golden week.

It's Golden Week here in Japan. What the hell is that, you ask? Well, the snarky answer would be to tell you to go to Wikipedia and look it the hell up, but I will save you the trouble.

Golden Week is a series of four Japanese holidays: April 29, Showa Day (aka Hirohito's B-day Par-tay). Then, May 3, Constitution Memorial Day. You should read the story of the Japanese Constitution sometime, it's quite interesting. Next we have May 4, Greenery Day. Technically, this holiday is supposed to be for the appreciation of nature, but is apparently mostly a filler holiday to round off Golden Week. It would be less Golden if everybody had to go back to work for a day in the middle of it. Last, May 5, or, as it is known in Japan, Cinco de Mayo. Japanese binge on sushi and tequila and projectile vomit in the streets. Actually, uhhh...wait. No, scratch that shit. May 5 is Children's Day, formerly Boy's Day. There's very little projectile vomiting or tequila drinking.

I have been having a nice weekend. Friday night I went to a friend's birthday party in Shibuya for about an hour, and then came back to Oimachi for a house party at the guesthouse down the street. It was pretty fun...still a little strange being the non-drinker at the party, but it *does* make other people's drinking that much more amusing. Yesterday I went to a picnic in a really nice park with a co-worker from my previous job, as well as his wife and another friend of theirs. Tomorrow I'm going to Kamakura with J...should be really fun.