This past Saturday I was chillin' in my apartment when my cell phone rang. It was my neighbour Manabu from down the street. He can speak a little bit of English, but he struggles here and there so the convo was pretty funny. He started with "hello Amanda, what are you doing?" I told him I wasn't doing anything, just relaxing. He struggled with explaining that he was at a Bounenkai, tried to explain what it was about, that he was drunk and that he and his friends wanted me to come out. I asked him if the event was inside or outside and he told me it was half and half. Now, I asked because I went to a reggae event with him before and it was outside and I froze! He sent his friend Sogihara to come and pick me up and when I got downstairs the first thing he asked me was if my clothes were warm and if I had any more. I was wearing 2 fleece jackets and a scarf, then went back up for my winter coat. If you know me well you know I HATE & DESPISE the cold.
Anyway, we got to the event which was at the same OUTDOOR place and I wanted to strangle Manabu. Luckily there were heaters and a fire going inside the tarp tent.
I had no idea what a bounenkai was, but thanks to good old wikipedia I was able to make sense of what Manabu was trying to explain to me. In a nutshell it is a party to say good bye to the year that has gone along with all the worries, stresses and strains that it may have brought usually with alcohol. The alcohol drinking was tame here thank the Lord, but for those who did partake, they slept in tents over night. Japan has a zero tolerance blood alcohol level.
I watched the mochi making process in awe. I don't like mochi at all, or at least the kinds I've tried. I don't really think it has a particularly appealing taste. I mean how tasty can rice gluten really be? Nonetheless, it was so interesting to watch.
Sogihara drove me home around 1:30am. Usually that would be no problem, but I had to get up the next morning to help my friend Simone at an international festival. All in all I had a really enjoyable Saturday night.
Pics
Video 1-Mochi making part 1
Video 2-Mochi making part 2
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