Drunk Japanese Teachers
Dan and I were invited to celebrate the 120th anniversary of one of the high schools that he works at. It was a three day weekend due to Culture day. Culture is a day for the promotion of culture and the love for freedom and peace. But the festivities for the anniversary were all day long starting that morning at school for Dan so he didn’t a three day weekend. We met up at the high school and they bussed us downtown to a hotel. We had lunch and lots of drinks and many many speeches.
I learned a few things. It’s a compliment if someone tells you that you have a small face. I have a small face, thank you very much.
At a big party like this there is a practice when serving alcohol. First you never pour yourself a drink. You wait for someone else to serve you. You never drink until the first Kampii (cheers). Then through out the night people from the party will walk around refilling glasses. But they will refill it even if you don’t need it refilled. One person will fill it to the very brim and another person will be right behind them. You are supposed to take a few gulps to make room for that person to fill it up to the brim. This will go on throughout the whole night. I am hesitant to translate what this means. I think it’s a sign of respect to be able to serve you.
I met a lot of nice people and everyone that knew a little English talked to me. Since everyone got drunk pretty quickly this was interesting. One teacher had me guess his age. They thought it was really funny to ask us when we were getting married. Then they just started to refer to me as Dan’s fiancé and laughed and laughed.
We then went onto to a second venue for more food, drinks and speeches. We somehow got put at the drunk table. We weren’t drunk but everyone at our table was sloppy and kept almost causing a scene during the speeches. Then there was singing and Dan joined in.
At some point someone found out it was his birthday and they pulled him up on stage and sang Happy Birthday to him. They also pulled me up on stage when he gave his speech. I can’t show you any photos because Dan thinks he looks dumb in the ones we do have.
The night ended for us around 6 pm but they were going on to another party.
I was exhausted and just wanted to be quiet for a while.
I learned a few things. It’s a compliment if someone tells you that you have a small face. I have a small face, thank you very much.
At a big party like this there is a practice when serving alcohol. First you never pour yourself a drink. You wait for someone else to serve you. You never drink until the first Kampii (cheers). Then through out the night people from the party will walk around refilling glasses. But they will refill it even if you don’t need it refilled. One person will fill it to the very brim and another person will be right behind them. You are supposed to take a few gulps to make room for that person to fill it up to the brim. This will go on throughout the whole night. I am hesitant to translate what this means. I think it’s a sign of respect to be able to serve you.
I met a lot of nice people and everyone that knew a little English talked to me. Since everyone got drunk pretty quickly this was interesting. One teacher had me guess his age. They thought it was really funny to ask us when we were getting married. Then they just started to refer to me as Dan’s fiancé and laughed and laughed.
We then went onto to a second venue for more food, drinks and speeches. We somehow got put at the drunk table. We weren’t drunk but everyone at our table was sloppy and kept almost causing a scene during the speeches. Then there was singing and Dan joined in.
At some point someone found out it was his birthday and they pulled him up on stage and sang Happy Birthday to him. They also pulled me up on stage when he gave his speech. I can’t show you any photos because Dan thinks he looks dumb in the ones we do have.
The night ended for us around 6 pm but they were going on to another party.
I was exhausted and just wanted to be quiet for a while.
posted by KateO at 9:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home