Topic of discussion today: Hanami (flower viewing)

This is the Japanese practice of laying bright blue tarps on the ground underneath a bunch of cherry blossom trees, sakura, (preferably ones that are actaully blooming) so that one may sit close enough to said trees to admire their beauty while eating, drinking and generally being very loud indeed. So it is a night time picnic in winter basically. The reason why the drinking got involved was because nothing keeps you warmer than a beer blanket when your arse is protected from the cold earth by only a tarp. Sure according to the dudes down at BS-1 weather it is spring, and the trees certainly think it is warm enough to start popping out flowers, but it is still about 20 degrees too cold for outside events in my book.

The cute thing about hanami is that everyone has to take their shoes off to walk on the tarp. So when you see the real Japs doing it (not a herd of blundering foreigners who have no respect for tarps as floor covering), they are all sitting, usually crosslegged, in suits with their shoes all lined up behind them like sentries guarding the flower viewing arena. Usually you would bring your own bento (boxed lunch) and sit around starving, saliva literally dripping out of the corner of your mouth waiting for some random who may or may not be in charge to give the OK to start eating by saying itadakimasu!

Of course, the good thing about doing hanami with other foreigners is that you don't have to follow the I won't eat until you do rule. There is usually heaps of junk food thrown around and sometimes poeple will just throw all their food in the middle and eat some of everything like a shared lunch day at school! And of course the drinking...

The hanami I attended last night was a little odd because we went against the grain and set up our tarps (some of them yellow) no where near any cherry blossoms. They were someheere around, but the trouble was, so were all the other hanami-doing people. Basically we drank a whole lot and the food was kinda abandoned. It meant I came home with more food than what I took though, so can't argue with that. Plus I was gifted a bottle of aussie red which I am sure will be consumed with some glee after a particularly depressing day at work any time soon...