My First Month in US (English ver.)
日本語版のリンクは以下から見れます
(Japanese ver. from below link)
Introduction
Due to my job, I am going to work in US for an year, from mid-June 2024.
So for a record I decide to write about the things that happened within the first month of my stay.
About me
Nice to meet you! I am Kasawi.
I play Smash and recently Street Fighter 6 while working as a typical office worker. I also do translation (English⇔Japanese) and am a staff of some tournaments in Japan.
As a Smash player↓↓↓
Main: Yoshi
Smash history: Casually played 64 and Melee. Haven't played Brawl and For. Saw the competitive scence from Ultimate and started to play competitively
Skill: Sometimes make day2 on super majors like Umebura and Kagaribi and 129th/1536 at Genesis X
As Tournament Staff: Tournament staff for several majors. Commentator for VGBC JP
As typical office worker↓↓↓
・Researcher, Scientist for a company
・The guy who mix stuff in a beaker wearing lab coats
・Can speak English (used to live in US long time ago, back in 2001-2007)
Where in US am I going?
There was a lot of commotion in the process with in the company, but on mid June 2024, I was able to take off to US.
The destination is the east coast of US, the state of New Jersey.
It might help the Japanese to give an idea about where the state of New Jersey is because it is close to New York.
The weather is close to Tokyo, but the humidity is a lot lower so it is better. It seems that it would snow in the winter so this might be different from Tokyo.
Overwhelming day1 in US
I was very lucky and got a direct flight from Japan to New Jersey.
This 14 hour flight departed from Japan in the afternoon and arrived to New Jersey in the afternoon.
I can't sleep on an airplane so 14 hour felt like eternity…
It was a veeeeeeeeeery long flight
After arrival is the long line of immigration. All my previous trips to US was as sightseeing, immigration was very smooth. But this time, I have VISA. So I was assuming that they would ask me a lot of things.
In the end, the immigration interview finished super fast. Started out with the BnB "What brings you to the United States?" then to "Do you have ESTA or VISA?". After I showed them my documents, they asked about my job and where I am going to live and done.
I thought it would take forever so I was quite relieved.
After finishing my immigration and retrieving my suitcases, the last thing is to go to my apartment with the car rental that the company provided. But this is where things are getting real.
I have my international driver's license and I got my driver's license in Japan so driving itself is not illegal at all.
The problem is that I haven't drove for more than 10 years.
AND everything is opposite in US (Japan drives on the left, US drives on the right).
AND I have to use the highway from the car rental to my apartment.
Theoretically, it should be only 10min drive.
For anyone used to driving there is no problem.
But for someone that is driving on the right for the first time and have not drove for more than 10 years, it is a nightmare
Furthermore, the navigation tells me everything in feet and miles.
I can't keep whining about it, so I made up my mind and started driving.
It tooks me 30min, when the navigation told that it would take only 10min, but I safely arrived at my apartment.
I was able to get on the highway with ease, but the problem was the exit.
I missed the exit like 3 times, and listened carefully to the navigation (that tells me everything in feet and miles!!!).
It was the most exhausting experience I had in my life.
After arriving at my apartment, I ordered dinner with doordash, opened my suitcase, ate dinner and went to sleep.
It was a very tough day…
Life and work
My life in US started by arriving on Saturday afternoon and starting working from Monday with no time to waste.
The apartment I'm staying is for long term business trip, so the furniture were already there. But I drove to the supermarket to buy food, drinks and ready-made meals. And during this drive, I practiced going to my office that's about 15min (on highway) drive.
I practiced 2 times, but in both times, I couldn't get in and out of the right entry and exit…
The entry and exist of highways are very complicated around here
The hardest part from my apartment to my office to the entry to the highway
The navigation is like
・Turn right, then keep right, then keep left
・Then take left on the second left.
I can enter the highway after doing all this…
In addition, there are construction on-going around this area, so things may change in the near future
I don't want to spoil where my office is, so I can't show the Streetview, but the highway entry around my office is very confusing as well.
I can now go to my office quite smoothly, but it did take around 1 week to get used to it.
Work is still in on-boarding phase, so it is still fun.
Smash
The monitors that I asked the mobility hasn't arrived yet, so I can't play Smash at home. But luckily, there are some tournaments close to my apartment and my office, so I went to a few of them.
Failsafe -Finale-
The very first tournament I went to was with around 100 attendees.
I heard that the this tournament series have been running for quite some time, but sadly, this was the last one.
I was quite anxious about driving to the venue, but after going on highway + going through the mountains for 40min, I was able to arrive at the venue safely.
The venue seemed like a community center. If you were to say it in Japan, I think it would be something like town hall.
There was the main stream setup on the 2nd floor.
Since the tournament series have been running for quite long time, the attendees know each other and they were very warm and welcoming.
Even top players that Japanese people knows were also attending (Jakal, Syrup, etc.)
WR1: Sauce (Hero, Pokemon trainer)
And yes. The first game I played after arriving to the US was a Hero player.
I had to read the English menu!!!
Since I was doing English commentary in VGBC Japan, I know the Enligsh menu, but making a sudden decision in a game is a whole new story. I am so used to looking at the Japanese menu, it was quite hard to adapt.
But, I managed to win the first set.
Then PT came out. I lost the second, but won the last.
Even though it was WR1, it was a very close game and the opponent was super good.
2-1 Win
WR2: Mr. Mugz (Bowser Jr.)
Played on stream.
Honestly, since I have a very close friend that plays Bowser Jr., if the opponent is at a close skill level, I was very confident that I can win.
But, he was very very very good. I did win this game, but I had some lucky moments, so I don't know what will happen if we play again.
2-1 Win
WR3: Syrup (Steve)
First match against a top player after arriving in US, but he destroyed me.
He was just waaaaaay better than me.
I wish I could have fight back, but I couldn't do anything.
0-2 Lose
LR4: 30 SECONDS TO MARTH (Marth)
He was a very good Marth.
The spacing was on the point and the edgeguard was very accurate.
But Yoshi was too broken.
Yoshi is the best.
2-0 Win
LR5: Mega Chad (Wii fit trainer)
Very good Wii fit.
Very calm and steady. Type of players becomes aggresive when he gets the chance.
He didn't gave me the opportunity to build up % and lost.
0-2 Lose
In the end, I was 25th/102.
From being unseeded, I think I did quite well for my first tournament after arriving to US.
I felt that the counterplay against Yoshi is incorporated very well to everyone. Maybe this is because there is Pharaoh and other good Yoshi players in the region.
Center Stage #54
The second tournament I went to is a local that is hosted around 15min away from my office, called Center Stage. It is hosted every Tuesday.
It was the same direction as the outing I went to at my work, so it was quite easy to go.
The venue was at a card shop. I don't play card games so I don't know too much about it, but there were a lot of different kinds of it.
In fact, they were running an event for card games in parallel with the Smash tournament.
WR2: Jukain (Peach)
On stream from the 1st game. He was very very good.
Spacing and the pressure game was so optimized that I couldn't get close the way I like and lost.
0-2 Lose
LR2: TEMPO (Diddy kong)
I had full confidence in the MU, but there were a few critical moments.
Yoshi's burst power is just too good.
2-0 Win
LR3: MT (Ken)
Same with Diddy, I had full confidence in the MU so I won. But the Yoshi counterplay was very good, so I had to change my game plan quite early.
2-0 Win
LR4: HOO D Nii (Yoshi)
So it has finally come, the Yoshi ditto.
He was very very very good. I haven't played a ditto in a while, but it was super fun.
There were a lot that I learned from him and I am not sure I can win again the next time.
I will keep on grinding so that I can win again.
2-0 Win
LR5: Synnister (Ryu)
Although Ryu is a little more tricky compared to Ken, but I was also very confident with the MU. …. But he was super good.
I was losing a lot in neutral and the game overall. I just destroyed everything with the Fair spike at the very end of the set.
There were still a lot for me to learn about the MU.
2-1 Win
TOP 8 Losers: Uzbek Case0h, Yeast (Mii Brawler)
It has been ages since I last played Mii Brawler. In addition to the fact that he plays with Pharaoh and other Yoshi players, he was very good so he destroyed me.
The combo game was very good as well.
0-3 Lose
In the end, I was 7th/33.
Everyone was so good even though it was a local on weekdays.
A lot of people came to say hi to me and it was a very welcoming atmosphere. The best part of locals.
I'm going to be there again.
Ultimate Rising #3
The lastest one I went to is this Ultimate Rising. It seems that this is fairly new tournament series. And this is not on weekday. It is on Saturday.
The venue was in the hobby shop? (I don't know the exact term in English…) inside a gigantic mall.
I was so shocked because the mall was too big and I parked the opposite side…
WR1: JG (R.O.B Lucina)
I was quite comfortable with the MU.
Thank you Yoshi.
2-0 Win
WR2: Bri-guy (Pyra/Mythra)
I used to play Aegis myself, so I was very comfortable with the MU.
2-0 Win
WR3: BeastyBean (Wario)
I played on stream, but it seems there was some technical difficultly on stream so no vods.
Very strong Wario main that attends a lot of tournaments in New Jersey.
He was fantastic at punishing my dash in and he juggles were super good as well.
Just barely not enough for the W.
1-2 Lose
LR4: KUSIDREAM (Roy)
Due to how the bracket was ran, I had to wait around 40min.
It was been long time since I played against Roy offline, but I was quite comfortable with the MU so I won.
He adapted to my gameplay on game 2, but I managed to win game 3.
2-1 Win
LR5: Floppyfail (Dark Samus)
Played on stream, but as previously mentioned, no vods.
So it finally came…
The Samus MU…
I'm so bad with this MU. I have a close friend, so I have a lot of experience, but I've been losing so many times. In addition to this, Floppyfail was very good in Yoshi counterplay.
We were both very steady and looking for openings. But with the help from Yoshi's broken moves, I managed to win.
The last dash down smash was a very good call.
2-1 Win
LQF: Snogi (Fox Bayonetta)
Played on stream, but as previously mentioned, no vods.
He was the person I played friendlies with before the bracket starts. He destroyed me during friendlies.
I was so happy to get a set from Fox, but then he pulled out Bayo…
I am bad with this MU.
The momentum at the beginning was very good, but because I couldn't get the stock early enough, he caught up and lost.
1-2 Lose
In the end, 5th/28. The venue is a little far from my apartment, but the way is not difficult so I will go again soon. The tournament itself was super nice.
There was Tekken8 bracket in parallel, so if they ever had SF6 I want join that too.
Congratulations to the top 8 for smash!
— Undisputed Esports (@UndisputedGam3) July 7, 2024
🥇@Marvfalldamage
🥈@Synnssb
🥉@snogitwt pic.twitter.com/PJmIBzbdGT
Conclusion
This was a note article originally for my friends back in Japan.
I am doing well and getting use to work too.
The community in New Jersey is just super warm welcoming and everyone is so good. I am glad that I get to be here.
I am not used to driving far distance yet, but I will try to attend as much tournaments as possible.
The next super major that I'm attending is Supernova.
There will be a lot of people coming from Japan so I'm looking forward to it.
See you soon for those in Japan.
And thank you for welcoming me to the New Jersey Smash community!
この記事が気に入ったらサポートをしてみませんか？