Alexander's

A friend told me that most foreign students that are now studying at the Todai have been the crazy ones back home[^1] and to a certain degree I have to agree. Who else would go to Japan for at least one year, studying in a country where the language and the culture are totally different from Europe and hardly anyone speaks English. So it stands to reason, that we are also special here in Japan -- a lot more special than the average foreign student in Europe. Yes we truly are Aliens. Even the card we always have to carry with us says so -- 外国人登録証明書 the Certificate of Alien Registration

This Alien status has both it's perks and it's tradeoffs. Honestly what girl can resist a tall and handsome Alien, that can even stutter a bit of earthling language and goes to the best university known to man? Bring that one home and your future is secured. Todai-students are practically guaranteed to get a great job and Aliens are supposed to be great fun.[^2] Maybe you even get to live in one of the great and strange alien places most people only see in the movies.

The downside of this special status is a certain fame that surrounds the foreign Todai-students. Some have multiple girlfriends, some swap them faster than pants and some go out almost every evening and very seldom show up at university. The ones that don't do any of those things just don't stand out enough to make an impression.

How strong this impression is can best be described with an example.

On Saturday I went to a restaurant close to university, with a few people from my Japanese class. To be precise we were two Chinese girls -- one of them happily married -- a Swedish guy with shoulder long blond hair and myself sitting at a table. Soon after we arrived two Post Docs from my lab also entered the restaurant. I greeted them friendly, they bowed silently in my direction and then sat down at a table half way across the room, ate their meal and left long before we did.

When I came back to University on Monday I was quite busy, so the first time I really got to sit down and talk with my colleges was in the evening, when the whole lab went to an 居酒屋[^3] celebrate the successful final exams.

Alexander how are your three girlfriends?

After a few 焼酎[^4] my Japanese is slightly worse than usual, so I was not sure I understood correctly.

My what?
You have three girlfriends. Remember we saw you with them in the restaurant the other day.

Oh the joy! Well at least now I don't get any strange looks when I ask my secretary if she would like to come to my birthday party.

[^1]: Not counting students of the japanese language. I would consider it strange if they don't come to Japan. [^2]: Todai students are supposedly very reliable and therefore the best husbands, but not very fun, while foreigners are supposedly very interesting and funny, but not very reliable. So as a foreign Todai student you get the best of both worlds [^3]: Izakaya - a mix of restaurant and bar. Very often with a traditional touch [^4]: Shōchū -- a spirit is made from rice, potatoes, wheat or the like. Contains 20-40% of alcohol