Supasta!
It was my first week in Japan and I was in Okayama for my job training with Amity. A few other trainers and I were hanging out at the train station`s shopping area. As we were walking, one of the trainers notcied that a group of girls (maybe around middle school age), were following us. I glanced over at the group and they were giggling at us. The group finally approached us and one of them timidly said "cheme?" The trainers and I didn`t know what the girl was asking. I was racking my brain for a translation of "cheme" but I was drawing a blank. Then the girl look at me made bouncing motion with her hand, and repeated "cheme?" Then it click with the trainers and me. The girl was saying team as i basketbalk team (hence the dribbling motion). The girls thought I was a basketball player. @_@ I just laughed and told them in Japanese I was just an English teacher.

Pocky Day in Shibuya

I was hanging out in Shibuya one day and I noticed a guy walking around with a long balloon thingy. I didn`t think too much of it till I saw some other people walking around with the balloons. I was curious to know where people had gotten them from, but I didn`t ask anyone. So I was about to head to the Shibuya train station, when I spotted a crowd of people at Shibuya 109. There seems to be a lot going on in front of this building. Being the nosy person I am, I decided to check it out. Sure enough, Glico was having some kind of giveaway for their products (Pocky, Pretz, etc.). I know that there had been quite a few Pocky commercials on TV (featuring popular female celebrities), so I wasn`t too surprised about the giveaway. There were two announcers on stage, but my Japanese wasn`t good enough to fully understand what was going on. So I just hopped in a line to get myself a Pocky balloon (pictured on the left), and four samples of Glico products. LOL I met some friends later that night in Shinjuku for dinner. Of course, we just came up with bunch of sex jokes involving Pocky. LOL even random Japanese people were in awe over the Pocky stick. We ended up eating at a restaurant near Kabukicho, and some of the host bar guys seemed to get a kick out of it. @_@

Clubbing in Japan
I love to dance, and I have often been the only black chick in the clubs. At many clubs, I`ve been the victim of "dance-bys." A dance-by is when one or two Japanese guys will dance with my for about half a song while their other friends watch. Then they just kinda hop away, and get praise from their friends. LOL it`s as if the guys that danced with me get a badge of "bravery." Of course, not all J-guys have done this. At one club I was at a J-guy latched on to me...and didn`t like go. I had to give him a good shove before he loosened his grip on me. Girls will do "dance-bys", but a little differently. A group of girls will watch me, then try to imitate whatever I`m doing. LOL, unlike the guys, these girls will dance around me for a while before moving on to something else. LOL I once taught a group of J-people how to electric slide. My gift was a glass od champagne. Too bad I don`t drink champagne. ^_^;

Blackaphilia?
I`ve seen the term "asianphile" and "japanaphile" thrown all over anime and japanese music message boards. These are usually people who are obessed with asian (Japanese in particular) culture and people, and shun their own culture. Well in Japan, I encounter a guy who had "blackaphilia." I met this guy I was looking for some cheap CDs at a used music store. He just started talking to me, telling me he was a soul singer that wanted to go to America. He showed me his books about Martin Luther King and Malcom X (even had a pic of MLK on his cell phone). He disliked most things Japanese: the people, the food, even his own name. He told me he thought ebonics was a beautiful language, and wanted me to teach him how to speak it. @_@ While I think it`s all good and fine to be interesting in black culture, this was a little too extreme for me.