All is dark, and people sit on the floor with legs crossed and eyes focused. Booming dancehall music erupts from a stack of speakers. An array of lights flash then we see her. She steps out regaled in a policeman outfit made of a dark, shiny material. Wearing dark glasses with a sneer on her [...]

June 14th, 2009  A Daquiri, I say, Is a sweet drink. It usually has strawberries in it, or some kind of fruit. You blend it with vodka, ice and a little sugar. In front of me, nodding and somewhat understanding, is a bartender at Planet Café. I’ve been trying to explain for roughly twelve minutes [...]

  I’m getting used to drunk Japanese girls. I’m at Captain Jerk, a Japanese-owned Jamaican restaurant and a cute girl named Ai is rubbing my hand. I’m chomping down on a particularly spicy Jerk chicken tortilla. She’s peppering me with questions. All in Japanese. “Where are you from?”“You are cool!” “Why did you learn Japanese?” [...]

Five guys are holding me. I grit my teeth and struggle as a mild weightlessness hits me. Someone is holding my legs; I’m being escorted out of a club. Angry voices escape the premises and rocket into the night air. Brazilian guys are barking at me in a mosaic of words I can’t understand. “Mi [...]

June 7th, 2009 In Skinny jeans and shoes unfit for sand, I’m helping to clean a beach. I’m an unofficial member of Surfquest, run by a tall manly-man looking guy named Mike, who’s responsible for thirteen miles of beach in Hamamatsu. I’d met him once in the city. He’s a builder. He built his house, [...]