More on Hanami

So I wasn’t able to write as much about it before, but the sakura (cherry blossom) parties this weekend were wild. It was supposed to be a low-key week after Claire left (especially considering we were running for 2 weeks straight and I spent a LOOOT of money), but of course, that didn't happen. Instead, I ended up meeting friends every night of the week to catch up and get back into...well, Japan. It was probably a good week for it, though, considering I was a bit gutted abut the changes at work. On Friday, I went to dinner in Kobe with my trini (Trinidadian) friends Kelly and Sharla, and then met Katie on Friday evening. We discovered this awesome Italian restaurant、Alberta Alberta, near Motomachi Station (in central Kobe) with 90-minute all-you-can-drink wine special for only $7! They put out about 12 bottles and give you　a glass, so you can do pretty cheap wine-tasting with really good food (they have an actual hearth for the pizza!). I had to be in Himeji at 9am on Sunday, so it wasn’t anything crazy, and we basically headed home after that. We did make friends with some Japanese guys in line, and decided to share a table with. They met us in Himeji again on Saturday, and I think Kelly is going to meet one again, which is pretty awesome. It's a good blend of Japanese-English for everyone, and they seem cool.

Himeji
Ok, so I did make it on time for my meeting on Saturday the morning, but it turned out to be a longer day than I expected. I didn’t leave Himeji until around 4:30 pm on Saturday, and was drinking lightly the whole time, so I was pretty much drunk by the time I headed out; it wasn’t even dark yet. My friend Kelly and I recently took over as co-charity coordinators for a prefecture-level (expat) committee, so we had to come early for a meeting and I wasn’t planning to spend all day. It was cloudy in the morning, so we weren’t even sure anyone would show up. To my surprise, however, the huge tarps we put out were completely full (actually good thing we were early to set up, eh?) and people were as happy as could be after we wiped them down with towels. We had a big turnout for our group (free food might have been a factor?), but there were a zillion Japanese tourists running around the castle yard, too, with tents selling Japanese sake (bought a little box full for around $5 and re-fills were only $1), food, poems and such. I bought some sakura-flavored honey, too, which can be used with tea or is good with hot water itself. I am sure the castle was pretty busy, but I was not interested in the tour. It was fun to catch up with people, but I twisted my ankle while I was playing soccer with this little kid (once again, drinking all day), so Katie and I decided to go home and nap before heading out to Osaka for the evening (two birthdays and a going-away party!).
Well, once we finally stopped snoozing and got up from the nap, it was too late to go all the way to Osaka. We would have had about an hour in the city if we wanted to take last train back, so we decided to walk to the video store and rent a movie instead. It was a nice little stroll along the river, and we ended up walking through the McDonalds drive-through at midnight to get chocolate shakes to celebrate the end of lent (made it with no sweets or pop for over 40 days. Whew!). Only the drive-through was open so we pulled a Larry David☺

Osaka
We got up early again on Sunday morning to head out early so Katie could check out Kyoto and I could go to the Norwegian Easter service on Rokko Island. The “Danish hotdog guy” in Takasago (where I work) introduced me to the Scandinavian community in Kobe a while back, and has been trying to get me to go to one of their monthly meetings. There used to be a Norwegian Sea Man’s Church/School here (my friend Morten went there as a child), but it closed down a few years ago, so the lingering Scandinavians still get together. Anyways, I was supposed to go to Easter with the Norwegians and a group of grad-students visiting from Bergen. I talked to this lady named Liv a few days prior and got all the info and directions. In the end, I got lost and the directions weren’t great, so I made it out to the island, but couldn’t find the building…and never made it to Easter service. I searched for them for over an hour, before I finally gave up and just walked around a flea market and the Kobe Fashion Museum (not so interesting exhibit on scarves right now). I was supposed to meet Jane and the Japanese Osaka crew for hanami, but after the Norwegian thing was a bust, I was in a pretty bad mood and decided to head to a gallery nearby first to check out my friend’s art show. It was his first public display, and I had a free ticket and was in the area, so it really made sense and I am glad I went because it cheered me up (and the whole show was pretty good).
After a quick visit to the gallery, I was feeling better and hopped a train to Osaka. I have never seen the city so packed, but it is also covered with sakura (I swear people would “ooh and ahh” at the sights every time the train stopped - and I was just on the Loop Line!)! It was worth the crowds. Jane met me at the Osakajokoen Station and we spent the rest of the day just chilling on our tarps near the moat, under the blowing trees and Osaka Castle. I met some pretty cool people that I have heard a lot about, but not met, and at one point, MTV Japan stopped to interview our group and gave away some prizes. I saw a British guy I know, Will, playing the bongo drums near the castle (people were skating and even camped out – a local nightclub was hosting music) and they had some pretty good food stands (had Red Stripe and curry for dinner – yum).
We were all going to pack up and head up to the castle together when it started getting dark (the whole area was strung with pink lanterns, but we wanted to be by the music), but as we were walking up the hill, this old man fell down in front of us and hit his head on a limestone corner. A bunch of us ran to help him (I just grabbed his big shopping bag), but we got a little scared when he turned his head and blood dripped down from where he hit. This American (from MN, actually), Ajen, asked him questions while my friend called an ambulance. We made sure he was ok before we felt like we could go, but at that point, it felt more like a good time to leave so Jane and I headed out for Akashi.

I’ve gotten a few texts from Ajen (the Minnesotan I met) and we might meet up next week (just to hang out since we’re both from the Twin Cities), but I was in a MUCH better mood once I made it home and have to admit I am a big fan of hanami!