It's been a wild few days...

carrie, tj, melanie, esmy, jo and chuck
last thursday mel's friends were in town from england so carrie, chuck and i joined them for a little dinner party. this is at funaei, an izakaya style restaurant where you order many small servings of different foods and you each pay 1750 yen, about $17.50, for 2 hours of all-you-can-drink. since each beverage, alcoholic or not, usually costs about 500 yen, this arrangement is really fiscally responsible.

then on to kareoke at our favorite little spot, PTA. they all called a daikon home, which is a taxi that arrives with an extra driver so they take you to your home in your own vehicle. it's only slightly more expensive than a regular cab and they're super popular. i had another drink with the master and a nice young fellow who i'd met in there previously before walking home, which only takes about 7 minutes.

on saturday morning i picked liz up at 9 am heading for niigata city. what is usually a 1.5 hour trip on the hokuriku expressway took 4 hours due to a wreck. i arrived at my doctor's appt. slightly late which is a cardinal sin in japan although i'd phoned and she had heard about the accident which made it a little better. i was there to get malaria pills for the trip to papua new guinea and i'd opted to visit this dr. because he speaks english [see story on previous trip for vaccinations to non-english speaking hospital, "it came outta nowhere", at the bottom of this page. uugghh.] so the meds may cause diarrhea, vomitting, extreme gas, sunburn and yeast infections but at least i won't get malaria. i was incredibly surprised at how professional this dr. was. most japanese men won't even talk to foreign women, much less refer to their vaginas. previously at the hospital, i had a hard time getting the medical professionals to explain some questions about the female body to me even. interestingly, you must continue to take the vibromycin 4 weeks after you return from the trip in order for malaria's incubation period to expire. ***10 days and counting...***
then it was onto niigata kaikan center for our musical performance. afterwards we adjourned to immigrant's cafe for a dance party to benefit our cause. the owner is a super pleasant hawaiin who donated 500 yen from every cover charge. the place got packed, everyone was grooving and i was super envious. i don't think of my town as being back-country by any stretch; it's the 3rd most populous in the prefecture, but there is nothing like the energetic, social nightlife that is found in niigata. when i do happen upon a pocket of youthful, stylish locals i wonder where they spend their free-time, why do i not run into them around town more often? we wrapped up the night at another dance club that was hopping. it gave me big-city envy big-time. it was incredibly late by this point and i had to be back in joetsu for my school's graduation ceremony on sunday morning at 9:30 [i was supposed to show at 8:30 but took one hour of paid vacation because i knew saturday would be a latenight affair.] i had stopped drinking hours before, when we'd left the first bar so i decided to go ahead and drive home...rolling into town about 7:30 am. i slept until 8:30 and then reported to school.
Minamishiro's graduation
the school was absolutely bustling. as we filed into the gym [which was freezing, a huge cavernous space with no heat] i saw many students who i did not recognize. i am constantly surprised when discovering the ages of some of my students and at graduation i noticed a couple who were well into their 50s i'm sure. the ceremony began with everyone standing for the singing of the school song followed by the national anthem. for the anthem, many of the teachers sat down again, crossed their hands on their laps and stared straight ahead; an extreme sign of defiance which is unusual in japan. i watched as the vice principal tried to coax them up with hand signals and eye motions to no avail. the national anthem is Kimigayo and the lyrics are translated as "May the reign of the Emperor continue for a thousand, nay, eight thousand generations and for the eternity that it takes for small pebbles to grow into a great rock and become covered with moss." i've heard of the teacher's union before and that it is apparently very strong in my base school, which is an alternative high school, where there is quite a bit of contention over the rights and treatment of the students and teachers. apparently the union disapproves of the anthem because of its allusions to emperialism. from what i can gather, that somehow ties in with america's treatment of japan after world war II and the unions want to recognize japan's law makers as the final voice on the education system, not remnants of emperialism in the form of laws created by the u.s. when we wrote their constitution. really bizarre. the whole ceremony was a bow-fest. principal bows, left, right, straight, bows before and after ascending the stairs, then the students approach, following the same bowing guidelines. anytime anyone bows in your general direction you must oblige with a return bow...enough to make you dizzy. the top student in each course [day, night and correspondence] gave speeches that i really wanted to understand, but all i caught were phrases here, words there.

this is uchiyama sensei, my best teacher friend, and i. unfortunately she couldn't translate for me as we were seated in different sections. after the ceremony, i milled around, congratulating the students.
some of the girls wore beautiful kimonos for the ceremony. i was told these are probably rentals but still cost about 5 man en, or $500.

this girl is not my student but i do run into her everywhere. she works at one of my favorite sushi spots and, in an awkward twist, she loves to dance so we end up at some of the same clubs and parties.
previously i mentioned the 2 brothers that taught me to snowboard. this is the oldest, daichi kun [-kun is attached to the names of younger boys, similar to -san]. he's also in a cover band i went to see a while back. his pronunciation of english songs, especially the beatles, is great [he says his mom coaches him].


the girl kneeling, in the white coat, is tanaka chan, an absolute nut. she and i spend a lot of time goofing around and chatting. she is loud and unruly in class and everyone is impressed that i can get her to pay attention usually. the boy on the far left is one of the few who are friendly with me. he helps me study quite a bit. the girl below me has incredibly good english although she is painfully shy and below her is manami chan, who is always lively and talkative.
graduation, or sotsugyoshiki, is the season for enkais, the work parties that i absolutely love. about 50 of minamishiro's staffmembers headed to hachi man restaurant at 5:30 for the celebration. the cost was 5500 yen, $55, for about 8 courses and all you can drink. at parties this large, you draw numbers to determine seating arrangements. i was pleased to see i was at a table with no english teachers and a few people i had seen around, but never spoken to. i find these events so interesting because they are traditional in their detailed preparation and structure, with an opening greeting and formal speech before the kanpai, but everyone who goes knows what to expect and is waiting for the moment when it begins the spiral into full-blown party. after the seniors' homeroom teachers were presented with gifts and made speeches, the formalities began to melt. the teachers at my table quizzed me about american customs, and i am proud to say that i held my own speaking only japanese. perhaps the beer helps. the japanese do have a word 'nomunication' which is a hybrid of their word for drink, 'nomu', and 'communication'. they are much more gregarious and brave after a couple drinks. as an interesting ice breaker, people at these parties always mingle and carry with them alcohol of some sort, a large bottle of beer or nihon shu, and they relocate to different tables, kneeling and offering to refill your glass. here i take off with the nihon shu to talk with a third floor teacher and an office worker whose english is surprisingly good.

even if your cup is full to the brim, you must sip some and allow them to refill. as there are never any chairs at these events, only floor pillows, it allows many people to gather around and socialize.

here is the maintenance man and i. i really like his attitude, kinda smart ass. he jokes with me quite a bit in a sarcastic way that is uncommon for japan. this could explain why he is not married. at this enkai, he confided in me that he loves me. he'd hug on me as i explained in japanese that it was impossible because we work together. some of the other teachers looked a bit concerned so i explained to them that i thought he was funny and his antics didn't bother me. he suggested that i do a homestay, like a cultural exchange, at his house. wink, wink. i thought it was hilarious and i realized that it's been since i left home that i've been jokingly harassed like this. the teachers were amazed that i didn't find it offensive. it reminded me of a sign that used to hang in b&m roadhouse, "sexual harassment will not only be tolerated, it will be graded."

the enkai concluded with some lively song that i didn't understand in which everyone stumbled around, dancing and clapping.
[you should check out the video. cut and paste this link: http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/japanbystorm and look for 'crazy enkai']
this is sato sensei, my supervisor at minamishiro.
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after these enkais, there are always ni ji kais and san ji kais, 2nd and 3rd parties respectively. about 10 of us headed to another restaurant for plates of fried snacks, salad and lots of beer. en route, i talked with a man who i rarely see but who has great english. turns out he teaches history on the 3rd floor. by this point people are passing out, getting loud and rowdy, spilling things. i was chatting with ai, a young woman who used to teach here and now works at another local high school. uchiyama, a young english teacher, was pretty wrecked. another teacher continuously loomed over her with a bottle, forcing her to drink more so the woman could refill her glass. i wanted to take the moment to discuss peer pressure with them but didn't, no one seemed in the mood for philosophy. shortly there after, uchiyama took a taxi home. one of the young male science teachers, onno sensei, sat and explained slang to me as i took notes. this party cost about $25 each. then the youngest 4 of us headed on to kareoke.

me, onno sensei, ai sensei
i sang a bunch of 80s classics that they happened to know which was fun. bonnie tyler's 'i need a hero' is apparently the theme song of some japanese drama show.