Welcome party number one

Saturday night, June the 10th.... I finished my days work at around 7.30, a little earlier than the week before as I have a private student who comes only every other week. He is a very nice man, about fifty years old, and very intelligent and hard working. He likes telling me about the house he is building for his family in which four generations will soon be living - his mother, he and his wife, his eldest son, and his wife and their new baby. I thought this was pretty interesting as this sort of arrangement is not one commonly adopted in Britain. He told me that people's attitudes in Japan are changing however and that young people want to be more independant of their families, but traditionally families always lived together. He said it can be difficult at times though. Well, I didn't have the pleasure of teaching him tonight, but that was fine as it meant I could leave early and head back to Toyoda for my first welcome party! Yay!



We all met at 8.30 in an izakaya just around the corner from the school. It was run by one of my students and her family. We had a whole great long booth to ourselves - about fifty people had turned up! There were loads of students and other teachers, and friends of friends. I chatted to loads of people and was plied with beer and sake and plates of curious looking food that just kept on coming. I wasn't too keen on the look of some of it. I haven't managed to get around to trying the sashimi yet (raw fish). It's always beautifully arranged though: neat piles of orange and red fish eggs glinting like glass balls on nettle leaves, scarlet tuna cubes, purple spotted squid and pale salmon slices. There was mackeral opened up like a butterfly, a slab of something upon which slithered a barely cooked egg, salads, tempura, and delicately impaled meats and vegetables on wooden skewers. Nothing live though than God. You pay more for that.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening despite the fact I had to get up and give a speech, but it was fun. One of my students gave me a bunch of red roses, and everyone made me feel very welcome. By about eleven or twelve we all left and I was the last to leave, feeling honour bound to thank my student's family, in very bad Japanese for their hospitality! When I got outside everyone was waiting for me to decide whether we would go onto another izakaya or go to karaoke. I knew what my preference was but felt that the majority was hoping I would say karaoke - I didn't want to be a spoil sport so I suggested we had a vote and.... karaoke it was. There's a surprise! It was all a bit of a haze from then on - thankfully! We had another private room for the twenty or so revellers fighting for the mic. Of course, once again I had to do my bit and found myself on stage with one of my students singing a cheesy euro pop song of some kind that I would rather not mention now! I think I got home at about 3am. What a night. I woke up on my living room floor the next morning. I think the ladder to my bedroom had proved too much effort to climb! I blamed my students who just wouldn't stop topping up my glass with sake! In Japan, the person sitting next to you pours your drinks for you. This also means that if they want a drink, they have to top you up first. So there is no escaping, and being English and all, they have high expectations of one's drinking ability! Needless to say I didn't feel too bright the next day. I just hope I managed to maintain a professional image throughout the night ;-)