Welcome night

My 'Welcome to Kushiro' Night was held last Sunday. The whole Nova staff (all five of us) went for a "yaki-niku" at a restaurant about 10 mins walk from my apartment. "Yaki-niku" originated in Korea, but is popular throughout Japan. Each table has a barbecue grill set into it. There is a wide range of different meats, which are served raw and thinly sliced on platters. The Japanese staff did the ordering for us and we had lamb, chicken, plus a mixed platter, containing tongue! Also raw vegetables, sliced daikon (Japanese radish) and okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza or pancake with egg, cabbage and meat). Last but not least, a small portion of raw beef - lovely!

After dessert, we headed to Shusan, our local Izakaya (Japanese bar serving food). It's run by a brother and sister and all the Nova staff drink there. I'd already heard about it from the guys at Sapporo, and there's a Newcastle flag on the wall, donated by a previous teacher. Its really small and cosy with some seats along the bar, and a raised platform with four low tables and floor cushions. Me, Jen and Gregg got a bottle of Shochu each at 12 quid a go. Its a clear spirit, about 25% and slightly flavoured, drunk with ice and water. They put a label round the neck with your name on it and its waiting for you next time you come back.

After a few drinks, started on karaoke. All the songs are stored in a handheld electronic device which gets past around. You make your choice, hit enter, poining at the box, under one of the 2 plasma screens mounted on the wall, and it brings it up automatically for you. A couple of handheld mikes get passed around and you sing at your table. I started with the Arctic Monkeys, and finished with Daft Punk, with The Doors, Chemical Bros and Gorillaz in between.