Well, might I remind you that I live in the middle of nowhere next to a volcano. Sufficed to say that the social life in my town is quite limited when it comes to bars and such. There are plenty of snack bars where you can sing karaoke and drink watered down shochu (japanese style vodka) while a Japanese woman tells you what a magnificent voice you have and that your chopstick skills rival that of Mister Miyagi. So, much to the happiness of my parents and my liver my social life doesn't revolve that much around drinking. I occupy my time playing volleyball every Wednesday with a group of young people that live in my town. Also, on Tuesday nights I practice Judo. The interesting part of a beginner Judo class in small-town Japan is that it is almost all Elementary school students. Now picture yours truly with a group of about ten Elementary school students that are the height of my knees. The practice basically consists of me trying to pretend elementsary kids are kicking my butt or me really getting my butt kicked by the teacher. But I am slowly improving and might be trying for my black belt within the next year. Plus, the kids get a big kick out of the fact that they can go to school the next day and say they beat up on the foreign teacher.
Apart from that I do have a group of friends I hang out with and there is one bar in my town where I can find people close to my age. Its a really cool bar named "FLAVOR" with a hip-hop style to it. And to leave my mark I gave the owner a Georgia State flag that he has graciously hung from the ceiling. (I'm not sure which version of our state flag it is since it changes almost yearly). Occasionally I head into Kumamoto city for some half decent nightlife which usually consists of foreigner bars or some dance clubs and if its a good night ends in bowling (open 24 hours). Drinks are expensive here but aren't so bad when you count the fact that you don't have to tip.
As I have mentioned my town is amazingly beautiful and so I spend a good bit of time exploring and hiking around the area. Of course, I also travel to many different places and check out close-by countries while I have the chance. SO that's about it, maybe not too exciting but I like it. If you got any questions gimme a holler on email below. -Jamie
