Last Encounter

 

Shinjuku

On my last night in Tokyo, I finally got to see Gina! She’s my predecessor as LCP of AIESEC DC and one of the few people who has been consistantly a part of my life since I started freshman year of college. It wasn’t until I sat down next to her halfway across the world that I realized just how strange my past semester had been without her. 

We met in Shinjuku, the ’seedy’ area of town according to my guide book.  It was the one part of Tokyo I thought I wouldn’t have the chance to see, but I’m so glad we met there because it ended up quickly becoming my favorite neighborhood. Shinjuku is like Times Square…with five times the flashing lights and even more wild characters. Every street we walked through was filled with businessmen on their way home, and locals and tourists looking for the hottest nightclubs, restaurants, or karaoke bars. We met a group of really nice Irish travelers who stopped and chatted with us as we watched the shenanigans go on in every direction. Behind us, a local was passed out drunk on the sidewalk at about 9pm. It was a little early for that by American standards, but in Tokyo drinking starts earlier so people have time to catch the last train home at 12pm.

Karaoke bar

To our left, a few hosts were creeping up and down the street trying to entice young women into their nightclubs. One innocent looking woman stopped to chat with a host, but she definitely knew his trick and said something to the equivalent of “You’re so bad” in Japanese. A few scary looking cross-dressers strolled by on the prowl for some fun times. And meanwhile, I’m people-watching with three GW students on the other side of the world. Life is fascinating. 

We headed to one of the million karaoke bars in Shinjuku, and spent the first fifteen minutes trying to find English songs that we recognized. It was the first time my Chinese really came in handy. Gina could read the Japanese characters, and I knew the kanji for song and English, so we finally figured it out. We spent two hours singing our hearts out. I was cynical of karaoke before Japan, but it’s actually a lot of fun. Kind of like the equivalent of Rock Band. 

Obviously there was no way that one night was enough time to catch up on everything, but we did our best. After seeing my roommate, my old co-worker, AIESEC Kyoto, and my ex-LCP in Japan I felt my vacation was complete. Now I’m back home and on to my next adventure…seven weeks until China!