Chapter 4: The People of Tsukuba

OK, now that I’ve been in Tsukuba for 3 weeks, I’ll give a few comments on the people. The people are BORING! Seriously, this town doesn’t do shit.

First, the other foreign teachers. Most of them are pretty nice, but don’t go into the city enough. They mostly just float around Tsukuba, but don’t really do anything. They are always short on money, because they send most of what they make back home. There are very few Americans, which is cool. Most are from Scotland, and a couple of Australians. The Australians are the most fun by a long shot, along with this guy from California, but he lives kinda far away and commutes. The Scot’s and the other Americans are a bit dull.

Most of my nights out have been spent in Tokyo hanging out with friends from Kyoto. Most of the people I have met are friends of theirs. They are loads of fun, and Tokyo is fantastic with them because they know what to do, but I can only spend so much time in Tokyo. It’s an expensive city.

So, what do I do on the those Tsukuba nights? Nothing, really. Sometimes go to this Australian bar called Corkheads, with, well, the other Australian teachers. It’s an OK place, they make a pretty good burger, and have Bundy! But it just reminds me of an American style bar, which is something I’m trying to get away from. We also go to the karaoke a lot, but nobody ever knows the songs I sing. Oh, and I have to say the best karaoke songs ever are “Parklife” by Blur and “Common People” by Pulp.

So how about the Japanese in Tsukuba? Well, Tsukuba is mostly a research town, so most of the Japanese are researchers in this area. In other words, they don’t really do a lot. They sit around and talk about their research crap. We’re not supposed to hang out with our students, but I’ve found a connection with one of the girls from the conversation table. She is a university student who finds the same problems I do with Tsukuba. The thing is, we really can’t think of anything to do in Tsukuba, so we’re just making plans to hang out in Tokyo. Blast.

But yes, I’m going down to Tokyo for the entire weekend. My host family from Kyoto is coming up to see me, so we’re going to check out the city. Good times that should be.