oh Hanami

Wow, well I've now experienced what it's like to go through a human car wash. After being totally lost in trying to find my friends, I decided to go head strong right through the middle of the crowds of ohhing and ahhing asians. This was quite the treacherous task. I found that people come early and stake their claim on a small plot of land in the wee hours in the morning and prepare to set up for the day with food, booze and friends. The only thing is they leave a small pathway in between these tarps and blankets for the semi-sober to traverse. It's awesome to see all the families congregate together and share laughs and stories. I just had no idea that so many people would be turing out for it! There is only a limited amount of time during the spring that one can view these cherry blossoms and everyone knows this - so the minute there's a break in the clouds or cold weather - everyone rushes out to catch a glimpse of the pretty pink cotton candy trees.

As the day rolls on, people start laughing louder, drums are broken out, guitars make appearances and people start passing out! It's hilarious to see a whole family of people sitting next to you slowly get picked off one by one from a losing battle with sake...

Someone told me that Japanese must be made of sugar - because the minute it starts to rain or even sprinkle - its like watching cockroaches scatter in the light! I've never seen so many thousands of bodies move so well so quickly. They were able to mobilize all their belongings, clean up the park and move out all in about 15 minutes! Apparently, the fun parks are the ones with the late night hanami - where the booze continues to flow and the drunk activities get more fun and dangerous!

I love how a beautiful, innocent thing such as a cherry blossom viewing can cause such a ruckus, creates bonding with strangers and leaves you with hangovers that last for days! God bless public drinking!