Changing Impressions of Japan

The main thing I've noticed about my view of Japan now is how at home I feel here, despite how alien everything was when I first came here. I finally got to see my robot, I've come to depend on vending machines and think of my bicycle as if it were my car.

Some of the Japanese friends I've made here will stick with me for life and I think it'll be quite a while before I go back to saying 'ok' instead of 'daijobes'.

I've been to a lot of places in Japan since I've come here but I think that the things I will remember most are the people that I've met here and the friends that I've made

Eriko, Tatsuya and Haruna's dance troupe at Gaidaisai

my friend, Daisuke, scaring innocent animals

I became quite intimately aquatinted with the Osaka club scene, from gaijin dens, to various hidden gems. It's amazing how much the night life can vary from country to country and Osaka has a very active hip hop scene.

The DJs having a spin-off at Azure

Big Spenders really will buy the $500 champagne

Japan is a difficulty country to fully integrate into, but I'm still starting to find myself familiar with even the kanji I haven't learnt yet and trying to guess what things mean. If anything, when I go home, everything in LA will seem too simple, and I'll be bored with being able to read everything so easily.

My speaking partner, Maimu, being 'ninja'

Life in Japan is never simple, but always interesting. I feel like 4 months has only scratched the surface, but what I've uncovered, I've loved.

Football in Japan

I'm a big football fan in England and finally managed to a game in Japan. I went to a match of Gamba Osaka against Shyonan.

When we got there, there were crowds of people and a food festival going on outside with food available from multiple different countries and parts of Japan

Gamba Osaka's official Bistro

Two girls enjoying their pre-match food

The thing I was surprised by was the fact that the team had their own official food stall, the food festival had a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere - which was enjoyable, although very different from the type of pre-match feeling I was used to.

When we went through the ticket check, we were given a small bag with a programme of the match in it, some coupons and small memorabilia. As someone who wasn't familiar with players and tactics of the team, I found the programme very useful.

When we were seated, the excitement started to rise a little. Shyonan had only a small number of away fans supporting them, but they were very loud in their support

Shyonen fans show their dedication with banners, a dance and a whole lot of singing

However, perhaps inevitably, they were getting drowned out by the multitude of Gamba fans. We were sat in the cheap seat, where there wasn't an empty chair to be seen, but some of the more expensive chairs had been left empty. The Gamba fans were loud, rowdy and passionate - I managed to pick up the basics of at least three of their chants, which I suppose implies impressive enunciation on their part.

where we were sitting

the slightly sparse fans on the far side had a cheerleading show at half-time. Something you don't see in England

my favourite banner from the stadium

So there were some similarities and a few differences, but the most important aspects - the passion, the excitement and the camaraderie were all present. And to top it all off, Gamba won - of course!

Pre-match huddle