Bunkasai
The word of the day is “horriblehangover”. It’s a word. I checked.
Yesterday was the Junior High School Bunkasai. A Bunkasai is a ‘cultural festival’. From being told this, you might assume that it was a festival exploring various cultures from around the world, but in reality a Bunkasai is more of a gratuitous celebration of all things Japanese.
There were traditional plays, songs, dances, taiko drumming and lots of pig soup and onigiri. I sang two songs of a gaijin flavour, one with a few students and another with all the teachers. The students and I sang “Let it Be”, which turned out surprisingly well considering how dire some of our rehearsals had been. With the teachers, I did a solo of the English version of a current Japanese favorite, “ooki na furu tokei” (Grandfathers Clock), with the teachers joining me in Japanese after a few verses. It was a hit with the old ladies, who showed their appreciation by shuffling up to me afterwards and smiling, machine-gunning my ears with toothless Japanese that I strained to understand.
After the Bunkasai, there was an enkai at the principles house. I arrived late (ironic really, as I live right nextdoor to the principal) armed with 2 dictionaries. I wasn’t going to need them much though. You see, when Japanese people drink alcohol, an amazing transformation takes place. Suddenly they start plucking English words from nowhere and before you know it, everyone from the Vice Principal to the Caretaker is barking commands at you, such as “drink!” and “drink”. The same thing happens to me, with Japanese. After a few glasses, my inhibitions fade away and I find myself much more comfortable in trying out new vocabulary / grammar.
My most memorable Japanese lines of the night were,
(upon returning from the bathroom, said to the whole room) “If you drink a lot, pissing feels really good!”
and
(after being made to get my violin to play for everyone) “It wont sound good as I haven’t played for a month. And Im drunk.”
Yes. About that last one. Like the International Clown of FunJoy that I am, I was persuaded to go and get my violin to give an impromptu recital for everyone. At first, I declined, saying “maybe if I drink a lot more, I will get it”.
Then I drank a lot more.
In other news, I have booked my ticket for my Christmas holiday to Singapore, leaving on the 25th of December. There, I will be meeting my dearest Cheryl Tan for fun, frolics and other activities beginning with ‘F’. Amusingly, my Fukuoka - Tokyo connecting flight leaves me with 7 hours to kill before the Tokyo - Singapore flight leaves. What an exciting way to spend Christmas Day.
When I think culture day in Japan, I think traditional Japanese activities. I mean, many people don’t live traditionally in Japan, right? They go to an office building in a suit, or go shopping in jeans and a t-shirt, or whatever, not have a tea ceremony in kimonos. They might need a chance to reconnnect with their roots. Now, if it was a culture day in the U.S., I’m pretty sure we’d do other countries, because what sort of culture does the U.S. really have? It’d consist of eating hotdogs and singing the national anthem or something. The average American wouldn’t stand for, say, wearing colonial clothes, because that’d involve wearing tights, and that’s too gay for them.
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