My first enkai (work drinking party)

I finally got settled back in here at Fujiyoshida on Sunday night after being away for a huge lake party over the weekend (and the aforementioned SETY which shall never be talked about again). I had no time to relax on Sunday night however as I had to participate in a big presentation designed to promote English education in elementary schools. Thankfully the two JET veterans took care everything and all Phil and I had to do was get dressed up in suits and nod our heads.

After the presentation and the subsequent meetings (all the teachers said they wanted us to visit elementary schools more) we had some down time. The four of us went had udon for lunch (I only have udon about 4 times a week) and then Phil and I chilled around in Gekko-ji for a couple of hours and finally got our treasured gaijin cards. After a brief and pointless meetings at the BoE it was time to prepare for our welcome enkai!

Here's how the enkai works: A group of people from the office get together at various times for various reasons for the enkai. Last night's occasion was to officially welcome Phil and me to Fujiyoshida (which makes me wonder if I've been officially unwelcome the past three weeks). This party was actually mandatory for most people there (including Phil and I). Basically everyone at the enkai stuffs themselves with high class Japanese food, gets drunk on any sort of alcoholic drink and makes fools out of themselves. Everybody also forks over a small fortune at the end of the night.

Every enkai (or anything in Japan really) also begins with a speech and a toast. About three speeches were given where I had no idea what they said. It was then Phil and I's turn to do a toast. I gave what I felt was a very kind, heartfelt speech. None of the Japanese people understood it and nobody translated it for them, so I ended up just feeling idiotic. Phil also gave an untranslated little spchiel and then it was time for the kanpai (the Japanese version of saying cheers).

The enkai was at this fancy new restaurant that served fancy Japanese food. I'm pretty sure we ordered everything on the menu that night and boy did I get stuffed. My favorite food was rice baked in leaves that we had for desert. The pot roast was really good too. Frankly I liked everything. I was too drunk to have any knowledge about details after that except that my Japanese seemed to magically improve. I also impressed a few Japanese people with my drinking ability. They wouldn't let Phil and I pay at the end so I really have no idea how much they spent. My guess is that each of them had to have pushed about $70 at least. I had a really fun time and it was great to see the people at the office lighten up for a bit. I don't know when the next enkai is but I have a feeling that I'll have one soon once school begins. Whenever it is, I can guarantee that my liver will be ready to go!