Hanami in Tokushima

Hanami..continued even after the sun set

Hanami (flower viewing) in Tokushima was...interesting to say the least.  I came prepared for a party, since let's face it those of us foriegners that come to Japan to work are a crazy group!  Ingrid, owner of the local foriegner hot spot here in town has a hanami party every year and it always promises to have a great turn out.  I got there a little late and missed most of the food, hanami is about having fun in the park with friends and drinking.  Well what in Japan isn't about drinking actually?! haha, a good number of the people were already trashed when I arrived, but still great fun to talk to.  I played a drinking game with the 1 beverage (smirnoff) I'd brought with me, and made some new friends.  Not sure of the name of the game...cheers to something I think....anyone care to help me out?!  One of the Canadians was doing some juggling for a few kids that were nearby in the park.  That drew a bit of a crowd...cause I mean a foriegner is enough on his own to gain people staring....let alone one performing circus tricks?!  God help us all.

A lot of the people started leaving once it started getting chilly.  A bit of a shame actually!  Not that the cold disuaded the Austrailian guys from dropping trow right there in the park for all to see.  Thank goodness I had my back turned when they did it most of the times...but with 3 guys using any excuse they could to pull off their pants during the 6 hour interval I was there....not possible to miss all of it.  Not a pretty sight.  When they started babbling about undressing completely I was finally forced to flee the park altogther.  I should have known that was going to happen.  I'd been warned about these Austrailian guys, and what they were like.  Apparently they do it every time.  Grrr...not something I wanted to remember when I think of hanami!