You haven't experienced Japan until you've experienced enkai! I've now been in Japan for 2 months and have been to 2 work parties plus a weekend which I'm sure counts for at least 5!
Saturday morning meet at the school at 10am, jump on the bus, get handed a beer. Drive for 2 hours (sat next to Urabe - an English teacher) and arrive at a beer factory. Go on tour and get free beer. Eat traditional Japanese food for lunch. This was pretty much the pattern of the weekend - drive, drink beer and eat traditional Japanese food, with a few baths thrown in.
After lunch we went to a winery for wine tasting! Actually, didn't really enjoy the wines much, but the spirits on the other hand... Next to the winery was a place where we could sample Japanese spirits. They were very interesting - especially the sesame spirit - you could distinctly taste the sesame flavour.
We continued onto the traditional Japanese hotel/onsen. Once the bus driver eventually found the place! I've never been on a bus where the driver got so lost, had to ask so many people for directions or take so many 3 point turns!
Notice how the word "traditional" keeps cropping up? That was another very important aspect of the weekend.
Onsen! Hot springs! Take your clothes off in your room, put on your yakuta (dressing grown) go to one of the hot springs (I think the hotel had 6 or so public baths, in different locations in the hotel, some were inside, others outside). Take off everything (but you can cover yourself with a little hand towel) and go wash beside the pool and then jump in! They were very hot and relaxing, although a little hotter than ideal for me. In the time that we were there, I went in three different pools. I much preferred the outside ones as there was a slight, refreshing breeze, but I wasn't sure about only being half in the water....
Traditional Japanese dinner:
I was a bit surprised when dinner was about to start and we were getting ready to go to the dining room, but we were still wearing out yakuta (often it seems that no-one tells me things that everyone knows - at least all Japanese people). Yep that's right - dinner in our dressing gowns! Good thing I put some underwear on while the others were doing their hair - I was just getting as ready as I could before sneaking a look at what they were going to wear. Although it felt a bit strange, and I had to keep checking that I was still decent throughout dinner, it was really comfy!
The food was mostly delicious, although those orange things that look like jelly babies nearly killed me. I seem to think that they might be made of fish eggs. Certainly not orange jelly babies on sticks! Now the sashimi (raw fish) was very yummy, as was the mushroom and lemon soup. As dinner (and drinks) continued the karaoke machine came out and the singing began. I'm already beginning to recognise the favourite songs that come out at every enkai. I'm also surprised that we sing the school song (one of the songs from sport day) and we all put our arms around each other and sing a song that is sung at weddings. I'm getting much better at reading Japanese and was sort of able to sing along, although I could've sung anything and they wouldn't have been able to hear me over themselves!
9pm or so and the party finishes - time to go to the next party! That was held in on of the rooms. Drinks and nibblies came out and we just relaxed and chatted. I did more relaxing than chatting, but you get that! I did talk a bit to the two English teachers that were there and the home economics teacher speaks English very well.
11pm or so and that party finishes - time for another dip in the onsen. This one was outdoors - the breeze was nice and refreshing.
12 or so and it's bedtime! While I'm becoming quite accustomed to the futon on the floor, I look forward to my next trip to a traditional Australian hotel where I can sleep in a bed! And I do miss my pillow! I was rather amused that the traditional Japanese hotel does not have a traditional Japanese toilet, but a western toilet!
Awoken at 7:30 for a early morning onsen dip before breakfast.
Breakfast: yep, you guessed it - a traditional Japanese breakfast! Now I have a personal philosophy: one should never eat strange things for breakfast! And no amount of cultural courtesy will change this. I quite enjoyed the miso soup with small muscles and even the salmon (ok, maybe my definitions of "strange" are changing!). I guess the sweet scrambled egg cubes were ok, but I don't know it will ever be a favourite. The fruit was yummy and I had plenty to drink: green tea (Japanese), coffee, orange juice and beer. I guess it's the Japanese version of a champagne breakfast! But I didn't eat the pickled veges and didn't even try the orange thing (I've sort of gone off orange foods!).
Fruit picking (once the bus driver found the place..)
When I found out that we were going fruit picking I put in my sneakers and some clothes I could move in and not mind getting dirty. I really didn't need to bother. We walked into the grove and and I picked three nashi (cross between an apple and a pear) by gently twisting them off the branch. Every piece of fruit was in a paper bag - no wonder the fruit here is so expensive! The three nashi cost me 900yen = $9, so while not cheap, it should be pretty fresh and do me for a few lunches.
Lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant (I'm sure you can guess) and then home.
I guess the place we went to was about 2 hours away, but difficult to tell with that bus driver and all the toilet stops and souvenir stops!
If anyone wants to visit an onsen when they come and visit, just let me know. At least I now know onsen etiquette!
All in all it was a very good weekend and I got an opportunity to see some of Japan and get to know the teachers a little better. I some interesting conversations with Urabe about the differences between Japan and Australia (she has spent some time in Australia and is interested in Australia). In Australia we are definitely taught to think about things, have our own opinions and question things. We are encouraged to ask questions and there are no stupid questions. In Japan you are not to ask a stupid question or make a mistake. In Urabe's opinion, most Japanese people tend to be pesimistic, while Australians are more optomistic: "she'll be right."
Well, time to get ready for a new week.. hope you all have a good one and enjoy your traitional Aussie homes!
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