I was more impressed with the amount of people in business suits that it didn't make me nervous to ride the subway. We walked for a block and we reached Ginza. As I walked through the streets of Ginza, I thought to myself, "what time do the lights turn off?"
As we pass by the neon lit buildings, Jayson starts to yell, "we have just walked through one of the most expensive real estate in all of Tokyo."
"Oh, thats right, the 'Rodeo Drive' of Japan," I replied.
He raises his voice again, "this building right here is a world famous landmark. It is the Wako Department Store."
I thought to myself, "I could see why this would be a landmark, it didn't look like the other buildings."
Ginza has a lot of modern buildings. 
Wako had a European flavor to it.
The architecture here is very different from what we have back in Hawaii. Japan sends their people to other countries to learn about art, architecture, and basically everything else you can think of. When those, I guess we can call them "research specialists" return, they take what they learned and make it their own. When we were walking at the base of the building, I didn't even realize, the building had a European influence. I thought it was just another modern building. I didn't know until Jayson said something about it. We crossed the street and got a better look at the famous Wako Department Store. I could definitely see the intricate details and of course, the clock tower was a dead giveaway. Oddly enough, the highlight of the day was not the walk down the most expensive real estate or the world famous Wako, it was the dinner we had with Meijigakuin Daigaku students.
It was my first time witnessing Japanese tradition in person. As soon as I stepped into the restaurant we were asked to take off our shoes. I thought this was kind of weird because we were in a public restaurant and I did not know how dirty the floor was. It turns out, the floor was actually very clean.
We got settled into our seats and the students started to show up. These three students: Sou, Eri, Yuki, and Haruna (pictured below) were the ones brave enough to sit with me. (Jayson said we had to spread out to make it easier to socialize). We did our little introductions and the dinner began. The first thing these students taught me was the tradition of not pouring your own drink. "This is the Japanese way," Sou stated as he was pouring me beer into my glass.
He then poured a glass for everyone else on the table. When he was done pouring for everyone, I tried to pour him a glass, but Eri beat me to it. If I want to return the favor, I would have to act faster. They were just as excited to meet us as we were for them. They asked us questions they learned in their English classes like, 'how do you like Tokyo?' and 'how long is your stay?'
There was a definite language barrier we had to overcome. So instead of answering with only my English, I incorporated the universal body language to better describe my answers. I have to admit it was difficult at first, but when the drinks kept coming, it became easier. Body language truly is universal.
A few of the students started to walk around and mingle with us. Ai (left) was one of the students who visited my table. She was fun, outgoing, and she could speak English pretty well.
I decided to follow Ai's example and walk around.
Sou followed me with a bottle of Sake and two cups. He showed me how to offer people drinks. Give the cup to the person, start pouring, and say "doozo doozo," and the person responds "domo domo."
Very easy and to the point. I like it. We then set up a challenge for each other to go and meet at least three more students from each other's school. I'm glad we did this because we got to meet some interesting people. Sou got to meet Sharon and I met Naoko.
Travis and Jun join our table for a little fun. These Japanese students sure know how to have a good time. Jayson did say that when it is time to be serious, they're serious. When serious time is over, they let loose.
We bid the students farewell and our first night comes to an end. We take another stroll down Ginza and the streets are just as lively as how we left it a few hours ago. Our bodies were exhausted, but the streets just kept on flashing their neon lights. Does the city ever go to sleep?
The architecture here is very different from what we have back in Hawaii. Japan sends their people to other countries to learn about art, architecture, and basically everything else you can think of. When those, I guess we can call them "research specialists" return, they take what they learned and make it their own. When we were walking at the base of the building, I didn't even realize, the building had a European influence. I thought it was just another modern building. I didn't know until Jayson said something about it. We crossed the street and got a better look at the famous Wako Department Store. I could definitely see the intricate details and of course, the clock tower was a dead giveaway. Oddly enough, the highlight of the day was not the walk down the most expensive real estate or the world famous Wako, it was the dinner we had with Meijigakuin Daigaku students.
It was my first time witnessing Japanese tradition in person. As soon as I stepped into the restaurant we were asked to take off our shoes. I thought this was kind of weird because we were in a public restaurant and I did not know how dirty the floor was. It turns out, the floor was actually very clean.
We got settled into our seats and the students started to show up. These three students: Sou, Eri, Yuki, and Haruna (pictured below) were the ones brave enough to sit with me. (Jayson said we had to spread out to make it easier to socialize). We did our little introductions and the dinner began. The first thing these students taught me was the tradition of not pouring your own drink. "This is the Japanese way," Sou stated as he was pouring me beer into my glass.He then poured a glass for everyone else on the table. When he was done pouring for everyone, I tried to pour him a glass, but Eri beat me to it. If I want to return the favor, I would have to act faster. They were just as excited to meet us as we were for them. They asked us questions they learned in their English classes like, 'how do you like Tokyo?' and 'how long is your stay?'
There was a definite language barrier we had to overcome. So instead of answering with only my English, I incorporated the universal body language to better describe my answers. I have to admit it was difficult at first, but when the drinks kept coming, it became easier. Body language truly is universal.
A few of the students started to walk around and mingle with us. Ai (left) was one of the students who visited my table. She was fun, outgoing, and she could speak English pretty well.I decided to follow Ai's example and walk around.
Sou followed me with a bottle of Sake and two cups. He showed me how to offer people drinks. Give the cup to the person, start pouring, and say "doozo doozo," and the person responds "domo domo."Very easy and to the point. I like it. We then set up a challenge for each other to go and meet at least three more students from each other's school. I'm glad we did this because we got to meet some interesting people. Sou got to meet Sharon and I met Naoko.
Travis and Jun join our table for a little fun. These Japanese students sure know how to have a good time. Jayson did say that when it is time to be serious, they're serious. When serious time is over, they let loose.
We bid the students farewell and our first night comes to an end. We take another stroll down Ginza and the streets are just as lively as how we left it a few hours ago. Our bodies were exhausted, but the streets just kept on flashing their neon lights. Does the city ever go to sleep?
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