Any excuse...

When you send out an invitation for a house party that says, "from 7:30pm" there is an understanding that you don't turn up til 9 at the earliest. It is an unwritten rule. In Japan, people turn up at 7.15. That's right. 7.15. Not that there's anything wrong with this; I mean, hell, we throw a good shin-dig, but this being early for a party business is not really something we're used to!

We hadn't had a party at our place for awhile, so in the time-honoured Aussie tradition of "Any excuse for a piss-up", we broke out the wine and cheese last night. As our apartment is about the size of a walk-in wardrobe, it was impossible to invite everyone we wanted to (being both incredibly social and popular (!@#???!!!@#$)) and as we'd become quite good friends with some people from work (both teachers and staff), we kept it in that family.

We work with some excellent people, but when you're in the office (a place I try to avoid at all costs), everyone is stressed to the eyeballs and you only get to see that (sometimes scary) side. But let me tell you, when you get some bevvies and brie into them, it's all on. And the personalities spurt out of nowhere to hit you over the head (a good thing!).

The house party phenomenon is still a bit of a rarity in Japan - its usual for Japanese people to meet friends out at a restaurant or izakaya because their apartments are so small or they still live with their parents. But Matt and I like to push the boundaries of how many people we can possibly fit into a 2LDK. Turns out its around 20 people and 15 bottles of wine.

Unfortunately, Japanese people generally turn up to parties early for one reason (OK, a reason besides being born into the cult of "be on time, as your life depends on it"). They have to get the last train home, which, for most of them, was 11.30pm. Don't ask me why foreigners turn up early. I'm still figuring that one out.

Now, for the next week, Matt and I will be eating, breathing and shitting leftover cheese. Hmmmmmm.