h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I had a Birthday Bash /bbq yesterday and what a day . The weather was lovely 28 c , I put the potatoes in the top box ( this bbq is like every thing else around here it's hand made with an oven in the top most part with a binged door I t also has 3 wire racks) Then started the fire at 12 midday , soon after the first guests arrived The Turtle family and their daughters friends (Japanese ) They usually come first , the wife helps in the kitchen the girls are set to work making sausage rolls and fudge brownies and the husband is the camera man and this year he was filming a DVD should be interesting.

Next to arrive was my english mate A with his Japanese wife , 1-5 year old son J,A 's mother L father F on a months holiday from Spain (F is a retired english policeman) and A"s brother K living in Nagoya , This is the third bbq /birthday bash for L and F,A helps a bit / takes over the bbq, we open cans and chat , not sure who came next,but at around 3 pm we had, an American friend B living in Osaka with his tough Japanese wife M ( yakosa's daughter) her birthday too we exchanged gifts hugs etc and their son M 4 years old + Santa their dog Chelly and Santa also greeted each other as they usually do with a female friend and son 4 , A polish lady C an d her 8 year old son Y ( japanese husband had to work in Kyoto driving the taxi ),An American lady N with her 5 daughters 13 down to 8 all long haired blondes , again again N's husband J american , was teaching in Kobe another american/Swiss S ,an old friend who gave me this computer , my geek New Zealand C friend who teaches computer science at a university near here, he also takes care of all the macs , We are all Mac users, a canadian Friend K he owns 3 english schools came in his Corvette (his mother on holiday was too tired to come , A few more Japanese friends a friendly neigbour with grandson 2

All the children played together on the front grass with a large ball, frisbies and even the pond being a large attraction for the young boys , most of the men hats on the lot stood, sat chatting and bending their arms watching the kids ,we stood in the shade at the front of the house , most of the women were inside in the shade , We were all eating and drinking ( This is Japan It's natural to carry food and drink when visiting ) lots of interesting food both on the barby and various breads cakes ,cheeses, vegetables, fruit and freshly picked herbs . I particularly enjoyed the rack of pork ribs and of course the beer . at about 5 the American lady N and daughters left to go to another party .As it began to get darker the deck lights were turned on , usually we use candles but because of the small kids this time we used electric and as the evening went on we all changed to drinking Hardys Chardonay A nice white wine that had been in the freezer overnight ,somewhere early evening 8 or 10 other english teachers (mostly american) came to the bash ,My American friend S and Canadian K tried competing with each other by producing the best drinks , We did empty a bottle of Japanese single malt whisky 25 years old voted the best in this years competitions during the evening some people went home but most stayed to the end men outside around the big deck table drinking ,smoking , plus snacking , women mostly inside eating drinking and enjoying them selves kids in general playing or sleeping in different parts of the house, we finally called it a night at about 11 pm . This is something that we often do (get together) and in particular my birthday comes between May3 Emperors birthday holiday and Boys day May 5 both public holidays

I enjoyed your party - wish I had been there! Best Wishes and GA

One of these years, I might crash such a bash of yours! Beware!

Because it sounds exactly like what I would like.

hi
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happy birthday for yesterday
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in england bbq,s are few and far between, the wetaher is so yucky, summer, if we get one, is the only times.
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here most just go out at night to a pub or club, and get rat@rsed.
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jim

many happy returns Arn', your looking good for 27 years mate1 behind me

Thank you all , you are all very welcome to drop by anytime and we would have a bash just for you

hi arn
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i would need a teleporter to even leave the area lol.let alone the country,
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ive never been outside england in my life, and that includes ireland lol , jim

I do remember parts of a conversation I had with F who lives in Spain ,I think he was trying to tell me about H2G2, I don't think he is a member but he heard about it/us from somewhere should be more careful in what I type,

hi arn
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the h2g2 as eyes, i have them on my p space lol, its called being a lurker.
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you dont have to be a memeber to read the messages or links, but a non member cant reply. lol jim

Hi Jim , Yes I understand that I for a couple of years before joining , I don't think he's doing that , Sorry got the geeks in so can't talk now

hi arn
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as we all now know, when we first enter the rleams of h2g2, we aint the faintest what to do for weeks in some cases months, some never get the gist of the site.
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ive just had a takeaway, chow mein, lol, with a fortune cookie, that said " you will soon be crossing waters" the only waters i,ll cross will the the ones from the shower, or if i go for day later in the year to the local parks lol jim

Hi Jim Sorry about my last nights reply , My geek friend C and I were working on the computers in my house , now as from last night my daughter is on line with her own computer ( she got a Japanese key board ),

I have just called A to talk with his dad F but I think I woke A up, well It's only 9 ; 45am here and the rest of the family are still sleeping but I left a message for F to talk before the go to Nagoya at lunch time,

So I expect to write a bit more on here in a couple of hours

Well A just came to visit mostly to pick up little J's pajamas that got left here Sunday ,he said he thinks his father was talking about the film not us , so I can relax again

hi arn
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you lost me with the alphabet messaging, lol,
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i think i got the gist, lol
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in the first month on h2g2 i made a few boobs, and left things in messages i shouldnt have, never my house addy, but as i got older, ive nothing to hide, so i did the google earth one on the space, no secrets nothing to hide for.
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. jim

Well.dear anoldgreymoonraker Free Tibet

I have just read the story of your birthday party on May 8th. I saw that you had posted to Websailor about the birds in your garden and I wondered where you lived. So I hope you do not mind my saying Happy Birthday and reading about it. !

Were you not absolutely dead on your feet. You must have had a huge party with many interesting and cosmopolitan friends. .

I love the story of your garden and wonder what sort of garden it is. The Japanese are famous for their gardening skills and for the various plants that they have hybridised and of course for their bonsai.

You say that your daughter has a a new computer with a Japanese keyboard. De fadto she must either be able to read Japanese and/or speak it.

My eldest grandson studied Japanese for his A levels, and then went to Japan for a holiday. The only thing I know about Japan is that some of my research which I did when I was living in South Africa is is a University library in Japan.

Thank you for sharing your most wonderful birthday party with us. I really enjoyed reading about it and I wish you many more.

Very sncerely,

Christiane
AlsRan80

Thank you AR80 you are most welcome to read my post or any thing else I may put on here,

I always have a big bbq on my birthday as it allows both foreigners and Japanese people to let their hair down and relax at my home, this is something that can be hard to do in this very formal country and everyone that comes here says it's like being away from Japan .

My wife is Japanese and my daughter is also Japanese although she doesn't look it my daughter is 12 years old but she is 70 kilo ,20 kilo more than her mother and almost as tall as me ,there are a few pic's of us in the H2G2 photo album .

My garden is not like a Japanese garden most of it is grass so the kids are able to run around ,most people over here only have car parking space outside their homes with no grass of their own to play on .

If you look at the pic's I post on my Flickr you can see behind the Mulberry tree the long weeds that I have left for the pheasants to nest in .I did want to tell you asbout it when you asked last week but my main frame was burnt out and it has taken me a while to get back and running.

Also another journal of mine covers the death of my Grandmother in law almost one year ago if you care to read that you are welcome ,some of my earliest pic's coverhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/go/dna/h2g2/brunel/F1694533/ext/_auto/-/http://www.flickr.com/photos/21128589@N02/ that too , I will put the link on here ,please feel free to ask more in the future

Dear anolgreymoonraker,

How marvellous to get your reply so quickly. You have opened up a whole new world to me. Thank you so much.

Now perhaps you are going to be able to convert me to liking Japanese food.!! That rice seems an extreemely hard dish to prepare. Perhaps that is the rice that is used when preparing sushi? I wonder

So much to learn. and dare I say it for myself, so little time.

You will have to instruct me as to how to look up Flickr as I really do not know how to get there. Thank you very much for the link. I seem to remember reading about the pheasants in the long grass. I did not realise they were YOUR pheasants, in the far off Orient.

I suppose that you talk and write Japanese. I have read practically all of Teillhard de Chardin's works - but of course he was in China and his first book I read was about his life in China. Japan is much more like a "secret" place to ne so I doubly pleased that they have an interest in phenomenology in Japan,hence the way my work has found it's way athere.

Well I shall love receiving your posts, and I shall continue to ask questions. Thank you for being so patient.


sincerely,

Christiane
Alsoran80

#PS May I add you to my list of friends?

I shallnot doso until you give me permission. !1

Christiane AR80

I am very happy to chat with you , I don't really speak Japanese I only understand a little of it although I have lived here almost 30 years , I have lived as an Artist /craftperson for my time here pottery mostly but now semi retired metal worker,8 years ago I built this log cabin myself and will/can work in many mediums ,

I am going out to visit some friends in Kyoto and leaving here in about 30 mins we are going to a big firework display tonight held every year on the Kizu river bank so I will be taking my camera , which means that I cannot stay any longer to chat but I will come back and post more to you tomorrow, Take care Moonraker

Yes please let's linkup