Last night there was an enkai a little like this one except that all the teachers from the junior high and many of the parents of my favorite students were crowding this one room in a ryokan near my house (one that I didn't know existed until last night). It was one of the few events that really makes me want to stay in this town longer. The parents of these kids are like characters from another dimension. They are all in this together, and yet they are all unique and interesting. To be a part of a community like this, to be able to communicate enough to be accepted by these kind, and yet usually reclusive, individuals, is a chance I know I may never have again. And then at the after party at my Kyoto-sensei's house (right next to mine) a few of the dads were saying how sad they were I was leaving and I felt bad so I told them "my heart will always be in Ubuyama."

This one guy, Tanaka-san, who is the big organizer (head of the Parent Teacher Association who threw the party), business-man, and partier of the town, wants to go on a two week tour of America; "I drink, you drive," he says. I say, "let's go," he says "study Japanese very hard, I only speak Japanese" (all this is in his pretty decent English). Tanaka-san is a really nice guy. He leaves on the other side of the rice paddy from me and he has three kids, each that I've gotten to teach. Last night we drunk-dialed his oldest son and I asked him about the girls at his new high school in the city. He seemed to be pleased (his eldest, Shigenobu, graduated junior high and is now boarding at his high school in the city). So I think it would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to tour my home country with a true Ubuyama gent. He specifically wants to go from "Los Angeles to California to Florida" and I said we'd throw Vegas and Arizona in between. Oh, and he also wants to go to New York (Watch Out, Broadway!!).

So, in conclusion, sometimes the best part of being here is having a really good group of students (usually elementary or nursery school, but even in junior high where I teach a smaller percentage of the classes) enjoying an English class with me. But just as good is partying with their parents, every bit as friendly as their own kids. I regret to admit that the kind of community here I will probably never find again. It's almost enough for me to want to stay here permanently!