Enkai Everlasting.

Let's see, 2 weeks ago, trip with Bachan... last weekend, an enkai, a wedding and a nijikai... yesterday, another enkai and another nijikai... [and next weekend, school sports day, the week after that a community pot luck dinner and concert, and then the week after that the community Kuju trip.]

My dance card is, as they say, full.

Anyways, yesterday was the enkai for the Board of Education. It was good, standard enkai fare. Food, liquor and happy people.


Kicked off with a speech by our head of the BOE. My big boss.

Some things are universal... no matter what country, the tall guys with the good hair get the leadership jobs.

Leaves me out as long as I keep razoring everything off my dome.



My supervisor on the right, and his supervisor on the left.

Both super nice guys.

And both, for whatever reason, seem to get a kick outta learning English, which helps mute how dumb I feel for my lack of Japanese ability.



This dude is forever getting liquored up at the enkais and trying to kiss everybody.

Below is proof positive from the enkai nijikai, where he claimed another victim [albeit a happily intoxicated one.]


Went to the afterparty, not under duress exactly, but one of the guys from the BOE has been going on forever and a day about us going out drinking sometime, and our schedules never quite matched up.

So when he invited me out, it was the least I could do to go, seeing as how good they've been to me.

I really didn't need anymore food or drink, but we did manage to rock a pretty good version of Sinatra's "My Way" on the bar's karaoke machine.



Your entirely too extreme close up pic of the evening.

What happens when you give your camera to the most intoxicated person in the room.