SO LONG, FAREWELL, AUF WIEDERSEHEN, ADIEU…

The end of the school year in Japan brings along the parting of ways for many within the school system. If you’re a teacher in Japan, you can’t get too comfortable with one school because the Japanese education leaders believe that teachers should be transitioned from school to school every 4-8 years. If you’re a part-time teacher, you may be moved every 1-4 years.

Within the teaching profession, there are two types of teachers… those that have passed the teaching exam, and those who still try every year to defeat this close-to-impossible test. To give you an idea of just how difficult this exam is, every year over 100 applicants take the test but only a handful pass. It is definitely a frustration among the teachers in my school, and it is discouraging for those who fail because no real explanation is given as to why they didn’t make the cut. It is a common belief in this area that the Akita exam is so difficult because there are so few children to teach in the Akita prefecture. This assumption makes sense because the decreasing population in this part of rural Japan has caused many schools to close in recent years. Part-time teachers are a steal because they are paid less, and they can have a lighter course load than full-time teachers. What is the saying? “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?”… or at least at a discounted price. I think that could apply here if the rumors a true.

But I digress… the point of this entry is to discuss the goodbyes I have had to say in the past week. At my base school, I will say farewell to one of my favorite co-workers, Midori-sensei. She is being moved to an office job in Akita city, which is about 1 hour from my town. The city is actually two hours from this school, so her commute will not be the most ideal situation. I will personally miss the sweets she so often brings me in attempts to expose me to Japanese culture! Within this school, I have also lost another English teacher and the business teacher who has become a friend to me. Luckily, both of them are moving to Nishime High School where I also work, but I won’t see them as often as I work there far less than this school.

For the most part, teachers are moved within an hour commute of their home, but a few of the unlucky teachers are moved farther within the prefecture. For example, a science teacher at my school has to move his home because he was transferred to Yuzawa, a town that is about 2 hours from here. Given that they just found out their transfer information last week and the new year starts next week, they have little time to uproot their lives and get settled again. Can you imagine going through this every few years?

Along with the transfers come farewell ceremonies and enkais. Over the past few days my school has had their formal goodbye through a ceremony with all of the students. The strangest sight was seeing all of my manly baseball boys crying during the baseball coach’s goodbye speech. Yet even more shocking was the fact that the baseball coach cried and had to stop his speech. If you take a step back, you can understand the emotions that may be running through both teachers and students. In Japan, teachers are like parents. Students are at school from 7 in the morning until 8 or 9 at night. (If they’re in a club.) The baseball team is no exception to this as they are often the last students at school, practicing in the dark. The coach has the upmost respect from his players, and the players have a mixture of fear and love for their coach. Katsuta-sensei, often referred to as “scary” by his students, is definitely an intimidating man, but he is also very friendly. Watching him choke up on stage almost jerked a few tears from my eyes as well as he is one of the few non-English speaking teachers who tries to communicate with me.

Just this past Friday we said our informal goodbye with a farewell enkai. Again, each transferred teacher gave a goodbye speech, and drinks were poured for him or her all night. We thanked them for their efforts, wished them luck in the future, and toasted their accomplishments.

As I walk into work this morning, I find empty desks and gifts on my desk thanking me for my time teaching with the ones that are leaving. It is sad to see so many people leave, and I am of course nervous to see whom I will be working with in the future. I guess it’s all up in the air for now, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed that the new teachers are half as good as the ones that I’ve lost.

YOUR “HOW-TO” GUIDE FOR ATTENDING A JAPANESE ENKAI

After reading the title, many of you are probably wondering what an “enkai” even is. Well, have no fear because after this blog entry you will not only know what an enkai is, but you will also know how to behave at such an event.

The Japanese “enkai” is a drinking party. Pretty simple concept, huh? Not really. If one took only the face value of this word, then you would assume that all of the enkais in Japan are just a reason for people to get drunk. This assumption couldn’t be farther from the truth. Believe me, I’ve had my own struggles with this as some of my friends and family just assume I’m wasting my life away in Japan drinking every weekend. The truth of the matter is that enkais don’t happen that often, but these parties are a majority of what I write about in my letters back home. (After all, you wouldn’t want to read about the long days I spend at school or the weekends when I clean my apartment!)

In reality, the enkai is much more than getting together at your local bar to slam down some Miller Lites and shoot some pool. At the more formal enkais there are speeches, toasts, congratulatory remarks for “jobs well done”, dinners, conversations, and yes, alcohol. Despite the presence of beverages that are often looked down upon, the enkai is an opportunity to get to know your co-workers or acquaintances in a more personal environment. The Japanese society is built on respect and courtesy, so in everyday situations, it is easy to sometimes lose the connections you would normally make in a relaxed setting. At an enkai, Japanese people “let their hair down”, if you will, and take down the guard that is so often blocking others from getting to know their true personalities. I would hate to think what my experience would be like without these get-togethers. It has been enkais that have truly opened the doors for getting invited to future outings with Japanese people, and finding out similarities between them and myself.

The enkai can be intimidating your first time, especially if you don’t know the language. So how do you successfully survive an enkai, you ask? Here are some pointers for you if you ever find yourself at one:

-Always wait to be directed to your seat. In Japan, the order of seating often depends on the importance of each person. This could depend on age, title, reason for the enkai, or a number of other factors.

-The most important thing at an enkai is to wait until everyone else has started drinking or eating before you dig in to your meal or drink. “Kanpais” are a huge part of the Japanese culture, and they are always carried out before anyone takes a sip or a bite of the evenings’ indulgences. A kanpai is a toast. At the beginning of the evening, the head of the party will stand up to give the kanpai. At this time, it is polite to sit in the seiza position (Japanese torture). At the end, everyone will shout “kanpai” and clink glasses. (You can now drink or eat)

-Before you take your first bite, say “Itadakimasu”. I’m still a little unsure of what this translates to, but think of it as your prayer before eating… only shout it out and do a semi bow.

-Keep an eye out for the people sitting next to you. Any time their drink is close to being empty, it is your responsibility to fill it up for them. This means that you should never pour your own drink either. Politely wait for someone to do it for you. A good rule is to fill any glass that is less than half full.

-Eating in Japan can be tricky, and you often don’t know what you’re eating or how to eat it. It is my rule of thumb to just watch everyone else and do what they do.

-If you must get something from a communal dish/bowl, use the end of your chopsticks that you are not putting in your mouth. Just turn them around and go for it.

-If there is someone that is being honored at the enkai or is important, you may want to go up to them and offer to pour them a drink.

-At some point, there may be some speeches made. Once again, it’s time for seiza! You may want to practice this sitting technique before your enkai… otherwise you may find your feet will completely fall asleep. If this happens, don’t try to stand up quickly or you’ll find yourself face-first on the floor.

-At the end of any meal, always say “Gochisousama deshita”, or “thank you for preparing this meal”. This is done to the person who provided or cooked the meal.

If you follow these simple steps, you should be just fine! I actually just had an enkai last night with teachers from Nikaho High School, but it was more casual than your typical enkai. We went after work and enjoyed some yaki niku (restaurant where you grill meat in the middle of your table). At get-togethers such as this, the formality isn’t there and you can relax! Thanks to last night’s enkai, I now have new snowboarding buddies!