The average enkai (Japanese office party) doesn't usually begin with a trip to a men's sauna. But for some reason my first one, which took place over the weekend, did. Oh well, I can't deny that there's something liberating about standing around naked with a load of lads. Sure, at the end of the day, we all have genitals. And if there's a better way to break the ice with a large group of male co-workers than getting bollock-naked in a room together and then lathering up at a row of sit-down showers before hitting the sauna, then I'll be damned.
After drying up, we moved on to dinner, where I made a speech (this particular event was in my honour as a new member of staff) and then got bleedin' mad wrecked. Such a state of intoxication provided the perfect mental state for me to attempt to speak Japanese and I like to think that I learned something from the experience. If only I could remember what exactly that was...
The drinking continued afterwards at a karaoke bar. I don't think I have to explain how amazing karaoke with a load of drunk Japanese high school teachers is. There was amorous serenading of nearby tables of middle-aged ladies, tying of work-ties around foreheads, tambourines, everything.
Man, I love Japan.
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