"Tokyo: Non-stop Party City" Tokyo by dln6874

As summarized on my Japan page, I can't say I enjoyed 'living' in Tokyo. It seemed quite difficult to do anything when you are accustomed to the comfort of US. The apartments were ridiculously small. I initially lived in a tiny tiny studio which, after 6 months, you couldn't see the floor of because I'd accumulated so much stuff. After Will moved to Japan, we moved into a 1BR apt together but a year or so later, I bet he was glad I was leaving Japan because it was getting too crowded for the 2 of us. I think he still lives in that apartment on his own and it's just the perfect size for him.

These tiny apartments aren't cheap either. My tiny studio went for 12,000 yen per month, and the 1BR went for 24,000 yen per month. Both were brand new tho when we started renting it. Everything else in Tokyo is expensive too. Food, clothes, etc. I never bought clothes in Japan. For starters, I didn't like the types of clothes they wore, and I don't think I want to look like every other young Japanese girls anyways.

For the same price you pay in the US for food, you get about half of the portion. While I didn't like forking out money for it, I liked the fact that I didn't feel like I was wasting food because I could actually finish the portions. I liked Japanese food, but it was difficult to cook. You don't get a lot of microwave meals in Japan like you do here. My diet consisted mostly of rice balls and I ended up losing 15lbs over the 2 yrs. I was there.

Working in Japan sucks. Period. For some reason, Japanese people like to work long hours, longer than hours in NY. I tried to leave work at 1830 one time and some asked 'leaving already?' I wanted to say 'What the hell are you talking about? I did a 9 hr day already.'

I didn't particularly care for the job I was doing either - IT in Finance. I think I might have enjoyed it more if I was doing something like teaching English or something.

Tokyo was more fun than NY in some ways. It seems all events were held in large groups - groups of about 30 or 40 - so it was always easy to meet and make new friends. Lucky for me, one of the close friends I had there (Matt Cox) was big into organizing all kinds of stuff so there was always something going on.

There were so many countless events that I went to in the 2 years I was there. So many memorable moments.

- Brazilian party at Acaraje where I met Matt & Otoe
- Hikes with Akemi
- Halloween parties with Tei; Joe and Rich's ganguro costume
- Karaoke nights (karaoke was just everywhere)
- Going to Izu with Maki and Otoe and taking the wrong train
- Mt. Fuji climb
- Exile on Sado Island and Matt's silly hat
- Snowboarding with the Snow Lesbians
- Rich's white trash party
- Seeing the Koyou with Daryl and Chiho
- Golden Week vacations in Thailand, Cambodia, India, and Nepal
- Hanami
- Tokyo Disneyland and Kamakura with Will
- Tokyo Prom 2000
- Christmas party in Ebisu
- John and Will buying a frozen turkey on the morning of Thanksgiving
- Edogawa Hanabi Taikai
- J-Men's with Otoe
- Ferry ride to Niijima Island
- Playing cards in TGIF, up & down the river
- The bubble game
- John and Mari switching beds; Daryl's face after he realized who he was cuddling
- Shabu shabu before the last run
- New Year's with family
- Onsen

• Pros:so much to do
• Cons:can't save any money