Ghengis Khan

In March my neighbour's wife planned a surprise party for his birthday. She decided to have it at this well-known Mongolian restaurant near where we live.

When you first approach the restaurant it is a little disconcerting as it appears to be not only empty or closed, but not well kept. However, that is the shop below the restaurant. Apparently the owners are actual Mongolians and so they decided to set up the restaurant as a traditional Mongolian "tent". It was a clothed dome with intricate fabrics throughout; once inside the shady outside was quickly, and thankfully, forgotten.

There were traditional Mongolian outfits lining the walls of the tent and we soon found out that they intended for us all to wear them!

(Jon and Mai dressed up in traditional Mongolian outfits)

The food was really interesting and from what I heard from the others, quite delicious (it was mostly lamb and other non-chicken meats and therefore taboo for Jon). They had a unique selection of drinks, one of which included "horse milk" (whatever that really entails!--I did try it, though. It was really... sweet, yet salty).

(Sample of the food that was served)

Afterwards we all sang songs in Mongolian while they passed around a communal horn shaped cup for each person to take a drink from. There were other groups not with the party in the restaurant but we all got along really well together.

(Mongolian song with communal horn cup)

In fact, at one point, the owners insisted that the birthday boy dress up like a warrior lord and two others (one from our group and one poor, unsuspecting Japanese guy) dress up as what appears to be his servant boys.

(Andrew, decked out in the warrior lord outfit, busting a move)

(Dante and the random Japanese guy in the "servant" outfits")

Finally, it was time to move the celebrations downtown but not before a group of Japanese girls asked to take their picture with me in exchange for some free baseball game tickets.

(Group photo!)

Oh Japan!!

お久しぶり! -- Long time no see!

To say that a lot has been happening would be a grave understatement; however, I must confess, and with some embarrassment, that the true reason behind my nonexistent posting is nought but my own fault.

With the seemingly limitless posting opportunities one would surmise "getting started" would be a simple task. Sadly, it has been incredibly daunting and has left me postulating where to "begin" for days.

March marked the end of the fiscal year in Japan which is also tied into their school year (unlike Western countries where the school year typically ends near June). Not only were there exams and final classes, but there were good-bye parties and subsequent welcoming parties. And that's not forgetting the class-match!
So, to commemorate (and consolidate posts!) this entry will be dedicated to the end-of-the-year events.

About twice a year (once near the beginning and then again near the end) the whole school participates in a "class-match". At my school, this meant that the girls and the boys were involved in different sports "show-downs" depending upon their grade.

I was in charge of the 1st year girls' basketball tournament. Now, for those of you under the impression that Japanese girls are docile, petite, polite, or even submissive you have obviously never seen them play basketball!
The ferocity with which they attacked the ball was astonishing and, at times, down right scary.

(This video fails to convey the true intensity of the match)

Meanwhile, the boys were more controlled (I never thought I would say that!) and demonstrated their abilities in either Judo or Kendo. One of my teachers explained that lessons in Judo or Kendo are required by law for students in Junior and Senior High as part of their Physical education curriculum.

(Two First year boys fence off in a Kendo match)

After I finally learned how the point system works, I was extremely impressed!

(Two First year boys having a Judo match)

The class-match went on for two days and the ending ceremony coincided with the unofficial "end-of-term". That night there were several parties for the teachers of each grade level to celebrate a job well done for the year.

As I am part of the first year teachers I attended their "enkai" ("party"). We went to a "nabe" restaurant ("nabe" is Japanese for "pot" and that's a fairly apt description). Essentially there is some form of meat (usually chicken) and then vegetables. There are many variations depending on where in Japan you are eating it!

The food was delicious, especially as the restaurant owners not only cooked in front of us, but they also joined us for a drink or two!

(Preparing the "nabe")

This was the first (and for some teachers the last) time I really got to speak with my colleagues. All of their professional "walls" were dropped and we were free to joke and speak mangled Japanese or English. Even though things returned to normal the following Monday at school, it was good for me to know that they are interesting human beings and not just (what seems like) workaholics.