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Japan GAF |OT| I'm not planning a trip; I live here!

Yeah that should be fine. Or just hold up one finger or something along those lines to gesture one person. The only issue that could pop up is if its one of those small places with hand written, stylized menus that look awesome, but fuck if anyone but the owner can read it including staff lol.

I generally either order the most advertised thing or ask what is recommend at the shop if its my first time.
 
I'm at Joyfull right now. The menu is awesome.

I asked the waitress to add rice to my hamburger and ebi but she kept saying zero so it's either free or there will be zero rice for me. Lmfao.

Will find out soon.

I also asked for orange juice and apparently I can drink as much as I want from the machine.

EDIT: RAISU ARIMASU.
 

matt360

Member
It's gotten crazier even just over the past three years in Shibuya. There are tons of fantastic costumes. I'd personally rather spend it at a themed concert or in one of the themed parties in Shimokita, but Shibuya is worth seeing once. I also really like the parade in Harajuku each year. There are tons of events all over.

I also wish there were more お化け屋敷 around. Halloween in Japan kinda misses the mark for me by being too party oriented and not having any of the creepy aspects of Halloween.

USJ does a pretty good job with their Halloween Horror Nights event. I've been to two of them, and while they don't really compare to Florida in terms of scale, they really do a great job with what they've got. The second time I went, there was one haunted house in particular where I had to sign a waiver because it involved touching live insects and doing some fucked up stuff.

Also, for the last two years, my neighborhood has been doing a thing called Yokogawa Zombie Nights (Yokogawa being my neighborhood). Haunted houses, face painting, trick or treat, zombie flicks and Rocky Horror at the local arthouse theater, tons of food, zombie flash mobs, etc. As someone who loves Halloween and usually goes balls out with my ESS Halloween parties, I really couldn't be happier with how Halloween is growing in my area.
 
I'm at Joyfull right now. The menu is awesome.

I asked the waitress to add rice to my hamburger and ebi but she kept saying zero so it's either free or there will be zero rice for me. Lmfao.

Will find out soon.

I also asked for orange juice and apparently I can drink as much as I want from the machine.

EDIT: RAISU ARIMASU.

Oh man you went to Joyful, thats no problem then. I thought you were venturing into some small mom and pop place haha. Yeah they got all you can drink juice and tea ect. Joyful is easy to eat at
only been twice, once for ice cream at like 2am and other on a date haha
 

Porcile

Member
I find the toughest places to read menus are small local yakiniku places which sell offal. They use so many damn parts of the animal.子袋, anyone? lol. I usually go to these kinds of restaurants with a Japanese friend. Finding a local friend should be anyone's first goal if they stay here for an extended period of time.
 

Aizo

Banned
Or traditional soba places where my Japanese friends can't read the names of the things I don't know.

---

Are everyone else's Japanese friends superstitious? My friend is driving us around his hometown area and everyone's scared to go to this 心霊スポットwith me. My one friend said he didn't even wanna be around me if I go because I'll be cursed haha. This isn't the first time, either. Most of my Japanese friends say they are very scared of ghosts in the same breath that they'll say they're not superstitious.

It makes sense considering a lot of cultural activities, but it's amusing when people are this terrified of ghosts and being cursed.
 
Is Joyfully considered expensive?

For this first month I'll be trying different restaurants and supermarkets to get a better feel of how much I'll spend each month.

It's were the junior/high school kids go after school/on the weekends, and where the college kids go late at night so I'm going with no it's not considered expensive.
 

urfe

Member
If I remember correctly there's a decent bakery at Yotsuya Station? Called Paul's or something?

Kagurazaka has a lot of French people, and quite a few decent bakeries too. It's also just a nice area to walk around if you have the time.

When I lived in the countryside, there was a great German bakery for a while, but it eventually went Japanese mainstream. It was a sad day when that happened.
 

Hasemo

(;・∀・)ハッ?
If you don't want to use a bakery, there's one brand of bread available in most supermarkets which is quite decent, I can give you the name after I get home:
 

Fisico

Member
Is Joyfully considered expensive?

For this first month I'll be trying different restaurants and supermarkets to get a better feel of how much I'll spend each month.

It's a Family restaurant so it's not expensive, there are cheaper restaurants but not in the familyres category.

If you like tempura you should definitely try Tenya, especially the 18th every month.
 
I'm going to bother you all again with cultural questions.

1. Is it ok to play with kids in buses and trains? Because on my way to my room, I was riding the bus and this one kid (5yo?) on the seat in front of mine kept looking at me. I played peek a boo with her without saying a word, and she was smiling the whole time. The two ladies who were sitting with her whispered something to each other, so I stopped playing with the kid because who knows, maybe the Japanese finds offensive when strangers interact with their kids? I certainly was not ready to be deported. What do you guys think?

2. Do we not get receipts for the stuff we buy?

3. I'm going to meet my tutor tomorrow and the poor guy is NOT ready for all the questions I have. He is going to hate me.

And I really need a bicycle.

It's a Family restaurant so it's not expensive, there are cheaper restaurants but not in the familyres category.

If you like tempura you should definitely try Tenya, especially the 18th every month.

餃子の王将 all day long, baby! Definitely hit that up.

It's were the junior/high school kids go after school/on the weekends, and where the college kids go late at night so I'm going with no it's not considered expensive.

Thanks all.

I'm sacred of going to other restaurants to be honest, maybe when my Japanese gets better, lol.

The staff at Joyfull was really nice, the menu was kinda easy to understand, and the food was great! I'm going there again tonight to have dinner.
 

TheContact

Member
Japanese girls are so hot compared to the rest of the world. I don’t mean to sound ignorant or whatever but their skin is just ❤️ compared to other races. I would totes marry a Japanese woman if I had the chance
 

Izuna

Banned
Japanese girls are so hot compared to the rest of the world. I don’t mean to sound ignorant or whatever but their skin is just ❤️ compared to other races. I would totes marry a Japanese woman if I had the chance

quoting because lol
 

Aizo

Banned
I'm going to bother you all again with cultural questions.

1. Is it ok to play with kids in buses and trains?
Use common sense.
Japanese girls are so hot compared to the rest of the world. I don’t mean to sound ignorant or whatever but their skin is just ❤️ compared to other races. I would totes marry a Japanese woman if I had the chance
Well you do.

---

I'm starting to understand how people become as jaded and rude as expert after reading these posts.
 
Got my first interview set up for first week in October. Little nervous about how I will do. Unfortunately the company says that they probably won't have anything local until April at the earliest, so I am thinking about grabbing a short term part time job somewhere.

How rough do you think it will be to get a job stocking shelves or cleaning floors if I speak N5, N4 at best Japanese?
 
1. Is it ok to play with kids in buses and trains?

2. Do we not get receipts for the stuff we buy?

3. I'm going to meet my tutor tomorrow and the poor guy is NOT ready for all the questions I have. He is going to hate me.


I'm sacred of going to other restaurants to be honest, maybe when my Japanese gets better, lol.

The staff at Joyfull was really nice, the menu was kinda easy to understand, and the food was great! I'm going there again tonight to have dinner.

1. Same rules as anywhere else. And like Aizo said, use common sense. I'm sure it was 100% fine.

2. All the time, most restaurants, combini's, and bigger grocery/department stores ala Donky ect. Have little buckets or cup thingy's for the receipts.

3. It's his job, ask all the questions you got.

Japanese girls are so hot compared to the rest of the world. I don't mean to sound ignorant or whatever but their skin is just ❤️ compared to other races. I would totes marry a Japanese woman if I had the chance

Hope this is a drunk post, cause grats on being "That guy..." though not the worst i've seen on gaf.

How rough do you think it will be to get a job stocking shelves or cleaning floors if I speak N5, N4 at best Japanese?

Honestly, not likely. Might be able to wing it in a bigger city where they hire more foreign workers for places like combini's or department store staffer, but I would expect they want a higher level of understanding for reading at least. -maybe- though I don't know. My random encounters with foreign combini staff seem to have N2+ level Japanese most likely. Then again who knows how long they have lived here and what not.
 

Porcile

Member
Those places will hire anyone regardless of Japanese ability. People who work in Conbinis and restaurants, stock shelves, pack boxes etc are nowhere near N2 ability. That's not a dig at them.
 

Darksol

Member
I'm going to bother you all again with cultural questions.

1. Is it ok to play with kids in buses and trains? Because on my way to my room, I was riding the bus and this one kid (5yo?) on the seat in front of mine kept looking at me. I played peek a boo with her without saying a word, and she was smiling the whole time. The two ladies who were sitting with her whispered something to each other, so I stopped playing with the kid because who knows, maybe the Japanese finds offensive when strangers interact with their kids? I certainly was not ready to be deported. What do you guys think?

2. Do we not get receipts for the stuff we buy?

3. I'm going to meet my tutor tomorrow and the poor guy is NOT ready for all the questions I have. He is going to hate me.

And I really need a bicycle.

1. I wouldn't play with my own students on a train let alone random strangers' kids but that's just me. I'm sure it wasn't a big deal; as others said, just use common sense.

2. Good luck not getting receipts. You'll be drowning in them. Learn to say that you don't need them or keep an eye out for the waste baskets that they conveniently keep near the counter for people to toss them.

3. This isn't a question :p
 
Honestly, not likely. Might be able to wing it in a bigger city where they hire more foreign workers for places like combini's or department store staffer, but I would expect they want a higher level of understanding for reading at least. -maybe- though I don't know. My random encounters with foreign combini staff seem to have N2+ level Japanese most likely. Then again who knows how long they have lived here and what not.

Gotcha. There's a volunteer Japanese class at the nearby university so I will practice there for now.

Thanks
 
My god this University is amazing.

And I'm coming from the best and the biggest University from South America.

BRAZIL IS CANCELLED

What if the University of Tokyo is even better than Tsukuba? Holy shit.

I loving Japan more and more. Especially now that I have a bicycle and I'm not paying 1300 for a meal. Ahhshahshs.

And I have a date tonight.

Life is good.
 

Fisico

Member
My god this University is amazing.

And I'm coming from the best and the biggest University from South America.

BRAZIL IS CANCELLED

What if the University of Tokyo is even better than Tsukuba? Holy shit.

I loving Japan more and more. Especially now that I have a bicycle and I'm not paying 1300 for a meal. Ahhshahshs.

And I have a date tonight.

Life is good.

You're in the discovery phase alright.
 

Porcile

Member
My god this University is amazing.

And I'm coming from the best and the biggest University from South America.

BRAZIL IS CANCELLED

What if the University of Tokyo is even better than Tsukuba? Holy shit.

I loving Japan more and more. Especially now that I have a bicycle and I'm not paying 1300 for a meal. Ahhshahshs.

And I have a date tonight.

Life is good.

Where you gonna take your date for dinner? I highly recommend a fancy Italian place called Saizeriya.
 

urfe

Member
Tsukuba is known to be one of the best for foreigners I think, especially grad students.

When I went to visit once, it was amazing how huge it was.
 
My god this University is amazing.

And I'm coming from the best and the biggest University from South America.

BRAZIL IS CANCELLED

What if the University of Tokyo is even better than Tsukuba? Holy shit.

The founder of my uni is on the freaking 10000 yen bill. Usually the biggest bill is reserved for the founder of the country or something of the sort. This fact kind of blew me away when I first heard it. To me this feels bigger than any university ranking or recommendation from students or praised teachers or whatever. The influence of Fukuzawa Yukichi is insane.
 

sprsk

force push the doodoo rock
Tsukuba is known to be one of the best for foreigners I think, especially grad students.

When I went to visit once, it was amazing how huge it was.

Yeah, Tsukuba is basically the least Japanese place you could probably find in Japan.

That said, it's kinda paradise for us gaijin. The way it's being developed, all the shops they have.


...Tsukuba Express linking straight to Akihabara...
 

urfe

Member
The founder of my uni is on the freaking 10000 yen bill. Usually the biggest bill is reserved for the founder of the country or something of the sort. This fact kind of blew me away when I first heard it. To me this feels bigger than any university ranking or recommendation from students or praised teachers or whatever. The influence of Fukuzawa Yukichi is insane.

I did my MA at Waseda, so we can be rivals. Or something.

Keio is the better school
 
I did my MA at Waseda, so we can be rivals. Or something.

Keio is the better school

Ah cool. One of my professors, Pokarier, is a professor from Waseda who is doing a guest course at Keio.

Errr'-- uhh-- I mean-- you Waseda scum, how dare you address me so casually. Let's settle this over a game of baseball.
 

Aizo

Banned
Hey, ponpo, you like gaijin paradise?
Yeah, Tsukuba is basically the least Japanese place you could probably find in Japan.

That said, it's kinda paradise for us gaijin. The way it's being developed, all the shops they have.


...Tsukuba Express linking straight to Akihabara...
 

Izuna

Banned
I might go to the fox village in Miyagi. Which also means going via Sendai I think? Or close enough...

Are there any volunteer stuff that non-Jaoanese speakers can do these days?
 

Aizo

Banned
I might go to the fox village in Miyagi. Which also means going via Sendai I think? Or close enough...

Are there any volunteer stuff that non-Jaoanese speakers can do these days?
I dunno about volunteer stuff, but go to Zuihoden and hang with our JapanGAF guy in Sendai. He’s cool.
 

KtSlime

Member
The founder of my uni is on the freaking 10000 yen bill. Usually the biggest bill is reserved for the founder of the country or something of the sort. This fact kind of blew me away when I first heard it. To me this feels bigger than any university ranking or recommendation from students or praised teachers or whatever. The influence of Fukuzawa Yukichi is insane.

I work across the street from his eternal resting spot. Fukuzawa was super influential in modernizing Japan.
 

Porcile

Member
I'd meet up with Japan Gaffers but my real life personality is so different to here that it would just be the weirdest thing ever.
 
I'd meet up with Japan Gaffers but my real life personality is so different to here that it would just be the weirdest thing ever.

Hahaha, I think that goes for most people, actually. Even if we don't mean to do it, our anonymous internet persona will always be different from our real selves, not least because we express ourselves differently in text, on a forum have all the time in the world to respond and thus respond differently, and lastly because it's actually quite difficult to imagine what a person really is, simply best on textual behavior.
 

Porcile

Member
I actually know a number of NeoGAF members in real life, based on some of the things they have posted, but they don't know I know they post here lol. It's best for all us, I got some personal invites to meet up when I started learning Japanese and moved to Japan. Probably wouldn't ever go through with it, unless you are a hot Japanese girl with that genetically racially superior skin ❤️ . I don't want to come across as ignorant though.
 

Izuna

Banned
I actually know a number of NeoGAF members in real life, based on some of the things they have posted, but they don't know I know they post here lol. It's best for all us, I got some personal invites to meet up when I started learning Japanese and moved to Japan. Probably wouldn't ever go through with it, unless you are a hot Japanese girl with that genetically racially superior skin ❤️ . I don't want to come across as ignorant though.

I mean, I'd be going to any meetup with bumblebae but that's not invitation.

I still can't believe that fucking comment...
 

Aizo

Banned
I'd meet up with Japan Gaffers but my real life personality is so different to here that it would just be the weirdest thing ever.
That’s not necessarily bad, though, unless your facade is important to you.
Hahaha, I think that goes for most people, actually. Even if we don't mean to do it, our anonymous internet persona will always be different from our real selves, not least because we express ourselves differently in text, on a forum have all the time in the world to respond and thus respond differently, and lastly because it's actually quite difficult to imagine what a person really is, simply best on textual behavior.
Yeah, I think a lot of my silly attitude doesn’t really translate and people think I’m being an asshole. I’m nicer in real life.
I actually know a number of NeoGAF members in real life, based on some of the things they have posted, but they don't know I know they post here lol. It's best for all us, I got some personal invites to meet up when I started learning Japanese and moved to Japan. Probably wouldn't ever go through with it, unless you are a hot Japanese girl with that genetically racially superior skin ❤️ . I don't want to come across as ignorant though.
I met Evilore, Gromph, and a few other members at a JapanGAF party years ago. Since then, I’ve met another 5 or so just individually, and it’s always been a good experience. I guess I kinda knew them before meeting them in person, so I knew I’d like them.
 

MightyKAC

Member
I met Evilore, Gromph, and a few other members at a JapanGAF party years ago. Since then, I've met another 5 or so just individually, and it's always been a good experience. I guess I kinda knew them before meeting them in person, so I knew I'd like them.

I remember that party. It was fucking dope.

After doing karaoke my voice was raw for like a week and I'm pretty sure Evilore has some incriminating videos of me.

We should really do that again one of these days.
 
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