SCHOOL LIFE: Seminar groups, seminar "Konpa"

The last two days have been a headache, and even more than that, a stomach ache. That's how I get with hang-overs. However, drinking in college here is even more culturally ingrained than drinking in college in the United States. That's just the feeling I get. It's not the juvenile attitude of "let's get fucked up!" but rather a social norm that is part of any Japanese gathering. And so I have to take part, for cultural assimilation purposes, in the same way that many people pick up smoking here as it's such a normal part of every-day interactions with Japanese people. So with that out of the way, let me explain why I had this hang-over marathon.

The first day of hang-over came from the Folk Song Club get-together. See the previous post for more info. To throw salt in the wound, that day of hang-over, last Thursday, was the day of the seminar "konpa" (コンパ meaning "party"). Seminar groups in Japanese colleges last for two years each, meaning that students are part of seminars for their first two years of college and then move onto a new seminar group until graduation. The amount of students in a seminar is usually smaller than twenty, making it a more To solidify the bond between students of the same seminar, the seminar teacher takes the students out for a "konpa," usually at a restaurant, or in my case, the teacher's home.

My seminar teacher is a French teacher with a Chinese wife. A very interesting guy that is sweet on female students, and doesn't talk a lot of nonsense. Having the konpa at his place was a real treat, as he offered numerous bottles of liquor and wine as well as lamb-chops for dinner. All of it was delicious. Especially the booze. The students talked with each other and the teacher, and everyone had a good time. The teacher even played my debut album (Loser Dog) in its entirety while we ate. Everyone went home satisfied.

What I mainly got out of these seminar groups as that they are strikingly similar to home room classes in Japanese high school. The groups are tight-knit for the most part, and the fact that they spend two years together, just as high school home rooms spend 3 years together, says a lot about Japanese culture. College is a time for independence in Japan, but they never become independent in the way that many Westerners do. This isn't necessarily a bad thing in any way, as overly-independent cultures can isolate individuals from society, and create a country where we can't even pass a bill for universal healthcare (just my rambling thoughts).

In the seminar groups, students choose themes based on what seminar they are in; some of these seminar groups are related to economics, but mine is mainly sociology and history. Students pick themes and then present their studies to the seminar group. I am also required to pick a theme and present, and this last day of seminar has finally brought me to choose a decent theme that also fits in with my contract. I will post more about this in detail in another post, but the gist is that I will study how American music culture affects Japanese youth culture from the beginning of the postwar period. My experiences in the Folk Song Club will surely add to this development. I am excited to get the motors going on this and will do so in good time. Stay tuned!