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Published: December 11th 2006
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I took a day trip to the nearest city on mainland Honshu last weekend. These hanging decorations are just something I thought was pretty. The end of the year is upon us. In America, this means it's time to get a Christmas tree and do last minute Christmas shopping. In Japan, it means that it is time for bounenkai, or end-of-the-year parties with coworkers. I've been invited to three so far, and have attended two of them already. Working at several different places means attending a separate bounenkai for each place. Last week was my board of education's bounenkai and the rotary club of a neighboring island's bounenkai. Since I will be teaching (along with some other English teachers in the area) at a special international day the rotary club is hosting, I was invited to their party too.
These dinner/drinking parties are meant to be a chance for coworkers to put their worries of the past year behind them and strengthen their relationships in order to make for a good new year. However, they have seemed to serve as more of a chance to get drunk with your boss than anything else.
As for my BOE bounenkai, it was enjoyable to have a nice dinner with all of my coworkers (whom I already know of course). It was held on a neighboring
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My contribution to the English conversation class's Thanksgiving dinner: Stuffing (made from scratch!) and cornbread (made from a package my mom sent me). island because of the lack of restaurants available on Yuge (there is one). All of my coworkers got so drunk that we missed the last ferry back to Yuge and had to call a special, very pricey water taxi. However, everyone decided, since we missed the last ferry and had to call a water taxi anyway, we might as well go out to a karaoke bar after we were finished with our dinner. It was hilarious seeing my elderly bosses and supervisor belt out cheesy karaoke songs. Of course, I sang my share of poppy Japanese songs as well (and regretted it the next day).
The rotary club’s bounenkai, however, had a very different atmosphere. It was held in a conference room of a hotel. We were treated to a very fancy meal (not to mention a special vegetarian meal had been created just for me). All of the members of the rotary club are very elderly people. I didn’t know anyone besides the other English teachers participating in the international day who were invited (they were just as clueless as me). It definitely wasn’t as much of a relaxed atmosphere as my BOE party was. Even though the
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Someone brought a beautiful basket of mikans. food was delicious, and everyone was really nice and hospitable, I couldn’t help but feel out of place and uneasy. Especially when they brought in a hired enka singer who was so loud I had no choice but to listen to him as it was impossible to hear anyone talk. Enka is a type of sad, melancholic Japanese song that can be sung well, but this man sounded more like my drunk boss singing karaoke. Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but play the video I posted at the top of the page and listen for yourself.
After the party was over, I had to take the last ferry back to Yuge by myself. I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole party and also thinking about staying here another year or not. When I boarded the ferry, I noticed three men who I had seen on the same ferry I had taken to the party earlier that evening. At the time they were all being very loud and obnoxious. They had been smoking inside the waiting room at the ferry port, making the whole room fill up with smoke. Smoking in this waiting room is allowed, but most people
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Thanksgiving dinner. I even made everyone say what they were thankful for (a couple of people said they were thankful for me! How nice!). don’t do it out of respect for others. I noticed that it was not only me getting annoyed with them. They were definitely the old-drunken-sailor type. They seemed to be drunk at that time, and now they were obviously much more intoxicated. I thought to myself, “Oh great, I have to sit next to these guys.”
However, as soon as I sat down, my feelings about them started to change. I noticed all of them staring at me out of the corner of my eye, which isn’t anything out of the ordinary here. I was struggling to find a place where I could put my umbrella without it falling over, when one of the men jumped up and grabbed it from me like it was an involuntary reflex or something. He hung it on a pole on the wall. I thanked him while the other men in his group stopped whatever they were talking about and started to laugh at him about being so jumpy with helping me with my umbrella.
One of the other men said, “Oh, are you the English teacher on Yuge?” I said yes and told them how long I had been there and
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Everyone getting a little roudy at the BOE bounenkai. how I had studied in Osaka before. They started asking me dozens of questions about my opinion about the differences between Japan and America and their relations and the war and so on. They told me about what they thought the war is all about, and why Japan has remained a relatively peaceful country. They thought one of the big reasons was religious preference, which they explained to me in detail. They said since Japanese religion is based on nature and animals, Japan naturally remains a peaceful country, but because other countries don’t have as much respect for the earth and choose to worship other things, they are naturally war-ridden. I can’t say whether I agree with the old men, but they definitely brightened up my night.
The men also seemed very interested in my English conversation class, but said they couldn’t come because it would be too difficult for them. I assured them that there were many other beginner-level students in my class and that they wouldn’t be alone. They said they thought it sounded like fun and that they would think about it. After saying good night to them I started to think about why I was here again. These men had made me realize what my purpose is here on the little island of Yuge. It’s not really about making lesson plans, grading students’ papers, and attending school functions (even though that’s what I do most of the time). It’s about my presence on Yuge, an island that lacks much diversity. It’s about interacting with people I meet on the ferries, sparking conversations about global issues, and making people think outside of their little island context. I can’t say for sure, but I think if it wasn’t for me sitting down next to those men, they would have spent the ride home conversing in drunken ramble. Instead, they ended up debating about politics and religion with someone who comes from the other side of the world. Plus, the conversation even seemed to inspire them to maybe study English. This is why I came to Yuge. I want to show people a world they know little about, just like I was introduced to Japan in America. It’s even more rewarding when I get to share my thoughts with people like these sailors whom I don’t get to teach in my daily school routine.
To experience chance conversations with unlikely people like this is one of the big reasons I came to Japan. I’m glad these men reminded me of this, even if I never see them at my English conversation classes. By the way, I only have a few pictures this week, many of which are unrelated and a little outdated. Enjoy anyway!
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