Saturday after teaching a class I met some friends for karaoke. Luke wanted to have some kind of get together for foreigners in the area so he posted on a Stonewall message board inviting anyone who wanted to come for good times this weekend. We figured just a couple people would turn up, but when I walked into the karaoke room there were 17 people packed in there! Surprisingly only 6 were from Oita, the rest came from other prefectures. One guy came from Yamaguchi (7-hour train ride away) another from Kagoshima (7-hour drive) and yet another from Shikoku (3-hour ferry ride). Wow, who knew so many people would brave the trip out to Oita for a party.
Later we went to a bar but most everyone was pretty tired from travelling all day to get here, so we figured out who was gonna stay where and all split up. Kevin was putting people up at his place even though he had to go to work for a few hours in the morning, and he didn't want a bunch of people he'd just met hanging around his apartment on their own while he was out. I got convinced to spend the night and hang out with everyone till he got back from work. I'd only met him a few times myself but I guess that was enough to trust me not to wreak havoc in the apartment and steal all his stuff.
We got to bed around 430am and after a couple hours of restless sleep (I have a hard time sleeping in new places and usually don't sleep well after drinking - amazing I could sleep at all) we all got up and waited for Kevin to come home. In our zombie state most of this time was spent sitting around the living room staring at each other. I hadn't had anything with me and had to sleep with my contacts in. Boy were my eyes dry and red in the morning.
Except for the eating part, lunch was fantastic. We pretty much forced ourselves to eat. Then sat around sharing dead baby jokes. I'd never heard them before! It was so morbid and shocking. But I couldn't stop myself from laughing. If you know any dead baby jokes, please share!
It was time for everyone to get back home but all the trains and ferries were cancelled because of the approaching typhoon. No choice but to stay and party one more night!
We all gathered at Luke's to brave the typhoon. It wasn't as crazy as we thought it'd be. Branches were scattered in the road and the wind was kinda crazy, but I haven't heard of any damage yet. We spent the night playing all kinds of games I'd never heard of before. They were pretty fun, but with everyone so tired from the night before and drinking on top of that, I think the guy explaining the rules was getting annoyed having to explain the same thing over and over. I know I woulda been.
After the typhoon was over I absolutely had to get home or would die of exhaustion so sometime around 3am I started saying bye. People were exchanging contact info and inviting each other to come for a visit to where they live. Everyone was so great and I'd love to see them again, but I already know that the likelihood of me making a trip out to where they live isn't very high, so I just sat on the side like an antisocial hermit waiting for all the number-exchanging to get done. Does this make me an unfriendly bastard? I guess if there were people a bit closer to me and it was more convenient to visit I'd totally try to get in touch and hang out, but anything more than a 3-hour drive is just too far. I do have to say though that there were a few I'd love to get to know better and wish lived in Oita.
I imagine everyone else is making their way back home right now. And here I am tired as hell even after a night's sleep in my own apartment. So glad today is a national holiday.
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