Christmas party eikaiwa style..

Students at my eikaiwa!

  Now I know I usually bitterly complain about having an eikaiwa, but really I am extremely lucky to be able to meet up with such wonderful and wonderfully diverse people each and every week. Our eikaiwa Christmas party really brought this home to me. I had to do NOTHING for this party… my only input was when my students asked me if I was able to make the party on the 8^th. Yes, I was as it happens. That was it. On the evening of the 8^th, I got picked up by one of my students and taken to the nearby venue, when we arrived in the room they had booked for us my mouth just dropped open! This place was HUGE! 

Our dinner table (set for 20) looked pathetically small compared to the spacious room it was housed in. That wasn’t the only thing that was big. The dinner, one we started eating just kept coming! Now, I have to be honest, it wasn’t my most favourite meal since I’ve been in Japan. I hate to say it, but I think it was just a bit too ‘posh Japanese’ for me! However, on the plus side of this, I unwillingly became the evening’s dinner entertainment as everyone (especially the people opposite) began watching to how I would respond when the sashimi, tempura, fish and … dare I remember it…?!, WHOLE CRAB came out!... Not very well apparently. I did try everything, you have to give me that, but I simply could not get on with the crab! Everyone was just munching down on the soft shelled thing but that was something I just couldn’t hack. One of my students grabbed a leg and said “like this” and proceeded to chomp down on the leg like she was Bugs Bunny eating a carrot, at which point I shook my finger and said “That’s not right….’ To which everyone exploded into laughter! Glad they were entertained anyway!

First up, freshly heated udon! (with xmas card from one student)

Sashimi (raw fish at front) was ok.. prawn... no! Just too runny!! =S

ARRRRGH!! What am I supposed to do with this!?

The 'Trapp' family singers - well that was what I was told!

Silent Night by candle light

Ok, despite a few setbacks with the food (another notable time was when I confused a steamed egg for cream soup) the evening was a lot of fun. We played some silly games, had an impossible quiz, my beginners sang a song from the Sound of Music, and I made them play a memory game, for which they were rewarded with stickers! We also sang some Christmas carols together which was awkward but quite nice at the same time. Finally, we did a Christmas present pot luck, where I ended up with a bag of plants!! WTF?! Actually they were really nice and have now become a nice little grown up feature of my house…. Well that is until they die of course!

My 'grown up' present!

Sometimes, I’m really glad I have an eikaiwa!