Drinking

I will begin with saying that I honestly have not been doing that much drinking this winter.

Though my grandmother did read my blog and warn me that I better watch out for my liver, I think my internal organs are probably better than ever.

In fact, I do not think I have spent a winter drinking so little since before I paid $60 to have my date of birth changed on my Pennsylvania identification and I celebrated my first 21st birthday at Slap Shots in Dormont.

Saturday around 1 p.m., after not enough breakfast, I headed to the Ikeda sake festival.

I am pretty sure this guy got there at 10 a.m.


There was a large variety of sake to choose from and plastic tapped to the ground for those inevitable spills.


Everyone was handed small glasses as at they walked in. We sipped sake like we live in the country side of Shikoku Japan. No one pretended to be classy or well dressed. All the English teachers in the room agreed that the Gaijin (Japanese word for foreigner) sake was one of the best.

A sake festival anywhere else in Japan would never compare to one of small town Ikeda.

After I did all the drinking one can do when it is still light out Brad and I headed to an okonomiyaki restaurant.

The festival vibes spilled in the doors of the tiny restaurant.

In true Japanese fashion, we were handed a bag full of five different kinds of sake that someone had bought for themselves.
We refused the generosity for a good ten minutes, but the accounts of the day thus far made it difficult for me to hide my excitement regarding this strangers gesture of kindness.

Naturally, I poured more sake for myself and the owner of the restaurant.

Before the early evening hangover hit the decision to catch a ride with Jill to make it out to the big city was made.

Because there is no Sparks in Japan there was no other choice than to continue with beer at the mid-road trip dinner stop.



Somehow I managed to still look fresh as I tore up the Tokushima city dance floor that night.

And Sunday was a day of pizza, pajamas, Japanese sports drinks, and mysteriously light wallets.