A couple of Gaijin = pleasant; Twenty Gaijin = .....

As we headed down the streets of Osaka, we immediately realized how out of place we were. It was the first time any of us had really gone out at night, further outside of the relatively country-like Hirakata and into the more urban areas of Osaka. It wasn't quite as accommodating and friendly as when there were only a few of us walking around; instead, there was a giant group of us, and we were fairly loud (though not rambunctiously so), and all of us, save for Yuuki-san, Hana-san, and their two friends, were Gaijin - which immediately draws stares. So instead of the friendly hello and where are you from that we normally get, it was more of a confused look and the thought, "Where did all of these Gaijin come from and where the hell are they going?"

Me and Corey have taken to calling ourselves the 'crazy gaijin', because from an outsider's perspective, we all must look a little crazy. Corey and I have the same thoughts as we are walking through Osaka. They are roundabout and often have nothing to do with the conversation at hand. Typically we're looking off at something in the distance and it has suckered us in with its Japanese beauty that nihonjin must think is completely mundane. For example, another one of the subtle but interesting differences between Japan and America that me and Corey noticed and shared with each other right off the bat:

There are a lot - and I mean a lot - more cars in Japan that are the blocky, box-shaped kind, which are typically perceived as ugly in America. In Japan it makes perfect sense, however. Sure, they aren't sporty, but I think they portray a certain Zen-like aesthetic in Japan; they don't have to look fancy or whatever to get you from point A to point B. Besides, in Japan, it's simply practical. A huge SUV or a giant convertible would simply take up too much space. Since everything in Japan is much smaller - parking lots, roads, lanes, driveways, garages - it makes a lot of sense to have a small, compact little box-shaped car that will fit almost anywhere.

We reach the Karaoke bar, which is on the third floor of a large building, the first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors being entirely different things altogether, including a supermarket and an office. It reminds me a bit of Manhattan as we go into the elevator in two smaller (but still very large) groups and head up to the Karaoke place. As soon as we exit the elevator, right in front of us, is a man playing at a slot machine, a girl (presumably his girlfriend) sitting next to him. We stare in amazement as he repeatedly gets, no joke, three of the same kind, every single time he goes. It's a timing-based slot machine, not like the ones in casinos, so it's pure skill as he mashes the buttons at just the right time to get three sevens, or three whatevers. We wait in line for a little bit while Yuuki explains in English our options, and then tells the lady behind the counter in Japanese what it is that we want.

2000 yen (about 16 dollars). All you can drink. Three hours of Karaoke. We're ecstatic.

At first I'm hesitant - are there going to be any songs I know? Corey has been to Japan before and shakes his head, saying, "You've got it all wrong, man. They have just as many songs in English as they do in Japanese, if not more." Looking through the list of songs, I'm startled. He's completely right. In front of me is a list of Karaoke songs that rivals my iTunes selection - My Chemical Romance, Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, Maroon 5, The Used, Yellowcard, Queen, Green Day, you name it, they have it. I don't even have to look through the book. We sit down, order our first drinks, and before Hana-san can even finish saying "What should we sing?" I'm punching in the code for Hotel California.

Ordering drinks inside the booth is hilarious for both parties involved. First of all, as 'crazy gaijin', nobody understands what we're saying when we're talking to ourselves in English, unless they happen to know English, and even then we use enough slang to make it impossible for them to understand anyway. Secondly, things that we call one thing might exist in Japan, but under a different name. Corey says, "I wonder if I can get a Jack and Coke", and turns to the lady giving us drinks, whom I will call Confused-san for now, saying, "eh, to... Jakku to kokku?". Confused-san gives him a strange look, and I immediately say out loud, "Dude, there's no way they have a Jack and Coke in the menu. If they did it's probably under a different name." Nevertheless he tries again, this time motioning that 'jack' was one thing - whiskey - and coke was another thing - coca-cola - and that a Jack and Coke, or a "Jakku to kokku", was both mixed together. Clearly Confused-san has no idea what the hell Corey is talking about, so Hana comes over and translates. After describing it to Hana, he hits his forehead, turns to Confused-san, and just says, "Whiskey" (although it's in Katakana, the language used for foreign words, so it comes out as "Uisuki").

Corey turns to me with a disgusted look. "It's just called Whiskey? What the hell? What if somebody just wants Whiskey and doesn't want coca-cola?" I explain to him that it's going to be completely different when you come to a place like Japan; for all we know, a Whiskey with nothing mixed in could be called a Straight Whiskey or something along those lines ("Uisuki storeito").

Sooner or later, Bohemian Rhapsody, Piano Man, and several other songs are sung by all of us at the same time. However, surprisingly, the most people sing at the same time when Cruel Angel's Thesis, the Japanese theme song to the popular anime Evangelion, is chosen. Yuuki, Mana, and Hana are taken completely by surprise by the number of us ryugakusei who know the entirety of the song by heart, and simply because we are insane and really like Evangelion (as well as other anime).

A couple more drinks and many more songs later, we decide to go out with a bang. One of the nihonjin girls with us tells us to sing something out of the ordinary. Me and Corey look at each other and simply nod, putting in the code for Forgotten by Linkin Park. The other guys smile, because they know what's coming. The Japanese girls simply wait, not knowing that any second now, me and Corey are going to start yelling. For my readers who don't know how this song goes, it's two (rappers?) rappers yelling back and forth, their lines sort of overlapping so that when one person's line/rap/yell ends, the next person's begins.

"From the top to the bottom!" "Bottom to top, I stop!" "At the core I've forgotten!" "In the middle of my thoughts!"

The chorus is all singing, but the rest of the song is basically rap or spoken, and the nihonjin are caught completely off guard. The girls think it's both hilarious and cool at the same time, and Hana and Yuuki are simply laughing their ass off. Sure we're making a fool of ourselves. But that's the whole point, ne?

After a while I decide to redeem myself by singing a song I know I'm good at, Sewn by The Feeling. The girl to my left, Amanda, thinks I'm very good, and asks if I know Broken by Seether, a song that has a girl part and a boy part. Nodding, we punch in the code and a friendship is immediately formed.

We head home after our three hours are up, hustling to make it back in time before the dormitory closes its gates. During the orientation week period, we have an 11 o'clock curfew, which is lifted once orientation is over (thank goodness). Talking with Amanda, I learn that she's from Ohio, and that she has absolutely no experience with Japanese whatsoever, and that she's timidly afraid of the path we're walking on, because it's so late. "Don't worry," I tell her, "Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, and there's about twenty of us. Nothing's going to happen." I simply want to reassure her that she's safe at the moment; I don't think it would be quite as safe if she were alone. "You're from New York, I overheard... Is it dangerous there compared to here?" I fidget. I've been to some shady parts of NY, primarily the city where my college is, Schenectady. While I've never been involved personally in any kind of 'danger', like a mugging or anything, I've heard a lot of stories about it happening in Schenectady, so I feel very confident and very safe when I walk around Hirakata and Osaka; as if nothing could possibly touch me here. If I can survive in Schenectady, I'll be perfectly fine here, I think to myself. Amanda still seems a bit nervous, though.

We get back to the dorm on time and say our goodbyes to the generous nihonjin who took us to the Karaoke bar, then depart our seperate ways into the four different "Seminar Houses", which are different dorms. I learn that Amanda and Kim are both in Seminar House 1, where Eliza lives, and that Ruth, Corey, Chris, and a few of the other people I met who went with us all live in Seminar House 4, which is my dorm. We go inside, exhausted and incredibly happy, already planning our next trip.