Nomikai
July 25, 2009
Nomikai, or drinking party in Japanese, is one social event that I have never really taken a liking too. I usually hate drinking and the nuisances associated with it, like really messed up communication, the disgusting feeling afterwards, and the worry of getting home in one piece.
Tonight I went to my first nomikai in a very long time. It was with some students from an industrial textile company whose contract is coming to an end. It was fantastically fun and the section manager and a couple of other “non-student” members came out too. It was also the first time in a long time where I had to use more Japanese than usual. Although they are my English students, my Japanese is, at the moment, better than their English.
I’m usually quite reserved for some reason in social situations but I was able to put on my “teaching face” and became the super social person that I am a few hours a day. I actually quite enjoyed listening to them speak in Japanese because it gave me a chance to see what they really are like and also see the social interactions that are often a mystery to me. Only one person made a fool of himself by drinking too much and saying things he probably shouldn’t have said. Luckily I was there to interrupt him and guide the course of conversation on a more appropriate line. Thus is the life of an English teacher.
What also comes natural to an English teacher is having a repertoire of conversational questions and topics ready to keep conversation going. I found out my natural abilities also work in Japanese too!
In the end I drank way too much but managed to get a taxi home with a couple of the students. An all-paid for night courtesy of the company! Otsukaresama deshita!
