Enkais and Onsens

Good afternoon everyone. I had an awesome weekend. First was the enkai, which I briefly told you about. I went with two of my coworkers to the restaurant. One of them gave me an energy drink (I think?) to get me ready for the night, the other one was asking me all about my favorite drinks and so on...I was preparing for a great night.

We arrived at the restaurant. Now, I was told not to touch any food or drink until everyone arrives and does a Kampai! They told me wrong. My two coworkers and I got huge mugs of Asahi and began "kampai practice." People started filing in, and then there were speeches. They had a great welcoming speech, the vice-head of the office had a great speech, and then some other coworkers spoke. It was all in Japanese, so they could have said anything, but I prefer to think they were complimenting my hard work, good looks, and mastery of the English Language. Then, the kampai! A few gulps of Asahi, and it's time to dig into my food. I took some pictures on my phone, and I'll find a way to upload them soon enough.

On the menu was raw fish, cold meat that wasn't raw, sea urchin (delicious), prawns, and beer. They also broke out the shoryu, which, as far as I can tell, is some kind of Japanese rice liquor that doesn't taste like much. Luckily, half of my office are lightweights, so there were some great drunken people that I got to talk to. The highlight of the night was one coworker telling me he loved me, then someone telling him what it means in English, and him saying "I love my wife and children, but you're ok." It was really cool to see my coworkers loosened up, and I can't wait for the next enkai. Sadly, we didn't have any nikai's or sankai's (2nd party, 3rd party!) that night, but my supervisor assured me next time.

To get home, my supervisor got a daiko. This is the best idea that I've never heard of before. One man drives your car, because you've had too much of the silly juice to walk straight, and another follows behind to pick up your chauffeur when he drops you and your car off at your home. It's a great idea, and I don't think it's wildly expensive either.

Saturday we were supposed to go camping at the beach. Unfortunately, it had been raining for 8 days straight, and we instead decided to bbq at Misawa (which has an Air Force Base in the town, meaning American food). It was wicked fun. We had some beer, bbq'd with chopsticks, and watched most of ironman (until it got to the part where it skips until the end, thank god I didn't pay to see that in theatres).

The next day, they decided to go to the onsen. Why is that bolded? Here's why: the onsen is a natural spring jaquzzi, you get in to relax and clean up. It's just good old naked foreigner you and all of your favorite naked strangers in the equivalent of a hot tub. Before getting in, you have to scrub down with soap and water and really get clean. Once inside, there were a few different temperature pools. We went to the outside one and watched the waterfall, which was really cool. After getting used to the heat, I was able to relax for awhile and close my eyes. I'm sure that once I go to more of them and get used to it, I'll look back at this and laugh at myself and all of that prude American culture, but until then I'll pay the extra 200 yen for the modesty towel.

A few days ago I taught my first elementary school. These kids are the best. They don't have the reservations that middle school students do. They are pure id. It is a great feeling to have 80 of them swarm you at once and pretty much give you the biggest group hug you'll ever have. It's also the only time a student will want you to play dodgeball with them just so they can hold your hand. They have so much energy, and they're not afraid to try and talk to you, get your attention, or play silly games with you.

After some English lessons, it was time for recess. I played dodgeball and tag with them. A few of them jumped on me. It was an awesome 40 minutes. I'm teaching a different elementary school tomorrow, and I can't wait.

This past week, I've also learned how easy and hard it can be to meet random Japanese people. Sometimes you just have to put yourself out there, and that can be tough. For example, there was a guy walking a golden retriever. I was about to just walk by, but I missed my dogs at home so I asked if I could pet the dog. It turns out, this guys speaks pretty good English and we had a conversation about fish in Alaska and Canada. He's 73 but looks maybe 45. Later in that same day, I was watching a ping pong match, and not only did the people playing offer to let me join in if I had a paddle, but someone came up and asked me if I wanted to sign up for the league (...or something, I couldn't understand). It was really cool, and it makes you realize how easy and hard it can be to meet people in a foreign country.

I've also been driving for the past week and a half. Woohoo. I've got a 1995 Mitsubishi Lancer and some kickass tunes to take me to my base schools in Shingo (40 minutes drive). It's only been sunny once on my drive, but it was gorgeous. I drive through mountains and rice fields, it's as picturesque as you can imagine.

This coming weekend I'm doing a scavenger hunt and the AJET (association of JETs) party. It should be a blast.

This week in Random Japan...
There are still many things I don't understand. Our morning meetings and bowing, the quasi-life-determing saisho gu, janken po (rock, paper, scissors...it has determined everything from which student speaks first in class to who is the lunch-room slave for that day), and the obsession with miso soup. Today, I will talk about some cones I saw. These cones were surrounding some small stones on the side of a cliff that leads up to my school. Thing is, three of them were maybe 1 foot apart from each other, I'm assuming protecting cars from the dangerous pebbles in between their triangle. It couldn't have been to warn about falling stones, otherwise they would have blocked the road (considering it's 6 feet wide at the most), and it doesn't really serve as a warning. It's like the road crew has quarantined a few trouble-making pebbles until further notice. Not all that funny, but very confusing.

Also, there's this man, age-indeterminate, who I always pass by on the way to my schools without fail. He's always walking on the side of the road, with his huge sunglasses and six o'clock shadow. And he has this half grin on his face. He reminds of Jack Nicholson, about to either kick ass or flip out. I try not to look into his sunglasses, lest I lose my soul.

Not a strong random Japan this week, but still things you should be aware of, just in case.