Welcome new teachers party!

Last night was the English department welcome party for the new principal and new English teacher. Ms Tsuchi wore a kimono with an obi (belt) decorated with traditional Japanese instruments. She looked hot. I wore my new necklace of beads (a present from Lucy and Niall) and was asked by one teacher if it had been made by Aborigines. The dinner began with the usual speeches: the speech to welcome the new teachers, and the speeches given by the new teachers. These tend to follow a formula. The new teacher says something like ‘There are many things I don’t know about this job, and many times when I am stuck or in trouble, so please help me out. I need your assistance.’ It struck me how the Japanese are very good at admitting weakness. So many times I’ve heard a speech begin with, ‘I am very nervous, so please bear with me.’ It’s such a relief to be able to say that. I don’t know why we always have to show ourselves as super confident and strong to other people, when we really don’t feel like that on the inside. To be humble is a great virtue here, which means that you can show your weaknesses more easily. You should also be humble about those people close to you. For example, a conversation I had last week:
Me: ‘Your daughter is so pretty.’
Mr S: (with a pleased smile) ‘She is very fat.’
Me: ‘And your wife is so nice.’
Mr S: (with a loving chuckle) ‘She is also very fat.’
From this conversation, his expression, i could easily tell he adores his family.
It’s funny how it has taken me three years to work something out which seems so glaringly obvious. Maybe it’s to do with finally understanding what people are saying. Language is such a big part of culture, or rather, language is culture.
Dinner was the usual sashimi, tempura, tofu and gallons of beer. My neighbour recently got married so we had a long discussion about marriage at our end of the table. I mentioned I’d heard a Japanese celebrity compare marriage to bungee-jumping – if you think about it too long, you won’t do it. Mr S, who has been married for 21 years, said that he didn’t agree. He said, ‘If you get married, you will regret it. But if you don’t get married, you will regret it. In my case, I hate being lonely. So I wanted to get married. Any woman was okay.’ I think that’s one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever had concerning marriage.
Dinner was followed by a ride on the Ferris wheel on the roof of the building with great views of the neon-soaked Susukino. Our carriage came complete with musak and heated seats. We took lots of photos of ourselves high above the city, and whooped excitedly as the teenage couple in the carriage ahead of us started to pash at the highest point of the wheel. I don’t know if this was intentional but as we came down, nearing the end, the muzak suddenly got really sad. I felt suddenly a bit teary-eyed and nostalgic, thinking that I am nearing the end of my time in Japan. Funny how it always takes leaving somewhere to make you want to stay.
We went back down to the fourth floor to the karaoke place and had a raucous karaoke session involving a lot of loud singing/shouting and even a broken glass. I got emotional again when the Vice Principal sang ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ (really well!), and luckily our booth came equipped with a box of tissues put there especially for those moments. They really do think of everything. I sang a couple of Japanese songs (pretty badly) and ‘On Top of the World’. Three years ago I never would have believed I would have been singing the Carpenters so enthusiastically, with no hint of irony, in front of a large group of people. One teacher sang ‘Candle in the Wind’ with a lot of gestures towards me, which had people yelling out ‘Oi! Shinde inai yo!’ (Hey! She’s not dead, okay!).
I’m reallly going to miss a country where you can eat dinner, go on a Ferris wheel, and sing karaoke - all without leaving the building.