bonnenkai

On Wednesday, my BOE (Board of Education) had their bonnenkai (end of year party). It was lots of fun, like most of these wild parties are. you would think that in an office party there would be a sense of decorum, and it would be a dignified affair. WRONG! it is nothing of this sort, nor will it ever be. In this part of the world, parties are what parties are supposed to be: wild, drunken, bacchanalic uninhibited fun and frolic with singing, dancing and great food.
And this time i didn't have to wear a sari!

the evening kicked off with a bento box of food, which of course I couldn't eat. none of the items were safe, for all their beauty they evoked no emotion in me. they were like pretty women. After all the fluttering and clucking by the Mother Hens, meatless, dashi-less oily ramen was brought to me. This ramen lasted me the whole evening.

Once bellies were full, tables cleared of empty bento-boxes, bingo cards were distributed. The 24 numbers were individually circumferenced by slits by which one could push the no. out and fold it. (umm, for those who r wondering why i am describing bingo cards; in India, we all scramble for pens when housie {our bingo} cards are circulated, esp. at kitty parties. and therefore i found the cards quite interesting.)

The bingo game was launched amid much excitement and one by one the winners (the one to get one whole line struck off as the numbers were called) got up to grab a gift from the pool, tearing them open to display what they had chosen. Some gifts were very interesting and I sighed for i couldn't get them. one was a beautiful cubic Okinawan glass that i coveted! but I ended up getting two curry rice bowls which sent the whole BoE in ruptures "Indo curry rice!!!!" it was the most apt gift for me in their eyes. Only when ayumi got exactly the same dishes, did we discover that it was actually a return gift from a wedding that had been recycled. nonetheless, I like it very much. especially the wooden spoons. :)

After the gifts were grabbed, opened, displayed and stashed away, the rest of the fun and games were served.

The hostess performed okinawan dances for our pleasure. she was quite good. altho she did use some artifical flowers as props, the use of which is still not clear in my head. except for jutting out unceremoniously from her obi, they didnt really serve any purpose. even aesthetically, i found it quite an oddity.

First game to be played was the wasabi bombs! four strong muscular(?!?) males were dared to participate. They were each given an onegiri, one of which was packed with wasabi. Only the hostess of the bar knew who got the 'bomb'. They had to eat it at the same time and the rest of the crowd had to discover who got the 'bomb'. One person (the funniest dear old man at the BoE) did his best to jump up and down roll on the floor unable to swallow the onegiri even with the help of 20 glasses of water. None but one person guessed it right. the person who got wasabi one had done a great job hiding it but afterwards his face was pink and eyes red.

Once the wasabi-induced passions were quelled, we moved on to the pass-the-rubber-band. 8 unlucky contestants were chosen, I among them. I was later informed that it was according to the two divisions of the BoE - education and social. I am still unsure where I belong. Anyway, it was 2 teams of 4 pl - 2 men and 2 women each. And we had to pass a rubber band using a toothpick in our mouths. If the band was dropped we had to start from the beginning. It was embarrassing and we were laughing like mad men at the end of it all. Again the funny dear old man (from now referred to as FDOM) put the toothpick as far in in his mouth as he could, leaving only a tiny tip out, to much of Ayumi's distress! well inspite of that her team won, while my team dropped the band twice! dropping our chance of winning.

Then, i also lost a 100yen in the reverse hyakku-en janken. (janken is rock-paper-scissors.) The game was played thus: pairs were made and asked to janken. The loser received the 100yen from the winner. therefore it was reversed. the loser-winners thus jankened until 2 people remained. the last winner won approximately 1500yen! I lost in the first round against FDOM. hmm! the one time i win a janken, i lose! :)

Then there was the toilet paper unwrapping contest. I was made to participate in that. The four contestants competed to be the first one to unwound a whole toilet paper role and wrap it on their hand. My pseudo-supervisor came in first, while i came in second! but it was I who walked away with all the loo-paper!! it is currently safely hidden under my desk at the boe, and will be essential in the construction of an artifact beyond any one's imagination but mine. (who-ho-ha-ha-ha! ) (shhhh- no-one but I knows the secret location of the treasure!)

Well, after the games, we started the karaoke. The karaoke screens cleared up; they had semi-nude women with skimpy clothes earlier.... this had made me wonder whether it was a hostess bar, that had been hired by the BoE. Anyway. to not sing at karaoke at a party is to perform sacrilege towards a holy ritual. therefore, I brought in help in the form of Ayumi, and we chose a song that she could sing - 'eternal flame' by the bangles. it probably turned out solemn. but it was a solemn hymn to the karaoke gods. we were heckled, tho. and therefore we decided a 'peppier' song for the next time - 'top of the world' and we had everyone clapping this time.

David was dearly missed during the party, and especially so during karaoke, as he usually took control over the "lets-get-wild-and crazy" madness :) !! But he was in Denver, enjoying a white christmas at home.

Well that was it for the evening. it was nearly 12. the party had been fun, but it was time to go home now. i hadn't been feeling well for sometime and i just needed to sleep. (future wud show how sick i became afterwards.) so, angel Saori drove me and Ayumi to Motobu, and sleep sweet sleep...