sayonara season w/ shukunohe

Sayonara's are so hard! I just got back from a relaxing trip and am thrown into sad, hurried goodbyes with teachers at my schools. I am trying to understand how the government can justify shuffling people's lives around, taking and giving away their jobs, with no concern for their feelings and opinions...but until I figure it out, I will just smile, nod and enjoy another entertaining enkai...this time with the staff of Shukunohe-chu.

We sat down to dinner, pictured below. Not surprising, everything on the table was still breathing and had a pulse. They know of my disdain for sashimi and in seeing that I had pawned off nearly every one of the 10 dishes of squirming creatures to other teachers, they ordered me a cheese pizza (minus the mayonaise and raw egg)! Now THAT was a FIRST!

Pizza @ an enkai? Huge thanks to them for understanding the differences in our appetites and the way in which we define 'delicious'.

So here is what I could have had...which would you choose?

Sasaki-sensei

Ice cream w/ chopsticks...now THAT requires

a patience I will never understand.

So long! Mattaaimashou! Farewell! Sayonara!

In closing, as the nite faded away and the beverages were drained, I asked for a group picture and this is what we came up with. Not quite the shot I was shooting for, looks more like a soba eating contest. So Japanesey. I had such an enjoyable time, to my surprise, as I have spent the least amount of time with the teachers at this school. I will never forget the evening - a free enkai with pizza- that just doesn't happy in Japan!