End of year party.

This time of year is the season for enkai, feasts, banquets, celebrations, drinking. Last night, a gaggle of elementary teachers I've been teaching English to for the past year or more, congregated at a Teppan-yaki restaurant not ten minutes away from home.

Teppan-yaki is that entertaining genus of Japanese food which requires you to cook it at your table on a huge hot-plate, the teppan. On a night as miserable as last, the very notion of sitting around a large hot thing and cooking food on it is very appealing.

Until last night, the most interesting food I've had out here has been okonomiyaki (cook it as you like it), a savoury pancake with a variety of fillings. My new love is monjayaki, essentially the same thing as okonomiyaki, but considerably thinner, not making a pancake so much as scrapings of thin batter with an intense flavour.

Whilst okonomiyaki and monjayaki are quite elaborate, what I really love about Japanese food is the simplicity. One "course" was a cabbage on the hot-plate, fried in butter. It might sound bland, but with a little sprinkle of dark vinegar, it was one of the high points. One other plus for Japanese style feasting is that it consists of lots of little dishes, often acting as ostentatious beer snacks.

Another feature of the enkai is vast quantities of alcohol. I will say no more on that subject.

Particularly pleasurable was the company, specifically the lady (of an indeterminate age) who is the ringleader of this operation. There are many reasons to admire her, an impressive command of English being the least. Her spirit of adventure has had her out of Japan every year for the past twenty, visiting a new country each time. To be as well traveled as her is something to aspire to. What I also like about her is that she's a strong and independent Japanese woman, which considering the reputation this country has for sexism and flouncy ladies, is refreshing.

Whilst waiting for the other ladies to don their glad-rags, she mentioned to me her disappointment in young people who abandon duty to their fellows, and focus on one path of work and goals. Although she is by no means elderly, it was interesting to hear this inversion of a common criticism.

How about you? Is there somebody you work with or you've met through work who you find inspiring, or is there anybody you want to bitch about?