Yesterday was a rainy day, at least until the afternoon, which had the effect of killing any chance of a hanami party Wednesday after work. Since Wednesday is “no overtime day” at work, many people schedule parties with their coworkers that evening to ensure that they’ll be able to attend. And since this is the peak of the cherry blossom season in Kobe, I think a lot of people had plans to sit under a tree yesterday evening and drink their selves silly. Sorry folks – maybe today.
The rain wasn’t quite hard enough to knock off the blossoms, however, so I expect that Friday night will be the last hurrah. I’ll also go out Friday night to a welcome party with some of my students, and we may find a lonely cherry tree to park under for the duration of an alcoholic beverage or two. I can’t imagine living in parts of America where they get so strict about open containers of alcohol – that wouldn’t really work here.
