#NerdsUnite: Around the world with @HeatherReusz
<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Heather. She's a nerd who is currently living in Japan by way of Chicago. Yep, talk about a culture shock. She's here today to talk about her life, love (which she is currently balancing long distance) and all things nerd. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT HEATHER!!! </editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @HeatherReusz
This week marked the final visitor from America for me in Japan. One of my best friends and former roomie just left this morning. After all the visitors and touring around I’ve done this month, I thought for sure that I would grow tired of the same sights and places. In fact, the opposite happened. As I showed Meg around I felt myself really appreciating everything that I was seeing. I was trying to soak it all in making lists in my head of what I would miss about all of these landmarks. I know I’m going to miss being able to hop a train to Tokyo just because I’m bored on a weekend. I hoped that I wasn’t a downer as this put me in a kind of melancholy day dreamy state. I’m sure that once I come back to America I’m going to have to look at my pictures sometimes to convince myself that I really did live in Japan.
Despite my distracted state of mind, we had a great time! We did a couple of different things from the other visits that stood out. I think we had the most fun though on our night out on the town. We bonded in college over drinking and clubbing so I knew it would be a pretty high priority on her list. I’ve been clubbing in Tokyo a couple of times before. I’m personally partial to either Shibuya or Roppongi. I took her to Roppongi since that is a very foreigner friendly area of Tokyo. It’s also the only place in my life where I have been treated like a VIP and been bumped to the front of a club line. Almost everything is in English in the area and they welcome foreigners very freely. My favorite club on the strip has a nice mix between Japanese and foreigners. It’s small enough to be personal without being packed tight.
Going clubbing in Tokyo is always a BLAST! First of all, the DJs rock. They are mostly awesome. Of course you run into some that aren’t anything special but that’s bound to happen. Second, a lot of the women are a bit shy about dancing here. Makes it more fun for me because I open up the dance floor at a lot of these smaller places I go to while all the other ladies gather up their confidence or I get drunk enough to goad them onto the floor. Third, the guys are more respectful and/or shy. Even when I am dancing all by myself, guys will generally dance around me not grind up on me like I used to experience in America. Only one time have I had a guy get a bit handsy. It was Halloween so I was dressed up and looking a bit slutty BUT he came right up to me and flipped up my skirt. I turned around and slapped him. My friends were a bit horrified. They explained that people don’t really smack the pervs. I shrugged, told them it was instinct, and then added that he was never going to mess with a foreign girl again. Great life moment. Add 300 yen, about $3.50, drinks and shots to this and you will end up with a great night.
We observed something new this time around though. The dance floor was mainly inhabited by men again but this time all the guys were amazing dancers. They were not just break dancing but busting into full on choreographed numbers. I asked some guys at the bar who spoke English if it was a show. They said that it wasn’t. They were regulars on Thursday nights apparently. Having never been out on a Thursday night, I had never seen them. As soon as we tried to dance, they were blocking us out of the floor. We started our own little circle on the outside of the dance floor though. It was just really fun to see these guys going all out. Note to them: if you’re trying to attract the ladies (or guys), you should probably let them dance with you. You never quite know exactly what you are going to experience and that makes it even more fun! Having to drunkenly run to the last train of the night back home is also a blast which seems to happen more than I’d like to admit but also not nearly enough.