Day 2: Another Party on Tap

Last night, I went to the welcome "party" for the new English teacher at a restaurant in a nearby town. (The party wasn't really a party; it was more like a dinner.) I had never been to the place, and, frankly, even if I had seen it before, I probably wouldn't have realized that it was a restaurant. A lot of eating establishments in Japan are like that, at least here in the boonies: just basically a building with some signs on it. It would help if there were windows and you could look inside, but that is certainly not the norm here for many of the smaller, hole-in-the-wall type places.

Anyway, the food was just okay, but I'm glad I had a chance to talk to the new teacher. Unfortunately, my Japanese still isn't good enough for me to understand everything that the teachers talk about, although I can usually at least get the gist. Nevertheless, I wish the topic of conversation would switch away from school and more to just about anything else. I also wonder why the wives and kids are never invited to such parties, so I'm inevitably in the presence of my male colleagues only.

In case you're wondering, the restaurant was an izakaya, which I can best describe as the Japanese equivalent of an Irish pub (I'll take an Irish pub over an izakaya any day!), and I paid ¥3000 for the pleasure. (Those who drank alcohol paid ¥3500.) All told, as there were seven of us, the establishment made a whopping ¥23,000 off of us, which comes out to $275 (EUR 200). That is utterly incredible, since for $35 I imagine I could have probably had steak and potatoes, along with a great appetizer, coffee, and a fabulous dessert. That's just how it goes in Japan, though: You pay a lot for nothing. I'm not complaining, though, since it's all included in my salary.

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Tonight, I have another little party to go to, at another pub, and I'll probably be out another ¥3000. The party tonight is a gathering for some of the local foreigners. If everyone shows up, I think there will be about 6 of us (including the girlfriend of one of them).

I think one of the new teachers might be moving in today, but I haven't heard anything specific so am not planning to help.

Otherwise, I'm just watching the Twins vs. Blue Jays live on TV. I guess the game is on because the Twins are one of the MLB teams with a Japanese player.

Since it's Saturday, I also plan to clean up a bit around the apartment and I will go for a swim this afternoon, before the party.

That's all for now!

Cya,
Yama