Kickin' It

PII gives most of its students quite a bit of work, but if you're dumb enough to get stuck in the basic second year level like me, then you'll find you have some free time on your hands. So here's what I've been doing when I'm not reading Momotaroo.
On the weekends, the Katamachi district in Kanazawa has a reasonable nightlife. There's karaoke, furikura, bars, and clubs. Since I turned twenty on the flight to Japan, all of this is open to me, although it seems the drinking age isn't very strictly enforced here, so really its open to anybody who looks reasonably mature. Not that I look mature, but my international ID gives me some confidence that can be mistaken for maturity.
My only big night out thus far involved Karaoke and Chuu Hai, a beverage that tastes like soda but is 7% alcohol. Thanks in part to the Chuu Hai, I rocked the mic that night. My rendition of Break Stuff by Limp Biskit was particularly moving. Or scary. It depends on who you talk to.
Generally, I'm too tired and too poor (I was down 3ooo yen after my Karaoke binge) to go out. Luckily, chilling with my host family is always a worthwhile experience. They've taken to teaching me various Japanese games, and most of them are awesome. I'm a particularly big fan of Shogi, a Japanese variation on Chess. There are quite a few differences between the two (just check out the starting arrangement above) but the main difference is that in Shogi, when you capture an opposing piece, you get to keep it, and drop it into play at some later point in the game. I beat my host 13 year-old brother with the help of my host mom, and yesterday, I beat my host sister without anyone's help (and yes, I just bragged about beating a ten year-old girl. I'm not ashamed.)
For alone time, I've picked up a few books at the international library located in the same building as PII. I just finished Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, it was a bit strange. Now I've moved on to the Harry Potter series. Sure, I've read them all before, and they have absolutely nothing to do with Japan. But come July 21st, I will never be able to enjoy these books the way I have for the past nine years of my life. So they deserve one last read.