These guys know how to throw a good party. Case in point: their annual Christmas party had caroling with four part harmonies. From this fact, you can further assume that their friends are karaoke fiends.
But before the singing, copious amounts of sushi and sake had to be consumed.
"Sake bomb? I heard about that from NY Times' "A Night Out With" Tracy Morgan." Honestly. Those words actually came out of my mouth. Because I am the walking version of this site and especially this post (oh and this, this, and this one). Fortunately, no one rolled their eyes at me.
This was a mostly teacher crowd. I get a little nervous at teacher parties, because I've attended one too many parties full of teachers who don't know how to talk about anything besides teaching. Usually, this involves a lot of complaining. But now that Ian's teaching in Boston Public, we've met a lot of like minded people who are passionate about their jobs, yet know how to balance their personal and professional lives. Further, when you work for a school with so little resources, any complaining is justified.
For example, this is Juan (post sake bombs). If anyone deserves multiple sake bombs on a Saturday night, it's this guy.
I love this photo because Juan, falling out of the picture, has to hold onto Justin's arm because he's laughing so hard.
Juan told a story about his first day of coaching the swim team. He had this conversation with the 86 year-old City swim teacher:
Juan: Where can I find a wrench?
Crazy old guy: Why do you need a wrench?
J: To tighten the swim lane markers.
COG: Why do you need swim lane markers?
J: [pause]
J: To mark off the lanes?
COG: Why do you need to do that?
Then after practice, Juan had this interaction:
[Kids turn on a hose, start spraying each other while bringing out their soap and shampoo]
Juan: What are you guys doing?
Kids: Showering.
Juan: Why aren't you using the showers?
Kids: They don't work.
Juan: So you spray each other with a hose every day?
Kids: Yeah.
Juan: [tears well up in his eyes; then resigns himself to this fact, just like the kids did a long time ago] OK, then.
Juan also talked about secretly killing cockroaches around the pool perimeter while the kids were swimming, so they wouldn't see. The pool hasn't passed one health inspection during his tenure as coach.
But really, all the teachers from Ian's school deserved a sake bomb that night, because on Friday they were subjected to a "lock down" after a group of kids threatened to protest the school's new tardy policy. The story even made it into The Globe and other news outlets.
They all had a good attitude about it, though. I guess it's the 'if you don't laugh, you'll cry' kind of thing. Someone told another great story about an administrator making this announcement over the loudspeaker: "There will be no loitering in the halls after 2pm. If you're caught in the halls after 2pm... [here he paused for about 10 seconds]... well, you don't want to know what will happen." Yes, he caught himself potentially defining a consequence for bad behavior, and couldn't do it. And you know how kids love those empty threats!
It's so wild to hear these stories from other teachers, because Ian rarely complains about school; I sometimes forget how hard it can be. I get occasional hints, like when we watched the episode of The Wire where Prezbo finds computers and new editions of his textbook in an abandoned supply closet. I saw tears forming in Ian's eyes, as he said, "It's SO TRUE." He rarely tells me the funny stories either. Like someone was commending Ian for his poetry club announcement, which read "Do you spit hot fire? Do you have a crush on Emily Dickinson?" Aaaah, my baby--so cute. On a related note, the teachers at the table decided to try to sneak in the phrase "Stay classy, [insert school name]" into more announcements. I hope they succeed.
Alright, back to the fun stuff. This is Joe.
I love this photo. It looks like he just drank the nine sake bombs on the table, and is very happy about it. Joe grew up on a farm in rural New York. I have learned that when drinking, one of my all-time favorite conversation topics is dairy farming. So I stayed close to this guy all night.
Cara (on the left) is a student teacher at Ian's school. I adore her. She reminds me of my cousin Laura--if Laura had a smoker's voice, drank a lot, and was super flirtatious.
This is Jason.
He was kind enough to tap a chopstick on an empty scorpion bowl every time someone (read: Ian) yelled, "More cowbell!"
Scorpion bowls!
What do you do if you're sitting far away from the scorpion bowl? Grab a very long straw, of course!
On to the singing. It was typical sushi-bar style karaoke, with midi file tracks and hilariously inappropriate video accompanying the lyrics. This was a sing-along crowd, so there were no well-crafted solo performances. Representative song selections included Bon Jovi, Oasis, Grease Soundtrack and 80's classics.
Passionate singing:
"Friend in Low Places":
"Wonderwall":
"Dancing Queen":
This guy loved to dance:
Here's a video of him shaking it to the Spice Girls:
Video of the crowd singing "Champagne Supernova":
The only karaoke foul of the night was that "Free Fallin" played three times. But we obliged nonetheless:
This couple was really cute. If there was a lull in singing, he would grab that mic and take one for the team.
Rock stars!
Even when someone else was singing, it was hard for him to let go of that mic!
Birthday couple dancing:
Third wheel!
Good times. Good times.
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