My New Year's Night

Spending New Years in Japan is completely different then the typical New Years in America, well at least from what I have experienced in my own past. In Japan, it (and it being New Years/Japanese people/Japanese culture) requires you to stay up for a grueling two days of drinking, dancing, a little more drinking, karaoke (which of course involves drinking), going to the closest shine and waiting 90 minutes in a line of stink, puck and $2-perfume all to throw 5 yen (maybe 4 cents) into a box and pray for good luck, and then finally after that is done you have you wait outside in the freezing weather to see the first sunrise of the new year. It sounds like fun if you spread it over a week or even a couple of days but all in one night, it's a killer.

Now knowing the summary of the night let me give you some of the highlights.

• Japanese clubs are insanely expensive: I paid 40 bucks to get in
You would think that I would have had a better opportunity cost with that $40
• I lost my voice singing karaoke
• No New Year’s KISS
• One of my friends made up with his GF after they had been fighting for a while
• Some toothless-bald samurai tried to rape me
• While waiting in line for the shine a 40-year-old man gropped my butt
Now that I think about it what is about me that attracts old Japanese molesters?
• My ears nearly fell off waiting for the sun to come up
• I had to wait 20 min on the train before I could sit down
• I over slept and missed my station by about 30 min (opps)

In conclusion, I had a lot of fun and I have some great memories of my ’07-’08 New Year’s night. What was even better was the 16 hours that I slept after I returned to my apartment.

This is me losing my voice. GO KARAOKE!!!