Bonenkai with the Board of Education bossmen

Back home, December ushered in tons of Christmas parties at the office. When I was a kid, my brother and I would go to Dad's work for the annual Christmas gathering. Since he works for the government, Santa Claus was bilingual. For one shift, Pere Noel handed out presents in French. The next hour, he'd be jolly in my native tongue - English.

Japan doesn't really do up Christmas in a smashing way. But my colleagues/bossmen know how to party. In fact, Japanese offices throw an annual "forget the year" party: a bonenkai. Basically, it's a gathering with your co-workers and you drink away the trials and tribulations from the past year. (Funnily enough, my base school's bonenkai was cancelled because there was some major drama that happened earlier on in the year. Anyways).

After some consideration, I decided to attend the bonenkai thrown by my Board of Education. (I told them my definitive answer while we were having a dinner at the local Asahi Beer Factory with some of my BoE bossmen). I was a little hesitant... but hey, when in Japan?!

So, on a Friday night we crammed into a couple vans and headed over to Dakeonsen. It's a nearby place lined with ryokans (traditional Japanese inns). I felt like I was intruding on an old boys' club, seeing as how there was only one other lady on this trip. (Pros? We got a huge tatami room to ourselves). But my bossmen are pretty chill, so it was good times. We started the night by pre-drinking in one of the rooms. B. and I decided to keep on our civilian wear, but the BoE dudes immediately changed into their mint green yukatas (aka dressing robes).

We headed downstairs for a sumptuous dinner. It was course after course that was being served to us by these ladies in really pretty kimonos. Obviously, beverages of choice accompanied our dinner. When you go to any kind of enkai, it's tradition to keep topping up your colleagues' glass with beer or whatever they're drinking. It's especially important to make sure the section chief and other ViPs are never thirsty. There was also shochu, which is an interesting drink best mixed with water.

B. and I were excited when we saw the little karaoke station. We entertained them with our fave tunes in English. B. even dazzled them with his Japanese repertoire. We moved onto another room for the "nijikai" (second enkai?) The drinks kept flowing, and there was more karaoke. I mistakenly told my BoE that I'd sing in Japanese, so they were trying to get me to do so. HAHA. I do recall serenading them with the Spice Girls' "Wannabe." An old man from another party started dancing - it was awkward.

We were all pretty beat, so we ended the festivities. I went to the onsen for a bit - there was a pool outside as well, so that was cool to gaze up at the star-lit sky for a bit.

When I was done, I headed back to our floor. This is where it gets even more awkward. I was looking for B., so that we could go for a walk. Instead, I saw one of the Very Important dudes from my BoE. He stepped out of his hotel room for a second. In his drawers. Oh, so awkward. All I could say was, "Konbanwa!!" He shut the door, and I heard him scurry back to the rest of his roomies. He said, "Gemma-san! Gemma-san nani nani nani..." (Probably something to the effect of "Miss Gemma is in the hallway!") I've told this story countless times to friends, because it's just one of those "I'm-in-Japan" moments.

The next morning, we filed down for a Japanese breakfast. I really didn't feel like eating, so I pushed the food around my plate and hoped no one noticed. But the dudes noticed, and laughed that I was as "genki" (enthusiastic?) as usual.

I'm hoping my BoE thinks I'm a hoot... on another Asahi Beer Factory night out with the bossmen, I called one of them "kawaii" (cute) by accident. I meant to say the photo that I took was cute, because he was flashing the peace sign. My supervisor chuckled, and said in his limited English: "Gemma-san! He is grandfather!!" And then dude showed me a photo of his grandkid on his cell phone. Amazing. Good ol' miscommunication. Nihongo ga wakarimasen.