Fast becoming my favourite Japanese television celebrity, apart from Hoshino Aki (ほしの あき), is Kojima Yoshio (こじま よしお)
I`m not sure what his claim to fame is but several times a week he appears on Japanese Television doing his trademark `Yoshio`s Bootcamp` which is a piss take from the extremely popular `Billy`s Bootcamp` in Japan.
I warn you there`s not a whole lot of substance to Yoshio`s routine but it is amusing and the reaction of the punters he performs this too is the highlight for me. His main catch phrase is そんなの関係ねえ!”, it means “It’s not related” but it could better be translated as “So what? I don’t care!“
Like i said, don`t expect much … maybe i find it amusing cause i can see a bit of myself in him, a certain perfomance at a wedding last January springs to mind.
12 months ago today i was part of a 100,000 strong crowd watching the Eagles get up over the Swans by 1 point. Today the situation is very different, i`m living in Tokyo and i`ll be part of a 2 strong crowd at my mates place …. one things for sure the beers will be flowing the same as they did 1 year ago at the MCG.
I`m hoping Geelong get up however i have an annual bet with a mate that Port will provide and upset, it`s a win win for me i guess.
So i had the task at hand to redeem myself with my colleagues, up until this morning i wasn`t sure whether i had or not.
We enjoyed a feast of Nabe and plenty of drinking, for me beer …. many others went on to Hot Sake, Cold Sake and so on. Maybe 10pm and the call to hit the second party was made, no problems …. i still had 1.45 hrs till the last train. Off to Karaoke we went, about 10 of us in total, we`d lost 3 up until now.
It`s at this point i`m not sure what went wrong …. but all i know is the empty feeling when you get to the station and they`ve battened down the hatches for the night.
It`s decision time …. $250 in a cab to get home or drop that $250 in a few bars and get the first train at 5:20am. Needless to say i opted for tha latter and had a belter of a night … it`s a long way home on the local train at 5:20am to mind you ….stopping every stop … 1.5hrs to be precise and looking a little dishevelled i finally strode, and i use that term loosely, through the door at my place around 7am.
Lucky for me i had a day off in lieu as i`d worked the previous public holiday Monday. Did i earn the respect of my colleagues …. i`d say yes by the reception i got when i told them i`d stayed out till first train rather than the last.
On a daily basis i`m challenged by the language barrier in Japan. Athough i`m having a private lesson once a week the learning curve is steep and i need all the help i can get. After an exhaustive search for assistance online i`ve found by far the best language learning software in Rosetta Stone.
Don`t be fooled, this doesn`t mean i`m fluent in Japanese yet but it does mean i don`t go hungry, i can order a beer easily and i get lost a lot less often. If you`re learning another language for whatever reason i strongly suggest you look towards Rosetta Stone for assistance.
I need to redeem myself from my last Nomikai with the guys. The last one was a going away for a colleague and after the first party we ended up at a second men only gathering. I did the right thing and left in time for the last train at 11.45pm which should have seen me home by a little before 1am. My starting station was Hon-Atsugi, 50 kms from Tokyo and my home is the second last stop on the line. Only problem this night was i made it all the way up to the end, then 3/4 of the way back down the line …. fast asleep. I woke with a poke in the guts from the inspector and heard “Sagami-ono” … which is 40 odd kms from where i needed to be …. not to mention it was 2am. After slinking out of the station i hailed a cab and back in the right direction i went. I’d heard rumours about how much a cab cost from work to home so i was prepared for it ….. a little over $180 AUD. Guess i won’t be doing that again!
After getting sign off on Q3 deliverables last night we have a “Nomikai” planned for tonight.
We will go to a local place near work ちゃんこ鍋・割烹 福よし and the festivities will begin.
