My morning was slow - woke up late, made some phone calls, updated my blog.
I didn't get out until past noon, and started my day with some gyudon (beef on rice), and a short train ride into Osaka Station.
Attached to the station is Daimaru Department Store, where I explored Tokyu Hands (an awesome store for all things cute and practical) and the Osaka Pokemon Center (full of little kids and Nintendo DS toting geeks). I then walked around outside, stopped to listen to an Ecuadorian street musician. I wandered into Hankyu Department Store, checked out the food markets and went to a kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi restaurant). I'm pretty sure they overcharged me (I got four items, they charged me for six...), but I didn't say anything because no one spoke English and I didn't know how to politely tell them to go f*** themselves in Japanese. Also, I was slightly disappointed with the sushi, but the miso soup with clams made up for it. I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea to eat a place that isn't a hole in the wall, that was stupid of me. I should know better by now.
After that, I walked back to Osaka Station and trained it back to Fukushima Station (where my hostel is). Rachel was just about to head out to the airport, so we said goodbye - until New Years (we'll both be in Tokyo).
I laid down for a bit before a new roommate came in - a Japanese high school guy with limited English speaking ability. His name is Hiromi (I think). We went for yakitori and chatted in broken Japanese and broken English. Having a conversation is impossible when you have a very limited vocabulary! >.<
The food was really good - he did all the ordering. We got soft chicken bone, chicken thigh, chicken breast with scallion (my personal favorite), fatty fish belly, and beer.
When traveling, it's always nice to bring something little along to give to people you meet. I thought baseball cards from the Philadelphia Phillies would be good because the Japanese looooove baseball. Hiromi said that he has played baseball for the last eight years, so I pulled out the cards and told him to pick one. He was so excited - his reaction was definitely worth bringing them along. He settled for Cole Hamels, in case you were wondering. (Note: I had to look him up to see why I chose him. #sportshaterproblems)
Back at the hostel, I hung out in the lounge area and talked with several people - Hiromi, Sutekina Ojiisama, two girls from Hong Kong, an Australian guy (who didn't ask if I studied Japanese and began translating things for me...), a German girl, and a Taiwanese guy. Lots of fun! I was forced to try natto (fermented soybean), which wasn't as bad as I expected.
Random fact...
Words I've heard most frequently: 「ええええ？」(ehhhh?), 「すごい」(awesome), 「かわいい」(cute), 「いらしゃいませ！」(welcome to our shop!), 「ありがとうございます」(thank you), and 「すみません」(excuse me).
Also. So.Much.Bowing.
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