Group Dating (Gokon) In Japan (合コン)

Days 1677 - 1683

Sunday, October 21 - Saturday, October 27, 2012    

Day 1677 ()

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Went to church this morning then spent the remainder of the day in my apartment. 

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Read this very interesting article recently. Japan is losing its population at an alarming rate. If they continue down this path, then its possible that by the next 500 years or so, there will be no more Japanese left on the planet. They will become extinct like the Mayans and Arawaks. So, my Jamaican male friends, come here (no pun intended. Or maybe just a little) and help repopulate this nation. The main problem is that, it is almost always expected of you to marry a girl if you should get her pregnant. If not, the female will be embarrassed possibly for the rest of her life. Unless her parents are open minded to that kind of stuff. Which is highly unlikely.  

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Day 1678 ( Group Dating In Japan )

Monday, October 22, 2012

Rode to work again today. Hey this is getting easier and easier. Plus more fun than just simply walking. And the ultimate, I save money. Even though this act is highly discouraged by my company .... 

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So there is this group dating thing in Japan called Gokon (合コン) or Konpa (コンパ) . It is where random "mostly" single people get together, eat, drink and chat, with the hope of picking up a partner at the end of the night. It is not so much of a bad idea especially in this culture where people are ultra shy. And where approaching a female in public is frowned upon. 

At these gokons, sometimes they play games in order to reduce the tension in the very Japanese atmosphere. But after a few drinks, everyone will be chatting. With the males telling their friends which female they are going to make a move at. Sometimes only a few females get all the attention while others (the not so attractive ones) get totally left out and ignored. 

Before world war 2, this practice was almost unheard of unless it was peers of the same sex. (This possibly explain why some of my male students avoid the females like a plague. Generational curse?) But after world war 2, this kinda stuff became increasingly popular. Maybe something else need to be developed in order for both the men and the Japanese population to "rise again". This is Japan, they will figure something out. 

I accidentally went to one of these gokons by mistake (honestly it was). It was an American friend of mine that invited me, and he himself wasn't sure what it was either. His Japanese friend simply told him, "hey lets go eat and drink with some people, and you can invite some friends if you want". Only to realize that a good couple of males and females were there as well. In all, about 20-30 of us or more. It was obvious that they were only 2 girls that the other guys saw of interest. Because at the end of the Gokon, all the males were flocking these 2 girls. The others had to sit back and watch. It was interesting and funny at the same time. Just watching the 2 girls being rushed by a barrage of Japanese men, while the other girls there just looked on. One of the girls had her hands at her jaw, just looking out into space. Welcome to group dating, Japanese style. 

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Day 1679 ( )

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

My main school is killing me with these 6 period of classes. I guess to make up for the many classes that were cut because of their sports day practicing. I seriously don't think I can do this even one more year. 

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Day 1680 ( )

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Just a normal day today, nothing really special.

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It also destroyed portions of Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas and is now heading for New York and its environs. 

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Day 1681 ( Happy Birthday Mom / Japan Has The second most Millionaires )

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Happy Birthday Mom.

After work, had to go to a company meeting. We have these meetings on the last Thursday of every month. I realized just now while writing this, that I am the only Jamaican male in my branch of the company I work for. There was 2 of us, but the other dude relocated to Tokyo. Anyway, when the meeting ended a couple of us Jamaicans and another friend went to TGIF to have dinner. 

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Day 1682 (  )

Friday, October 26, 2012

Was supposed to start swimming lessons at the YMCA today after teaching. But my swimming instructor had a meeting so I had to re-schedule.  

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Day 1683 ( Bicycle Ticketing )

Saturday-27-October-2012

Went to work at the YMCA this morning. Did a short Halloween thing with the kids, where they walked around the YMCA and collected sweets. 

After I was finished at the YMCA and got back to my station, I noticed that my lovely bicycle was missing. I looked around then finally saw it at a different location with a paper attached to it. I thought initially that I parked it at a wrong location but my friend said that it is probably an area where people should pay for parking their bicycles.