In Japan there is a yearly 5 day vacation known as golden week. The entire country literally comes alive as people take advantage of a much needed break to their normally endlessly busy lives. The big cities become bustling with couples and tourists and people simultaneously flock to more adventurous locations outside of the main metropolitan areas. This year Golden week started yesterday, on saturday. I arrived in Tokyo/ Yokohama on the weekend and am going to the Tochigi prefecture monday-wednesday.

I began Friday evening with a rather unexpected train ride ( I had planned on coming Sunday) to Yokohama. I joined my buddy Tatsuro and we promptly began an adventure. I dropped off my bag at his apartment and headed to the Flying Pig, a Yokohama favorite with a lively crowd. The mixed patrons and the semi-international feel of the bar always make it fine times, although the prices can be steep. Talking with some girls that had come to check out the small faced foreigner (in Japanese it means handsome but it sounds rediculous in English. I initially thought it may have been an insult :P ). I must say there are huge benefits to being so unique in a very ethnically homogeneous nation. Saturday I spent around Yokohama with another friend Kosei while Tatsuro was busy with school matters for a professor who turned 60 (a big event in Japan). Tomorrow I will go into Tokyo and check out the nightlife with some friends. We are planning on going to a bar in Shibuya, drinking and then heading for a club! I look forward to the adventures ahead.

And I never thought I would use this acronym but TGIGW!! (Thank God It’s Golden Week)