The Shinjuku Police...

Are astoundingly polite. Friday night, while having one of our "crazy nights on the town," I was made personally aware of the above-mentioned fact. I'll elaborate.

We stayed out past the last train in Shinjuku, and took to marching through the streets, going from bar to bar. At one point, we even just bought whiskey from a convenience store, split it into the Coke bottles, and stood outside of a petshop, watching the puppies and kitties sleep away their night. We found a rock bar, roughly about the size of the average American closet. Beers were cheap, and you could play any music for free. The other guys in the bar had a pretty poor taste in music, and we immediately instigated a rock battle. I'll see your Oasis, and raise you Black Flag. Once we started playing CRASS at max volume, I think it became clear who was the winner. Josh and I danced (by which I mean jumping around and putting various objects over our heads), before we were asked to leave.

But, as the night became morning, we ended up tucked into some small bar, spending the last of the money in our pockets. And, at some point, perhaps while in the bathroom, I fell asleep. Josh looked for me, but was so drunk that, as the bar was closing for the night, he assumed I must've headed back home on my own. The police were called, and they carried me to the nearest police station and showed me to the drunktank.

And, I have to tell you, it wasn't half bad. I was in there alone, sleeping on a nice vinyl mat for a few hours. The police were incredibly courteous to me, all things considered. When they woke me up, they had me sign myself out, but I felt so hungover, I just asked to be put back in the drunk tank for a couple more hours. They laughed really hard, bought me a water, helped clean me up, and sent me on my way.

Needless to say, I felt pretty nasty for a long time afterward, and I'm laying low today to try to expedite my progession to wellness before heading off to work tomorrow morning. I bet the kids have no idea what their teacher can be like in his spare time. They'd be shocked, I'm sure.