Pierrot le Fou
08-16-2005, 04:36 AM
This is a post made originally by me to another forum. I figure that I can post them here and give you all parts of a different perspective from Az's on this job/Japan, as well as giving me a chance to re-read some of my prior experiences, and potentially make someone smile.
Originally Posted: May 7th, 2004
In Japan, there's this marvelous time called 'Golden Week' where the holidays fall in such a clump as to provide for an extended break from anything productive (which is a true rarity in Japan).
Unfortunately, my girlfriend was slated to go to Nepal, and abandon me for 8 days of loneliness, until my friend from the states decided to pick up the slack by paying me a visit.
Now this was all well and good -- a week plus a day off, a friend visiting from home, and reunited hanky-panky.
That is when my plans all collapsed and fell apart. Instead of a week, it turns out that Golden 'Week' is only 3 days, not 5, and this spoiled my plans of mid-afternoon love when my girlfriend returned. My friend, rather than trying to speak recognizable English to my local friends who can speak English just dandy, decided to make things as difficult as possible and made me translate.
Compound that with the fact that I was stuck in a tiny room living with a guy who snores, and my plans seemed to be going nowhere good.
Come Wednesday, my last true day of freedom before work, and a fun trip to Nara to see some sights, do some walking, meet up with a native English speaker, and relax with some darts. All was going well until the Japanese party from Hell showed up. Sporting a 4th grade elementary school kid, I decided to teach the young gent how to throw darts. In return, we were presented with beverages to wild abandon -- free of charge, and some oh-so-unstunning conversation.
Being the Cinqo de Mayo, my friend decided that he needed to drink "Corona Locos" which consist of a corona with a shot of tequila in it.
He got drunk.
The shots of tequila the Japanese fed him on top of that didn't help. Trying to make the last train, he was not so adept at walking, which was bad because we were not doing so well on time due to his inability to be pryed away from people whose language he did not speak.
We get to the train station, having missed the last train, and I'm dreading having to get to work the next day.
I call my friend in the next town to see if we can stay with her, and that's okay, so I'll just have to get up arse early to get back in time -- but such is the price to pay for fun. The train comes to pick us up and take us to her apartment, so I tell my drunk stumbling friend that it's time to get the train. The Japanese person who I'd apologized to for my friend being so drunk suddenly disappeared behind me, and I turn around to see him pulling my friend off the opposite set of tracks. Helping him up, we get on the train, as I notice blood droplets following his steps.
His nose had suffered the brunt of the blow.
Handing him something to cover his nose and stop the bleeding, we get to my friends apartment, and shove him in the shower to clean off and sober up. It accomplished neither. What it did show us was the extent of his two injuries, as his nose was in royal not-goodness, and his leg was sporting a half-centimetre deep gash.
Not good.
We tell him that we are going home, and take him to the hospital instead. He doesn't want to go to the hospital for lack of insurance. He doesn't realize we aren't at my house until we go through the doors to the hospital. He refuses to cooperate, fill out forms, or stay in the building. I am trying to explain, with my non-fluent Japanese (especially not with medical terms) what happened, how much this would cost, blah blah blah.
Finally we get him to see a doctor. He refuses to get stitches for his leg. He is drunk beyond belief. He keeps yelling at me to translate his ramblings which consist of "I am fine, I just hit my leg, no biggie." I was not content.
At about 3:30am, we get out of the hospital, three of us having to work the next day, and me having to catch a train to get back home to get to work. I had e-mailed my boss to tell him I was at the hospital, and that I may not be able to work the next day. I woke up late, called my office, and told them that I couldn't come in.
It was not a good day.
Now I really like my friend, honest, he's a great guy -- but I just have to rant about the royal pain in the arse that he was. And I don't know how to deal with it. I am not content with this whole situation, or the crap he's put me through, and he doesn't remember any of it. I'm trying to tolerate his constant presence, but the giant swollen nose reminds me of what an *** he was that night, and it's bugging me. I've essentially told him to be out by monday, because I need to focus on work, and he tends to derail that notion, but God only knows what that'll do to our friendship.
I am just glad that my girlfriend is back today and that I get to see her again, because I need some non-that-friend contact that will put a smile on my face, and I can stay at her place for the weekend too.
I just don't know what to do or how to cope, and it's driving me bonkers.
This isn't really a thread with a question, or a point, just really a vent. Good people do bad things sometimes, but this is just one of those Murphy's laws things I suppose. I just need to say it somewhere rather than spreading venom amongst the people who actually have to deal with him. I don't want him to view Japan in a bad light, but I don't know how else to deal with all this stuff other than to actually say what's on my mind.
The guy is here for a month, two weeks of which will be spent elsewhere than my place. He's been here for a little over a week, which means that after those two weeks he'll be back at my place for a couple days. Would you tolerate him for those days? Ask him to find another place to stay? Would you be pissed at my actions if you were him? How much responsibility do you place on someone who was just that drunk?
There just are no good answers for me, and it's just a crappy situation. I wish there were a better way to deal with all of this, but I can't help but feel I'm up the proverbial creek without a paddle.
-----
Follow-up: I forgave my friend, we had a blast with his newly healed face when he returned from his trip around Japan on his own, and all was well in the world. I laugh at the story now, especially when anyone else talks about how they had the guest from Hell, pointing out that I was forced to help out a friend who made me miss the last train then took a swan dive off the wrong side of a train platform...
Originally Posted: May 7th, 2004
In Japan, there's this marvelous time called 'Golden Week' where the holidays fall in such a clump as to provide for an extended break from anything productive (which is a true rarity in Japan).
Unfortunately, my girlfriend was slated to go to Nepal, and abandon me for 8 days of loneliness, until my friend from the states decided to pick up the slack by paying me a visit.
Now this was all well and good -- a week plus a day off, a friend visiting from home, and reunited hanky-panky.
That is when my plans all collapsed and fell apart. Instead of a week, it turns out that Golden 'Week' is only 3 days, not 5, and this spoiled my plans of mid-afternoon love when my girlfriend returned. My friend, rather than trying to speak recognizable English to my local friends who can speak English just dandy, decided to make things as difficult as possible and made me translate.
Compound that with the fact that I was stuck in a tiny room living with a guy who snores, and my plans seemed to be going nowhere good.
Come Wednesday, my last true day of freedom before work, and a fun trip to Nara to see some sights, do some walking, meet up with a native English speaker, and relax with some darts. All was going well until the Japanese party from Hell showed up. Sporting a 4th grade elementary school kid, I decided to teach the young gent how to throw darts. In return, we were presented with beverages to wild abandon -- free of charge, and some oh-so-unstunning conversation.
Being the Cinqo de Mayo, my friend decided that he needed to drink "Corona Locos" which consist of a corona with a shot of tequila in it.
He got drunk.
The shots of tequila the Japanese fed him on top of that didn't help. Trying to make the last train, he was not so adept at walking, which was bad because we were not doing so well on time due to his inability to be pryed away from people whose language he did not speak.
We get to the train station, having missed the last train, and I'm dreading having to get to work the next day.
I call my friend in the next town to see if we can stay with her, and that's okay, so I'll just have to get up arse early to get back in time -- but such is the price to pay for fun. The train comes to pick us up and take us to her apartment, so I tell my drunk stumbling friend that it's time to get the train. The Japanese person who I'd apologized to for my friend being so drunk suddenly disappeared behind me, and I turn around to see him pulling my friend off the opposite set of tracks. Helping him up, we get on the train, as I notice blood droplets following his steps.
His nose had suffered the brunt of the blow.
Handing him something to cover his nose and stop the bleeding, we get to my friends apartment, and shove him in the shower to clean off and sober up. It accomplished neither. What it did show us was the extent of his two injuries, as his nose was in royal not-goodness, and his leg was sporting a half-centimetre deep gash.
Not good.
We tell him that we are going home, and take him to the hospital instead. He doesn't want to go to the hospital for lack of insurance. He doesn't realize we aren't at my house until we go through the doors to the hospital. He refuses to cooperate, fill out forms, or stay in the building. I am trying to explain, with my non-fluent Japanese (especially not with medical terms) what happened, how much this would cost, blah blah blah.
Finally we get him to see a doctor. He refuses to get stitches for his leg. He is drunk beyond belief. He keeps yelling at me to translate his ramblings which consist of "I am fine, I just hit my leg, no biggie." I was not content.
At about 3:30am, we get out of the hospital, three of us having to work the next day, and me having to catch a train to get back home to get to work. I had e-mailed my boss to tell him I was at the hospital, and that I may not be able to work the next day. I woke up late, called my office, and told them that I couldn't come in.
It was not a good day.
Now I really like my friend, honest, he's a great guy -- but I just have to rant about the royal pain in the arse that he was. And I don't know how to deal with it. I am not content with this whole situation, or the crap he's put me through, and he doesn't remember any of it. I'm trying to tolerate his constant presence, but the giant swollen nose reminds me of what an *** he was that night, and it's bugging me. I've essentially told him to be out by monday, because I need to focus on work, and he tends to derail that notion, but God only knows what that'll do to our friendship.
I am just glad that my girlfriend is back today and that I get to see her again, because I need some non-that-friend contact that will put a smile on my face, and I can stay at her place for the weekend too.
I just don't know what to do or how to cope, and it's driving me bonkers.
This isn't really a thread with a question, or a point, just really a vent. Good people do bad things sometimes, but this is just one of those Murphy's laws things I suppose. I just need to say it somewhere rather than spreading venom amongst the people who actually have to deal with him. I don't want him to view Japan in a bad light, but I don't know how else to deal with all this stuff other than to actually say what's on my mind.
The guy is here for a month, two weeks of which will be spent elsewhere than my place. He's been here for a little over a week, which means that after those two weeks he'll be back at my place for a couple days. Would you tolerate him for those days? Ask him to find another place to stay? Would you be pissed at my actions if you were him? How much responsibility do you place on someone who was just that drunk?
There just are no good answers for me, and it's just a crappy situation. I wish there were a better way to deal with all of this, but I can't help but feel I'm up the proverbial creek without a paddle.
-----
Follow-up: I forgave my friend, we had a blast with his newly healed face when he returned from his trip around Japan on his own, and all was well in the world. I laugh at the story now, especially when anyone else talks about how they had the guest from Hell, pointing out that I was forced to help out a friend who made me miss the last train then took a swan dive off the wrong side of a train platform...