Sports Day Enkai.....aka, the Samurai approach to drinking and I've already got my Black Belt.

Monday, Sept. 5, 2005

So last night I had my first official Enkai (school/office drinking party) with all the teachers from Shimasho. Yesterday was also Sports Day at Shimasho so I had spent the whole day in the sweltering heat watching the poor students competing at various activities. Actually I have to say I was quite impressed. They really put a lot of effort into the whole day. I mean they set up tents and chairs for people to watch, they had iced tea that was passed out to the audience, there was a loudspeaker soundsystem, etc. All in all it was pretty cool to watch and it felt like a serious event more than a High School activity day. The kids were really serious and organized as well. I pictured a Canadian High School trying to do what they had done and I have to admit I couldn’t imagine it (well I could imagine it but it wadn’t pretty). I guess collectivist cultures have their advantages, although some facets can seem a bit scary to those of us from individualist ones. For example, a few days ago we had “Inspection Day”. For this, the students had to line up in the gym and their hair and uniforms were thoroughly inspected by the teachers (they gave me name-tag duty….but since it was all in kanji I was pretty useless – that’s the Japanese sense of humour for ya). They are really picky too. For hair, there can be no highlights or artificial colour, no matter how subtle. The bangs also have to be a specific length. One girl started crying when they yelled at her for having some barely noticeable highlights. I have to admit, the whole thing made me a bit uneasy, but of course, I was raised in Canada. I felt bad for the girl, but she got over it soon enough so I didn’t feel the need to start any serious social activism at that time.
In any case, back to Sports Day. Once the day was done we had to help take down all the equipment and by that time everyone was exhausted. We had been there the whole day (since it was on a Sunday, I had today off) and had been fairly active in the heat. However, rather than go home we had to go to a huge Enkai. This was Vuzi’s and mine official welcoming party. Inoue-sensei took us to the hotel where it was to take place and explained that the place had Onsens (hot spring baths) both inside and outside. I hadn’t been to an Onsen yet so Inoue-sensei warned me that everyone walks around totally naked and bathes together naked (but the sexes are separated of course). I wasn’t too worried (most of you already know how much I enjoy being naked) so I stripped and hopped in. It was awesome. I chose the outside bath and it had a gorgeous view. Afterwards, I felt refreshed and ready for the heavy drinking that I knew was coming.
After Kocho-Sensei, Vuzi and I gave our speeches (sometimes it feels like all I do is give speeches on how great it is to be in Japan) we sat down for a traditional meal. I’m getting used to these by now. I ate all my raw fish this time (I still don’t love it but I can eat it) and pretty much everything else that was given to me. Funny enough I actually really like cooked fish now. I did NOT see that one coming let me tell ya, but I’m pretty ecstatic when anything cooked comes my way these days. After the food, people move around to sit, chat and drink with different people. Again, you have to pour for others and cannot pour for yourself but handing someone a glass and pouring a drink is a great way to start a conversation. Having some booze in them, some of the teachers who have been too shy to speak to me finally came over to try to chat. Some spoke a bit of English but others did not. It wasn’t too much of a problem for me though. It’s amazing how much laughter can be generated when you try to communicate solely through sign language and acting. I also got to meet some of the younger teachers. I was really excited to meet a hot young chemistry teacher who spoke amazing English…but later realized he was married, so I had to tone down my overt flirting a bit. Ah well, I am slowly surrendering to my forced celibacy.
Eventually, just as I was starting to feel a bit buzzed, I felt a strong pat on my shoulder and looked up to see Miyazaki-sensei (my Iaido/Jodo teacher) standing over me with a bottle of sake. He motioned for me to move over and sat down beside me (well he actually somewhat plopped down beside me). I have to say I am growing more and more fond of him every day. Still amazes me how well we communicate despite the language barrier. It’s like we’re on the same wavelength. I guess Martial Arts and Alcoholism are powerful bonding tools. He gave me a little glass and poured me a shot of sake. I drank it down in one gulp and passed it back to him and then poured him a shot. After a few rounds of this I was starting to get a bit worried at how I was going to feel the next day but being the (ahem) man I am sometimes….my pride kept me drinking as long as he was pouring. He laughed his ass off at my attitude too (at each drink I furrowed my brows in concentration, and did practiced breathing exercises in an attempt to keep myself from passing out) and through gestures and some Engrish explained to me that he liked my spirit. I beamed, but I do sometimes fear for my delicate femininity – we were comparing biceps a few drinks later. I did have the thought though that if he had been 20 years younger he’d be in big trouble because he is by far my favorite person in the school and at 65 he’s still pretty damn handsome (and well, you know, I was also getting drunk). After about 5 shots of sake, Inoue-sensei, who was sitting nearby, looked over at us and said to me that perhaps I should be careful and slow down (Japanese people never say stuff like “Slow down!” they always make things into suggestions like “Hmmm, maybe it would be better if you slowed down”). I shrugged, but Miyazaki-sensei (who had only just then realized that Inoue-sensei was sitting nearby) thrust the shot glass in her direction and poured her a drink. Inoue-sensei is not the type of person to say no to a drink either (I think it’s a matter of pride for her as well, working in a male dominated society and all that) and so soon all three of us were drinking quite profusely, with Inoue-sensei shooting me desperate and apologetic glances between shots. Finally Uchida-sensei came to our rescue and took Miyazaki sensei away for drinking with some of the men. Thank god for my high alcohol tolerance, because even after all that I was still ok and I was still drinking beer. Moreover, everyone was so impressed at how much I could drink that I made a ton of new friends. I know I’ve said it before, but wow do I love this country. I didn’t expect it to be as good as it has been and it’s been absolutely amazing so far. Plus, my drinking actually impresses rather than concerns people here!
In any case, after the enkai was done, most of the female teachers went home, but the older men (the younger ones were passed out) wanted to continue. Kocho-sensei and Miyazaki-sensei cornered me and insisted that I was coming with them. So we made our way (by reserved bus) to a really classy bar. Of course this resulted in much more drinking, and while I was still managing to act sober and contained my mind was now telling me that I was going to really regret this tomorrow. I didn’t care. It was way too much fun. The highlight was showing Kocho-sensei an Iaido kata and using chopsticks in place of a katana, which was followed by a short lesson from Miyazaki-sensei who also used a chopstick to demonstrate attacks. This quickly degenerated into drunken chopstick dueling. As the two of us cut away at the air and laughed and made jokes (again all in sign language), Uchida-sensei said that there was a name for the kind of bond Miyazaki-sensei and I had (Hmmm..."retarded alcoholics"? I thought). I forgot what word he actually used though, but he translated it as “more than love”. I considered this and thought it pretty apt. Miyazaki-sensei, however, took the opportunity of me pausing to slip in a fast chopstick thrust, thus ending our battle victorious. The night ended with a bit of karaoke (I sang “girls just wanna have fun”) where I sucked ass, but then so did everyone else. I was complimented on my pronunciation though – ah Japan.
I finally came home just after midnight (the drinking had started at 6 pm) and passed out soundly on my bed, knowing full well that tomorrow I was to have the worst hangover yet. I woke up in the morning in all kinds of pain, clutching a chopstick in my right hand.