Kochi Orientation

On Thursday and Friday we had a prefectural orientation. All the new JETs came back to Kochi for it. It was fairly informative, with discussions about natural disasters, safety, culture shock, and the resources we have access to. Of course, any gathering of JETs requires a party as well, and last night there was one at the Kochi New Hankyu Hotel beer garden. Oh dear God, the alcohol. Japan has this concept of nomihodai, which is all-you-can-drink for a set amount of time. We paid 3,100 yen each (roughly $31) and we all made quite sure we got our money's worth. By about 9:00, everyone was thoroughly drunk. Naturally, each party has an afterparty (I think the Japanese word for it is nijikai), and we all made our way to Hirome Market to come up with a plan. Some folks got more drinks there; I had an ice cream.

From there we went to a karaoke establishment. Karaoke in Japan is quite different from in the U.S. Rather than singing in front of the entire bar, each group gets a room of their own. In retrospect, I'm astonished that they had a room large enough for all of us, since there must've been about 20 people in our group. Our room had two floors, with a screen and microphone on each. We all sang our lungs out, and there were more drinks. I have no clue when it was that we left, but it must've been quite late by the time Nelson and I walked our bikes home. Nelson probably could've ridden his bike at that point, but I was too far gone to even consider getting on mine, and he was kind enough to stick with me.

In the morning, it was time for the second day of workshops. Getting up was incredibly painful. I managed to drag my sorry self to the meeting hall and sat through the presentations, but I felt too sick to participate in the afternoon's scavenger hunt. It was a bit embarrassing, but I stayed behind and took a nap. I was sad to miss out on the pizza lunch, as well, since my stomach was too upset for me to eat anything. Between the time I got up and 6:00 this evening, I could only manage to eat about a third of an English muffin.

Of course, there is a pub crawl scheduled for tonight. I won't be going; I still don't feel entirely myself, and I have another enkai (read: drinking party) tomorrow night with the Yosakoi team. It's disappointing to miss out on a JET social event, but I guess that's the trade off for being irresponsible on the first night. At this point I think I've learned a little bit more about the virtue of moderation.