Leavers Enkai

This past weekend I had my goodbye enkai.

Enkai means drinking party.

Teachers are switched to a new school every 3 to 6 years. This year we had 6 teachers leaving [either for a new school or for retirement]. This includes my favourite secretary who I go to dinner with [white coat at the end] and my principal [seated with arms crossed], who studied in England and speaks absolutley perfect English.


This is the lineup of teachers leaving:



A view around the room...



It was one of the most "traditional japanese style" enkais I have ever attended. Mostly seafood, tempura, raw squid and shrimp... good but certainly traditional.




The leaving staff faced the rest of the teachers.



Each teacher wrote a going away speech. One teacher is chosen to read on their behalf in front of the whole staff. Most of this resulted in really funny impersonations of the teacher themselves.



The enkai usually kicks off with everyone seated around tables set low to the ground. You sit on your knees, because it's a sign of respect. (It hurts after a while!) We listen to various speeches. Then, everyone raises a glass to do the "kanpai!"(cheers). For about $40, you get about two hours for eating unlimited amounts of food and drink.... all while developing lasting work relationships.

At my school, about 20% of the people people end up drinking oolong tea. The rest of us [20 teachers] drink a mix of beer [asahi/kirin/sapporo], wine [my teachers know that the red wine goes to my table] and nihonshu [hot and cold sake]. Interestingly enough at enkais, it is rude to pour your own drink. To show respect, you're supposed to pour for your fellow co-workers. In return, they should top off your glass. It's a win-win situation, really.

The whole thing ends in a farewell yell. There is usually one for the whole school, but during the goodbye and welcome enkais for teachers, each of the teachers names are yelled. The person who does this yelling is usually the youngest of the staff... which they realized recently, was me.

[Probably moreso that my japanese wasnt good enough to do it before.]

After an initial attempt where I yelled the principal's name wrong [hiroSHI, not Hiroki!] I have successfully done 3 now. *takes a bow*

A video of an old enkai:



Now, just imagine if he had yelled the name wrong.... yes... very very VERY embarassing.

Being my school, we obviously had a second party... Tiffany, Brian, Rich and Danny all joined me for some karaoke.






aw.



very typical night in Kitakata...