BOO! Did I scare you?

Halloween in Japan is merely stolen from the West and the Japanese aren't quite sure what to make of it all. I was doing the same Halloween lesson for about three weeks at all my schools and I discovered that the kids all knew the stereotypes of Halloween, but didn't know why. For example, they know that kids say Trick-or-Treat, but they don't know what it means, because they sell all the candy and costumes here, but they don't go trick-or-treating and use all the stuff they buy! So to illustrate the practice of trick-or-treating, I brought candy to every class and made each student come and trick-or-treat with me and the Japanese teacher. They would have to pretend to knock on the door, and then they had to say the "magic word" and if they couldn't remember, then no candy! Eventually they all remembered, I wasn't actually so cruel as to only give them one chance.

Usually I am not so big on Halloween. I mean when you're an adult it is all about looking like a goof in a costume and usually a drinking party. Now I mean, where did all the candy go and the trick-or-treating?! Halloween used to be a time to compete for the best candy and the best costume. But this year I was convinced to take part in the adult Halloween fun - I bought a costume and everything. I went to Ageha with some of my other JET friends from Ibaraki, so of course Lauren was there!

Ageha is a very, very large night club just outside of Tokyo. It is in Chiba prefecture, but only about a 10 minute train from Tokyo Station. So to prepare for this wild and crazy night out, I went to my friend Chika's house and we got ready. She was a Pirate Queen, and I was the Devil. After we were all dressed, we hopped on the train to make our way into Tokyo. Now, as I said, the Japanese aren't quite sure what to make of Halloween, so Chika and I were the only two dressed up on the train. Naturally that garnered quite a few stares from our companions on the train. It was kind of fun being "the weirdo" all dressed up! When we met up with everyone in Tokyo, we looked like quite the odd bunch; it's helpful to travel in groups of freaks! haha

We stopped in a little place for some ramen and then jumped back on the train to head to the club. Oooh, I have left out a timeline. The club didn't open until 11pm, so we didn't even get on the train until 11pm. By the time we arrived, the line was forever long, so we waited. The cool thing about Ageha is that on Halloween, if you are wearing a costume and they think it is good enough, you don't have to pay the $40 cover charge. So I felt okay about spending $25 on my costume because it was cheaper than if I had just worn regular clothes and had to pay at the club. The club dresses up two of its employees and has them judge each costume as it comes through. If they say you can get in for free, yipee! If they veto - you must pay. I swear, all these people out there thinking they can just play G-d and toy with our emotions that way!

So after I got the clear to get in for free, we had to continue waiting in line. We waited in line for a grand total of two and a half hours! Now this is the first club I have ever been to, and the waiting in line silliness was not my favorite part. So around about 2:30am, we finally got into the club - and the place really was huge. The first place we enter is a large room with a huge bar. At each of the corners of the bar, there are wicked tall poles and every hour, four pole dancers come out for about 20 minutes or so. Now, the whole idea of pole dancers just sounds dirty, but if you actually watch them, they are incredibly strong!! I mean they shimmy up those poles like monkeys and then hold on with just their legs or just one arm. That is some crazy strength, and I mean, they can't wear too many clothes and do that, because it would be too slippery with all those clothes on!

But moving right along, after I had been there for a while, I ventured with some friends into the next room which is where all the loud techno music and dancing was happening. It was soooo crowed ed that we formed a little human train so we wouldn't lose each other twisting our way through all the people. We made our way out to the pool and it was completely insane! We wound our way back into the room with the bar and then found a little lounge just off the room with the bar. It was playing some nice music that you could dance to and had places to sit and chat too. We hung out in the lounge area dancing and being chill for the rest of the night.

Around 5:30am, we left the club and made our way back to the train. After waiting for the train to arrive and riding the train and transferring trains, I made it back to the door of my apartment about 8am. By this time, I had to shower and get ready to leave my house for the school festival at Sakai West. I got myself all ready and then spent the day at Sakai. Around 3:30pm I got home and just completely crashed. I don't know if I have been awake straight for so many hours for a very long time!

Halloween was a lot of fun though. But next time I want to try going to a smaller club with a smaller line in normal clothes. :)