Hanami 2011 The First / 花見 ２０１１ 第一弾

Its that time of year again.  Cherry Blossom viewing season, or as they say in Japan, its hanami time.  The day before was such a beautiful and warm day, it was a shame that today was cloudy and really really cold.  But would that stop us from having our hanami?  Of course not!  And as you can see, some cherry blossoms were in bloom, but it was still a little too early.  As always, we had our hanami at Yoyogi Park.  On the same day there was some event called "Haru to Kaze" which featured a flea market, DJs, dance and trance music and few scattered food booths. 

またあの時期がきました。花見の季節だ！前の日はとっても晴れて温かくだったのに、今日は非常に寒い！そして曇ってます。でも花見を却下する？とんでもございません。もちろん実施する。満開ではなかったが、仕方ありません。今年もいつものの場所代々木公園でやりました。ほかに「春と風”というイベントもありました。フリーマーケットや屋台やDJが音楽を回してるイベントだった。

As you can see, not all the cherry blossoms were in bloom.  Which is why this is titled "Hanami 2011 The First".  My friends and I are planning on having another one the following weekend.

見れば分かると思いますが、桜はまだ満開ではない。ですからこのネタは「花見 ２０１１ 第一弾」と名付けた。来週別の場所で花見第二弾を実施する予定です。

Hopefully I will be able to take even better pictures next week and hopefully the weather will be nice.  

来週はもっと良い写真が撮れるようと天気が晴れるのを祈るしかない。 

Can you tell how cold it was by seeing all of us with our heavy coats on?  Even I was wearing a sweatshirt and a down jacket.  It really wasn't a day for cold beer.  Fortunately someone had the insight to bring two bottles of wine.  

みんなの格好を見ればどのくらい寒いは想像出来るでしょ。自分もトレーナーとダウンジャケットを着たまま飲んで食べてた。こういう日に冷たいビールはどうかな？良かったことに一人が赤ワイン二本を持ってくれた。本当はホットワインの日だな。もしくはあつかん。 

But then, our hanami almost turned into a disaster.  A guy came asking if anybody had a portable ashtray.  Since the guy came alone, we invited him to have a drink and eat with us.  He was a pretty entertaining guy.  He only gave us a nickname.  He was here for the "Haru to Kaze" event.  After drinking with us for a while he went in search of some other friends but came back later dragging two French men.  Drank some more, disappeared and then came back again after an hour and a half or so.  By this time he was pretty drunk and none of us could be sure but none of us could be sure of just how drunk he was.  As he continued to drink, he also decided to snack on a hard-boiled egg.  But then his eyes closed and he wasn't moving.  His face and his body started to turn purple.  We realized that he must be choking.  One of our friends who works as care giver flew to his assistance and tried to clear his throat, but he was not responding.  She gave him the Heimlich maneuver but still no response.  The guy just fell to the ground.  She started CPR are as well while a couple others ran to an ambulance that was parked nearby.  While my friend was still giving him CPR another passerby just happened to be a doctor and gave a helping hand as well.  It seemed like forever but a half dozen paramedics came and took over.  The guy had stopped breathing for about 10 minutes and we were all worried that he might not pull through.  The paramedics carried him off to the ambulance and continued to try to save his life.  Two of my friends went with the paramedics.  They came back after a while and let us know that the guy had resumed normal breathing.  He was then taken to the hospital and that was the last thing we knew as we had only met him that afternoon.  Not a single one of us knew his real name or where he was from.  As you can imagine, everyone sobered up right quick and decided to call our hanami quits for the day.  However, knowing that the guy was out of danger, we all let out a huge sigh of relief and moved to a warmer place to have a bit more food and drink to settle our nerves. 

今年の花見で大変な事が起こった。見知らぬ人が私たちを訪ねて携帯灰皿ございまえんかと聞きました。自分の友達もフレンドリーなので、彼を中入りして一緒に飲んで食べることになった。彼の自己紹介で言ったあだ名で呼んで下さいと言いました。彼は“春と風”のイベントが目的だったらし。そのあと彼が消えてまた戻って、今度はフランス人の二人を連れてきた。また飲んで、また食べて、またどっか行った。夕方になった頃彼がまた現れた。そして事件が起こった。彼がどの位酔ってか知りませんけど、非常にテンションの高い感じでした。彼が味付玉を食った時に様子が変だった。彼が動かなくなって顔も手先が青くなった。卵がつまったの気付いて、介護の仕事をやってる友達が直ぐに動いた。他の友達が近くに待機してた救急車に走った。その間にドラマみたい通りかかりの人が医者だったので、その人も助けに関わった。長い時間感じましたけど直ぐに救急隊員の六人位が来てくれて、救命処置を行った。目の前で人が心臓マッサージを受けるの初めて見た。彼は１０分程度意識不明な状態だった。その後かれが救急車に運ばれた。良かった事に彼の意識が戻りました。そして病院に運ばれた。私たち面識もないし、あだ名しか聞いてない為、その後どうなったか分かりません。もちろんみんなが良い覚めて、今年の花見を解散。みんなまだ落ち着いてなかったので、近くのレストランに行って軽く飲んでつまみました。正直みんなが結構怖かったに違いない。僕も彼の無事を祈りました。