Another Year End...

and with it, another 簿年会 (Bon enkai... hope that kanji is right).

To refresh your memory, the Bon Enkai (practically a Japanese phenomenon in itself) is the end-of-the-year work party. Common characteristics of bon enkais are some sort of entertainment or game (quite often Bingo or karaoke) and a lot of booze among colleagues or friends. Literally every restaruant or venue with a party room in the country is booked up with a party during this time of year. The women often don't drink because they are driving (an observation a friend made last year and I didn't believe until I started to observe the same pattern at my enkai), but I have noticed that the general idea of "what happens at an enkai, stays at an enkai" (yeah, it doesn't just stop at the Vegas border anymore...) applies to everyone in attendance pretty much whatever the relationship may be. There are other enkais throughout the year for smaller occations, mind you, but the bon enkai is the king of them all. Everyone is expected to attend and they can be pretty elaborate (mine was over $100 pp, which is pretty standard).

And speaking of my enkai, this past Friday my work Bon enkai, the second since I've been in Japan. Last year was a little out of control to the point of several male coworkers not wearing shirts (yes, just pants and a tie), one younger, normally serious guy coming out dressed as Spiderman (again, mask and pants only), people going wild over bingo to the point of standing on chairs and screaming, as well as impromptu dancing and (again) standing on chairs during karaoke and song performances. Furthermore, it is considered rude to pour your own drink at a social function with a lot of people (someone else should pour it for you and you can't take the first sip before the official toast), and is thus customery for people to walk around with a bottle to make sure nobodys drink never empties (ironically, the big drinkers are the ones with the bottles, filling everyone else up, because they get a pour for each one they give)... makes for some pretty red faces. To make things even better, the open bar has a wide selection.  I am pretty sure I had at least 4 different drinks at one point last year (red wine, white wine, beer & sake) to accompany the many courses of the meal, with both beer and wine this year. But why all the drinking?  In all seriousness, it's part of Japanese culture; the ultimate social lubricant.  I can attest to the fact that people you had never spoken to will come out of the woodwork with refined Engish greetings and funny comments (like long-standing observations of your daily habits... down to your favorite color and what you eat for lunch on Wednesdays).

Anyways, given all this information, you might understand why I was so excited when a whole year had past and it was suddenly time to re-create the mayhem in all it's glory! ;-)

Our enkai this year was definately fun, but I have a sneaking feeling that whomever was on the planning committee might have taken notice of just how "out-of-control" the festivities were last year (maybe even compared to most enkais) and toned it down a bit on purpose. This equaled no karaoke, no shirtless men and no posh hotel in Kobe.  I was asked to recite a poem in Japanese beforehand (which I didn't end-up doing... we're going to surprise the kids with it next week), but that was about the only supplementary activity to Bingo (everyone one a prize & I got a sweater shaver). Because this year's enkai was also held in Kakogawa (albeit at a nice hotel in Kakogawa), not Kobe, there was a limit on after-party options.

I've heard whispers about some after-party drama, but nothing too serious.  Overall, I guess it was a pretty good holiday work party and I got a chance to hang out with some of the teachers I don't talk to that often.  At the end of the night, I ran to the bathroom and changed out of my skirt and into a 70s-style mini-dress for the 70s party I was going to later on.  I think some people found the wardrobe change a bit funny, but also added a little excitement and good icebreaker for Monday morning conversations.  I'm definitely going to miss this parties when I leave Japan (don't see people wanting to shell out over $100 to drink with coworkers at home, spouses not invited); they've given me some interesting memories.  Pictures to come!