It turned out to be a busy Friday. Work went well enough and although two students had to cancel their classes two other students took their places, so I had a full schedule and therefore a quick day.
After work I went over to attend the company “Summer Party” to celebrate the end of the work week before a week-long holiday. The party was sponsored by the worker’s union, and so most of the attendees were factory workers. As it happens most of my students are either managers, executives or engineers, which means there weren’t as many attending – they were stuck working some deadline somewhere.
The party invitation included a coupon for a free beer and a snack, so I got a cold draft beer from the beer vendors, and just people watched for a while. There was a good turnout, and even some live entertainment. The beer line was popular as the first beer was free, but afterwards it looked like they had to pay to drink. There were some food booths as well, but they didn’t seem as popular.
I said hello to one of my students, but I didn’t see any others, so I was wrapping up my beer and getting ready to go home and pack – but the student who invited me walked up and said hello, and asked that I come over and sit with him.
We went over to a big tent and sat down. There was a big sign that said “VIP only” and my student started asking his staff to provide. Free beer, food, snacks, anything we wanted. The factory workers were giving the VIPs envious looks, especially when a monsoon came through and rained on us for a few minutes. It was good to have connections.
After some time chatting with my students, both current and former, I said thanks to everyone and explained my packing mission. They all said farewell, and I hoofed it out of there and caught a train home. By chance Kuniko was on the same train, so we could head home together.
In order to save on trash and dishes at home we had dinner at the local yakitori, and then came home to start getting organized. It was a busy evening, but I think mainly we are set.
More when we get back! Or possibly before then…
