.
Right after work Shino-san took me to the Tokyo Dome to see a hot match-up between the Tokyo Giants and the Hanshin Tigers. It was quite an experience. Shino-san got us really good seats on the lower level behind home plate. The gameplay itself was pretty different from watching St. Louis baseball. There were no big hits, nothing that even went to the warning track. It was all about the short game, which made it a pretty intense game. It ended up going to 12 innings, with the final score of 3 - 4 (Tigers won). The biggest difference, though, was the cheering from the fans. First of all, even though the Tigers were the away team, they had just as many fans present as the Giants, and both sides sat all together on opposite sides. Whichever team was up to bat, that teams fans did the cheering, and then when it switched they would shut up and let the other team cheer. And the cheers weren't just yelling and stuff like in the US. They had a whole library of set cheers. Cheers for each individual player, fight songs, etc. And people brought instruments. Taiko drums, trumpets, trombones... It was incredible. So much louder than any Cardinals game I've ever been to. And I had heard that the Tigers fans are notorious for being passionate and rowdy, but the Giants fans were pretty much matching their level of intensity.
There were also cheerleaders and stuff, and the beer vendors were all young cute girls in absurd neon outfits with short skirts or shorts and they sold the beer out of mini kegs that they carried on their backs. Yuki said its a really common part-time job for high school girls to do.

Friday: Final day of work (nothing exciting happened, but still).
Yuki came to Shimbashi after she got off work and we went to Echizen-ya, a yakitori place that we had been to a few times now and had become friendly with the owner and the waitress that works there. Also, when we went this time there was a man there (customer) who we had met last time we went, and so we all sat together and talked and had a grand ole time. His name is Kenta and his English is superb. He went to the University of Colorado for all 4 years of college, and lived in Denver for another couple years. He's 39 now so his English isn't as good as it used to be, he says, but it was still really good. After we were done eating at Echizen-ya, he invited us to come with him to a bar that he frequents in the area, so we all went to "El Amigo" together. It was really cool. It was very small, just the bar counter and no room for standing, and everybody in there knew everybody else. El Amigo is one of those bars that stays open all night for the people that miss the last train and don't want to pay for a taxi or anything, so they stay out until the trains start up again in the morning. The bartenders are, not surprisingly, very friendly cute girls and one of them, Chihiro, gave me a business card that she drew a ridiculously cute picture of herself on.
Kenta was intending to stay out all night, but Yuki wanted to leave to catch the last train, so she left on her own and I stayed with Kenta (since I live in Shimbashi, no worries about trains), and not long after Yuki left we were joined by Fumi, the owner/chef of Echizen-ya. So we stayed there and drank and had a good time until about 3 AM, and made plans to meet again at Echizen-ya the next day.

Saturday: I woke up late, as expected, and my head hurt (also expected), so I didn't really do anything until about 6:30, when I headed out to Echizen-ya. Fumi said that the place is usually empty on Saturdays and yesterday was certainly no exception. Of course, the situation was worsened by the wild downpour that was happening. There is a typhoon that is sweeping over Japan right now--supposedly the worst typhoon to ever hit Japan in July (the really bad ones typically come in September)--and so it's been raining non-stop for a few days now. Ayumi, the waitress at Echizen-ya, had the day off but she had planned to come there to eat with a friend, so we were all going to eat together. I was the first to arrive (aside from Fumi, of course) and so I just ordered a beer and sat down and chatted with Fumi a bit. There was one other customer in the place when I got there, but he left soon after. And just about 10 minutes after I arrived, Ayumi came with her friend, Mai-Mai. Although it turned out they were actually related to each other. Their grandparents are siblings, so I have no idea what that makes them (second cousins?), but they're the same age and went to the same schools and everything, so they're good friends. Ayumi showed me some pictures that she had on her phone from when they were in high school. Although, by "some pictures" I actually mean more like a hundred pictures. I couldn't believe how many pictures she had on that thing. Ayumi and Mai-Mai are both 21, so they're the closest to my age of all the people (excluding Lauren) I've hung out with so far in Japan. It was really fun, definitely one of the most fun meals I've had here. Later on Kenta showed up with one of his friends, and then Yuki came as well. For most of the time, we were the only people in the whole place and we stayed there until Fumi closed up at 11. After that we went to another bar that Kenta frequents, which was actually right across the alley from El Amigo. I can't remember what it was called, though. It was actually even smaller than El Amigo, with room for only about 8 customers (I think El Amigo could fit about 15 people total) on the inside, although I presume when it's not raining that they probably have people standing outside drinking as well. Yuki and I only stayed for a short while, though, because she had to catch the last train and I wanted to go see her off because I don't think I'll see her again.

Everyone is really impressed by how much I can drink without getting drunk and, frankly, I'm rather impressed with myself as well. Over the course of the whole night yesterday I drank probably 8 beers and was barely tipsy, and feel totally fine today. I have no idea how i got this way, I guess it's lucky?

Today I have no plans because I thought my parents were coming today, but it turns out they're actually coming tomorrow. I don't know what to do... Plus, it's raining still which makes me not really want to do much of anything. I suppose I could use a night off... Maybe I can just hang out with the people in my building, Mauricio and Eddie and Coby. It's been a while since I've done anything with them. We'll see. For now, I'm gonna go grab something to eat. I'm starving!