Dinner with the Boss and some teachers

I didn't have class today, so I slept in and didn't do much. But I had to leave to go to school. It's kind of weird that when I run into students when they are leaving, and I'm just now arriving since it was dark by the time I just got there.

I only came for one purpose, and as you can see, it's in the title. I was going to have dinner with the top people in the department and in the school. Sounds fun doesn't it? It wasn't at first since I was sitting near the Chief of staff, all the while having her patronizing me. Oh, yes extremely fun. Here's a secret though, I can understand what she's saying in Japanese, even though she's saying that my Japanese is horrible... actually it's kinda working toward my advantage, but not liking the condescending talk that's all.

Plus there was a coordinator for the school trips there having dinner with us... a tad on the snobby side. Of course, I would imagine he gets it from the facade that he portrays that he's a rich folk. Anyways, I had to sit next to these two people. And another English teacher as a semi-translator. She could only translate when the Chief wasn't looking, and she wouldn't translate the whole thing because the coordinator understood English... It could be desribed as "taihen" which means tough situation.

Anyways, as the night wore on, so did the food. Execellent sushi, even though I didn't know what I was eating, I knew I wasn't paying the bill. I get the, I like it but I don't feeling. Anyways, I was saved though. About half way through the evening with not much to say or anyone to talk to, the Chair of the English department invited me to sit with them in their little cubby hole arrangement, which was spectacular for me. Not only was I taken out of a bad position, I was able to be more free without having the watchful eye of the bosses.

In the little cubby hole seating area were 6 teachers... made to fit 4, but we squeezed. They were a little buzzed as I could clearly see. That's what made it more fun since everyone was happy and the atmosphere was more vibrant. We had talked about a lot of things and I was able to enjoy myself as were the other teachers around the area. We were actually starting to become quite loud because of our laughter and conversations. It was great! We were even playing some drinking games and I was surprised I was able to handle a lot of sake, I didn't even turn red. I didn't feel anything at all. I'm grateful for that. It was as if I was drinking water, but I'm going to be sure that I don't make a habit of it.

Then afterwards we all left and crammed on the train, it was good to talk to teachers that I rarely have the chance to speak with. It was nice, although I'm sure there's one teacher that has me on their black list. She actually sits next to me, but NEVER talks to me. And I don't think that she liked that I made that public, although the rest of the teachers seem to pick on her. I feel sorry for casting a bad light since I know she's a good person, just has no English speaking ability. She lives much farther from the school than I do, and it's about a 2 hour trek for me. I really feel sorry for her.