Last weekend I went to do hanami (花見), literally “seeing flowers”, basically going on a pic-nic in some park to eat and drink under the blossoming cherry trees.
I went with some friends of mine, to join more friends. Initially I was supposed to get to the park by 10 am, then we settled for 10:30. However I woke up at 9:52 by chance ! (I have some reliability issues with my cellphone which I use as an alarm as well).
I quickly fixed some sandwiches and rushed to the park (well, I had to shower too 8).
That was actually a pretty nice day spent outside. I uploaded the pictures on flickr -> Hanami 2006 set. There are more, but those are not meant to be completely public, as they may stir trouble for some people (”can’t be seen together”, kind of thing).
Tuesday I went to a company’s welcome party for some new employees, and also an occasion to celebrate the hanami season (even if we didn’t have a chance to actually go hanami with other coworkers). Because of some events, we ended up having been offered the nomihoudai (飲み放題) option. Basically all-you-can-drink.
It’s normally the new arrivals those who are pushed to drink the most. But this time it seemed like I was on a mission to drink myself onto the floor.
In fact it ended pretty bad for me.. I utterly underestimated the strenght of some drinks and actually got myself sick.
I made a fool of myself, I was taken back to the office, where some went to sleep on the sofa. I was not feeling good enough even for sleep. I basically spent the night resting on the floor or on the chair while bothering a coworker that apparenty never stops working ! In the morning I eventually left the office in pretty sad conditions.
I regret having drank so much, but at the same time, it was good that I lowered my guard like that. It’s something important in the Japanese culture.. to unbutton yourself at least once in a year, and talk freely with coworkers.
I actually learned a few things, some good, some sad, and I hope that the things I said or did will help others to get the courage to take eventual important decisions !
ehhhhhhhhhh
It’s late… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Posted by Davide Pasca in Society, Diary, Japan