A Day in Kichijoji

This is not going to be a super-exciting post. Let me just get that out of the way right...away. I live in Kichijoji. It's near Shinjuku and Shibuya, the west side of Tokyo. It's got some colleges nearby and is basically known as a place for youngsters to hang out. It's got a nice park and all the stores and restaurants I need. Some people call me a "Kichijoji Hikikomori." A "hikikomori" is basically a "shut-in" but worse than otaku. It doesn't necessarily mean nerdy like otaku. The real meaning is something kinda bad because its describing someone who never leaves their home...out of fear, I think.

Anyway, I like the place. I really don't need to go to a lot of other places really. What I do is basically ...

1. Wake up

2. Shower

3. Work

4. Come back home and change, look for new jobs on the internet

5. Go to a coffee shop and study Japanese

6. Come back home again, play XBox, look for new jobs on the internet again

7. Sleep.

8. Repeat.


When Mike, Tomo, and I go out we:

1. Go to a coffee shop to talk about the universe or study Japanese

2. Go out to eat somewhere (taco rice, veggie curry, Village Vanguard hamburgers, ramen place where they play T.I., Mexican buffet, Thai buffet, etc...just found a vegan place in town as well).

3. Go play Street Fighter 4 in the arcade

4. Go to Yodobashi Camera (a big electronics store, not just cameras). We go to the top floor to UniQlo to just look at all the cheap and nice clothes that we won't buy because we're in money-saving mode and then to the next floor just to listen to the music in Tower Records while reading the latest Metropolis magazine. After that we go to the first floor to look at all the Apple stuff we want to buy and maybe someday will.

5. Go back and watch downloaded episodes of Star Trek and play Halo..before or after that, Daily Show and Colbert Report streaming directly from their sites...don't need to torrent anymore...


When I'm with just Tomo, it's almost the same as with Mike except that we might cut out the nerdier stuff but she is starting to like Halo. That's kind of amazing actually. Also, maybe instead of Star Trek, it's Seinfeld or the Chappelle Show. The coffee and restaurant parts are the same. Except with Tomo ..at coffee shops, I talk about really stupid stuff or science and philosophy. Basically Tomo can already speak English so this is a good time for me to get my Japanese speaking practice in.

Now these are basic outlines of what I do most of the time. in between all these steps I'm checking my facebook, studying Japanese more, and looking for jobs on-line. When I ride the train, I like listen to my iPod. I find it a little hard to read on the train. I don't get trainsick. I just find it hard to concentrate enough. Also, lately, I've been playing NinjaTown for DS. That game is ...well, I shouldn't have started playing it. It's a little too addictive...it's really great but I think I'm losing valuable time over it...