Office Parties

In Japan, it is now the end of the fiscal & school year and that means it’s “Enkai” time again. Any office or work related party is called an “enkai”. Because many staff will retire or transfer there are all these “farewell parties” and “welcome parties”. Over the next 2 weeks I have a bunch of them to go to. Here’s a link that explains what an “Enkai” office party is….just click this link(click me)

This guys experience is petty different from mine but it gives you an idea. People don’t get too crazy at my parties and two of the English teachers I work with don’t drink. We also have most of our enkais at a hotel and we sit at western-style tables. I find the parties pretty tiring as there are so many speeches (of course, only in Japanese) but it is usually the only forum in which co-workers will let their hair down and speak openly with each other. It has been a good experience in the past as I have made friends with some teachers who I will go an entire year without being able to say more than “hello”.

Hinamatsuri at the Kindergarten

Hey everybody! I just wanted to share with you some pictures from my wonderful day today! Today was the official Hinamatsuri Day. Our local kindergarten, where I teach once a month with our friend Mark, had a special event today. To celebrate Hinamatsuri they held a Tea Ceremony for the children. Mark and I were invited to attend and as a special treat the teachers dressed me in a kimono. It was my first time to wear one. It really was a wonderful experience, one I will never forget. The teachers who dressed me were so kind, I really felt like a doll being dressed up!

Along with being dressed up I was also able to learn how to serve the tea during the ceremony, mind you it was done with kindergarteners so luckily I didn't feel to worried if I messed up. The woman who was teaching the kids and I was our town mayor's wife. She is a really kind and very talented woman. The kids were so cute and even the youngest children (2-3 years old) were allowed to participate.

While we were waiting to serve tea some of the girls and I sang the hinamatsuri song together and many of the little girls commented how Japanese I looked! It was so cute. I felt so honored to be able to learn with the children and to then share in drinking tea together. It was a wonderful day!

Finally here is a picture of the lunch we had. I never cease to be amazed at the work that goes into preparing food here...even for kindergarteners! It was delicious!
I hope you all enjoyed the pics and remember if you double click them you can see them full size! Many thanks to Mark for taking most of the pictures!