Beckteria

Loop Line Party!!!!!

In case you’re wondering, the Halloween Loop Line Party here is 100% insane. I wasn’t sure what exactly was supposed to happen before it went down, but there I was waiting at the JR Loop Line Station on the platform with hundreds of other gaijin dressed in their Halloween wears. My friends and I being all first years weren’t sure when it was supposed to start exactly or how many times you actually go around the loop.

So, we were standing there gawking at all of the madness….Such as one person dressed as Michael Jackson humping another gaijin dressed as a little kindergarten boy. Hmm. We were drinking our beers/chu-highs and soaking it all in. There was of course extra security. They were directing all of the Japanese people to the other trains and making sure that they steered clear of all of us crazy, drunk, freaky gaijin.

The deal is that once it starts (and there are specially reserved cars just for this occasion), you ride around the loop in the most crammed train car you can imagine and at every stop you basically do (for a lack of a pc term) a Chinese fire drill. So, everyone gets out and runs around like mad. You pretty much have to grope your friends just not to lose them. Of course, there is plenty of groping in the train because it’s so packed too. One of friends fell down when we were switching train cars, and another friend fell in the gap between the platform—thankfully it was just her leg and she didn’t get hurt.

People ride on the overhead racks where baggage is supposed to go. This usually entails body surfing just to get on top and then people kind of slide you onto the rack. I was kicked in the head by one guy riding up there.

At some point, we had to switch trains entirely. So, that was when most people did the beer run, smoke break, or used the bathroom. I was too far away from anything to even attempt any of those things and still be able to find my friends. There were hundreds of gaijin everywhere making it difficult to move even on the platform.

Then, back onto another train. We rode it back to where we started. Ultimately, you just ride the loop once. It’s a hell of a ride though. Standing in the train where you can’t move usually and asking your buddies for a swig of their liquor, it’s great. When the train slows down, you try not to fall down, but sometimes there aren’t enough (weird to think of it that way) people to keep you in an upright position.

Whew! It was one hell of a night, people.

Afterwards, I went to an izukaiya (bar) where we opened the doors to the table next to us and they (a couple of people from our group too) sang Japanese drinking songs. We had people chugging beer (always interesting to see from those tiny glasses that they give you). I’m not even sure what else.

Next, clubbing of course. The after-Loop madness was everywhere. We hit up the gaijin club Sam and Dave’s. It was fuckin’ packed as hell too. It was reminiscent of the Loop line itself. Not too expensive though. It was 2000 yen with 2 drink tickets. Maybe chugging two tall-boys while standing in line was not such a good idea. But, too late for those regrets now.

posted by Bex @ 6:05 PM