Let me tell you about the weekend before last. To celebrate the purchase of my new keyboard - I wanted to throw a party. Rather than it be one of those two-a-penny house parties you can probably find everywhere I wanted it to be something different and a little funny. Taking a walk around the supermarket you soon realise that alchohol is a very important part of Japanese culture and life. They have a wider selection of alchohol than you could shake your leg at, and not have it ache from the amount of times you’d have to shake it at all the different alchoholic drinks and brands. The most colourful of these are the ‘cans in a cocktail’ - the most popular brand is ‘Cocktail Partner’ and they come in a variety of cocktail variations and bright colours. You could have a Fuzzy navel in a can, a Gin and Tonic in a can, a Cosmopolitan in a can - alsorts. So I thought the theme could be a ’cocktail soriée’, and to compliment (or contrast) against the not-terribly-classy canned cocktails, I made smart dress compulsory!
Not being the most organised of people at the best of times, I was little bit nervous and doubted my ability to be able to organise and host a good party. My anxiety was unfounded though, because I successfully dealt with the invitations, tidied the house very nicely and decorated the place. Arranged food and drink (with the help of Kaitlin from the nearby town Kawanishi who made a very impressive SPREAD and the centrepiece of the table - a fantastic cocktail pyramid!). Overall twenty one people came and fit comfortably into my little house!
The amazing spread and cocktail pyramid!
The party was fantastic and everybody loved it. There was the main lounge with my piano where every now and then I would play some jazz standards and sing (a lot of Gershwin and Cole Porter etc and occaisionally music akin to Antonio Carlos Jobim or Lionel Richie!). The spare room became ‘the Poker room’ (I’d happened to come across a plethora of playing cards and a decent amount of poker chips which I stylishly placed on my low table - a bit of dim lighting and a giant soft toy dice and viola!).
The party in full swing
The majority of people were my JET friends from around Yamagata, but I invited Koji and Yutaka my Japanese friends from Nanyo and a Japanese husband of one of the English teachers’ and a Japanese boyfriend of another. Everybody got on great - and at one point I remember trying to play ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ having the rules explained in a mix of Japanese and English - interesting to say the least!
Oh, and I might add, ITV or BBC - if you’re reading this - I think I’m more than capable of having my own ‘An evening with….’ special programme at a prime-time slot. Being the true entertainer I was, I did all those impressive and funny things you find the big time musicians doing on programmes like that. As I was performing, a few of the guests on their way to the party rang me up. Naturally I continued playing ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ one handed whilst talking on the phone and singing directions to them. It was a highlight on the night!
Everybody enjoyed my piano playing!
Owing to the success of that night - I shall certainly look forward to hosting another one sometime in the future. The only horrendous part about the party was clearing up afterwards! Only because of the stupid Japanese rubbish sorting system, you can’t just shove everything in a black bin bag and turn your back on it - in future I’ll display the Yellow bag, Red bag and Green bag in a more obvious place with clear instructions on what type of rubbish goes where!
...It all got a bit too much for some people towards 3am!
Did I mention Matthew McConnaughy came to my soirée? Siobhan brought along her ‘boyfriend’ Carlos - who was actually a ‘Guy Fawkes’ that her school had made to learn about Bonfire night with Matthew McConnaughy’s face stuck on. She’s a little bit crazy bless her….he was a great guy though!
Wow! Matthew McConnaughy...at my house...in Japan!
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