Bonenkai '08.

From 2008-12-23

Bōnenkai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"A bōnenkai (Japanese language: 忘年会, lit. 'forget the year gathering') is a Japanese drinking party that takes place at the end of the year, and is generally held among groups of co-workers or friends. The purpose of the party, as its name implies, is to forget the woes and troubles of the past year, usually by consumption of large amounts of alcohol. A bōnenkai does not take place on any specific day, but they are usually held in December."

There is no end to the cute in Japan.

From 2008-12-23

Found out one of the math teachers is retiring next year - really nice guy - so they made him dress up and do the opening kampai/toast.

From 2008-12-23

From 2008-12-23

Much food and drink to be had. And a random gift swap too. But the highlight was a few of the teachers dressing up and giving a musical lipsynchingly swell performance.

From 2008-12-23

From 2008-12-23

PRECISION. DANCING.

From 2008-12-23

Their performance, though, is proof that some aspects of Japan have seeped into my brainpan without my knowledge. I watched their performance and somehow knew - just knew - that I'd heard that song before. And I just knew that it was by an older Japanese group called Pink Lady. But the kicker is - I have no idea how I know that. I've never made any kind of conscious effort to learn about popular Japanese groups of the late 70s/early 80s, and I've simply absorbed this familiarity through subconscious cultural osmosis. Scary. Though a quick run through Google and YouTube shows that the re-released/re-mixed a bunch of their hits back in '04, which might explain me somehow knowing about them when I got back in-country in '05.

A portion of last night's rendition.


The song, btw, is called UFO, which I can say that I did not know, without looking it up on the internets.