Surviving My First Enkai

In Japan working society, it is customary to welcome a new co-worker with a "welcome party," which usually entails two hours of all-you-can-drink booze, speeches, good eats and good company. In the education system, this seems to be how teachers and staff members let loose and relax a little bit.

Unfortunately, coming late into the game, I never received a proper "welcome party," which I'm sad about... however, I finally had a chance to hang out with some of my co-workers at an unofficial enkai (drinking party) after our Sports Day, and it was quite an interesting experience. I think my experience plays out very differently from most people.

There are a few "rules" that I learned about enkais, as well as drinking in general while I was in Tokyo last year:

1. A nomihodai is always the case, and often times comes with good food. Best eat and try everything.

2. You should always start off with a round of beer when you KAMPAII! (cheers)

3. You must always leave enough room in your glass of beer for it to be refilled by someone else.

4. You may never pour your own drink.

5. You may never speak poorly about someone else's physical features, no matter how wasted you are.

So I was really anxious for my first one, even though it seemed very non-traditional. There were eight of us... myself, one of my JTEs, the two PE teachers, the two counselors and two other teachers. There weren't any "big heads" in this case, which I felt could make it more relaxing. I was ready to get wasted with my co-workers, especially because I haven't really had the chance to get to know them, let alone get across the obvious language barrier. So I was hoping that tonight would be different...

Although I had a great time, so many things caught me off guard...

1. I sat in the back next to my JTE, so essentially I spoke to her and the two female counselors next to me the whole time, while the men (who arrived later) sat on the other side.

2. We didn't start with a round of beer... so not everyone had a glass.

3. Even at the enkai, people seemed very hesitant about drinking, mostly the women surrounding me.

4. The counselors next to me barely refilled my glass of beer. This was probably the worst part of the night for me.

5. Nobody got plastered. 'Nuff said.

While the counselors next to me were really sweet and knew more English than the men combined, they did not do justice to my beer appetite. Eventually I should have simply edged over to the men and pour them beer, and in return, would have my glass refilled... but I wasn't able to adequately do that. I appreciated when they would see my empty glass of beer in my hand, which I conveniently pursed next to my lips half the time to hint that I wanted some. In short, I wish I sat where the counselors sat so that I could have at least chatted and gotten more beer. Nobody ended up walking around during the enkai.

But don't get me wrong, I had a great time talking and eating and drinking what I could. I got to know my JTE more, and listened to my teachers grieve over how fortunate the younger ones are. Unfortunately the two hour nomi did not even leave me a buzz, so I was banking on a nijikai. A nijikai is an after party, which would typically consist of karaoke, bar hopping, etc. After we left the restaurant, I hinted that we should go out and do some more eating or drinking.

Only half the group stayed, so there were four of us... the young ones (20s), and the oldest one to say the least. They said that this was going to be my welcome party, so I could do whatever I wanted; I appreciated the nice gesture. We ended up finding a karaoke bar because I told them it would be fun, so we stayed for another two hours inside... however, only my JTE and I sang the entire time, and the other two simply chatted it up. I asked my JTE if they were okay doing karaoke, and she told me that they just love to chat, especially when theyre buzzed. So they were fine with it apparently. Even my co-workers are shy about karaoke!

We left at 1AM and hitched a taxi home. The older teacher paid for the karaoke... totaling 15,500 Yen... thats a LOT. And the other two teachers paid for my Taxi ride... another 2000 Yen. So as you can see, I am indebted to them. I got them thank you cards, so for now, I hope that will show my appreciation for them.

So my first enkai... didn't get drunk, no wild stories... but I had a great time. I hope that I can go out again with my co-workers, especially now that I'm even more motivated to learn Japanese. I told them I'm always up for doing something, so hopefully we can make it happen.

The after-party goers!