Coming up to Emiko's & Yoshi's house

Coming up to Emiko's house
Video sent by pmirecki

Only about 8 o'clock, but already dark over here. Just a short video so you can see what it's like at night over here. Pretty quiet area, I just got back from looking at another room in a guesthouse. Even managed to go by bus, and not get lost, even though there's no English writing, and not even the Kana names of the bus-stops. I was quite proud of myself. But then I got lost in Kichihjoji, just walking around and had to ask a police man. Oh well...
Met two Americans at the guest house, and we walked around a bit and went for a drink. Told me about a website, which I thought I ought to share: www.couchsurfing.com. I reckon, moving into a guesthouse would help me a lot, once I start travelling, but if I want to learn more about the culture and language, living with at least a few Japanese is definitely better.
This was also the first time, a girl came up to the three of us, saying something like "Please, can you teach me English". One of the guys was quite happy to take on the task, but as Emiko said later on, it's a job you should actually get paid for. And I've got me luvly gal back home. So I guess I will avoid free English lessons, unless it's for friends. Also, this whole English/ Japanese learning seems to be part a strange and dodgy dating / mating ritual. Yesterday, I found an ad on one of the accomodation-offering boards on the net from someone offering free English lessons, and pretending to be a native English speaker (but with quite a few spelling and grammar mistakes in the online ads) posting things like: "Subject:Hajimemashitte! Nice to meet you! I am young male from Toronto, Canada teaching English in Tokyo, looking for serious girlfriend! ..." When I tried to find the ad today, they had all been taken off the different boards and forums, so I guess most people are aware of this stuff. Maybe I'll contact the guy the next time I find an ad like that and meet up with him. Could be romantic!