Christmas party in August?

Back in August, one of my friends invited me to a Christmas party. In August. Since there are close to 0% Christians in Japan, Christmas is a bit different here. It is celebrated as either a romantic date night for couples, where you go eat "Western" food, or it is celebrated by eating Kentucky Fried Chicken (the lines are extreme, and many KFCs only allow you in if you have booked in advance on Christmas...).

Celebrating Christmas in August still seemed a bit strange to me, despite living in Japan for years. There was a fairly reasonable explanation, though. My friend used to live with her sister. When they lived together they always ate the same things every year for Christmas, and since my friend is a great cook, that food is of course excellent.

The sister has now moved to Australia and married a Germany guy, so she does not get to eat this food any more. She was back in Japan for a one month visit with her daughter in August and wanted to eat that food again. So far it makes sense, but I am still a bit unsure if you really have to call it a Christmas party every time you eat roast beef.

My friend has a garden and grows very nice blackberries

Christmas cake

My friend's niece was also attending the Christmas party. She was a bit shy in the beginning, despite us having the same type of outfit (both she and I wore jinbei, summer clothes, while everyone else wore what would work in December). After an hour or so, when everyone else had grown too physically exhausted to play with her, it became my turn, though. She wanted me to fly her around like an airplane and things like that, so I had severe muscle pain the next day from a few hours of playing...

She liked my cell phone, or at least one YouTube clip that we watched for 20 times or so

Jinbei wearing group

Christmas party

One of my friends is a great cook. She always cooks very large amounts of food, though. She usually makes Christmas food and invites a bunch of people to help her eat it. I was invited this year too, and had a great meal.

For some reason, most people I know serve raw octopus at Christmas

My friend bakes excellent bread!

I was asked to cut the roast beef, since no one else knew how to cut meat (you take the knife and cute, I guess?)

Japanese Christmas cakes often look like this

People complain when I wear trousers like this, but then they wear similar things themselves...

Someone brought "bean flavored mochi"-flavored Pretz sticks.

There was a very sweet and very red whine available

This was supposed to be a German cake of some sort, but no one there had seen one in original form, so no one knew if this was a successful attempt of recreating that German cake or not.

Spanish omelet and Christmas cake!

After winning lots of raw eggs in a bingo game, I gave 25 eggs to a woman who also works at my university, though only one or two days per week. Since we met at Halloween, we usually have lunch together in one of the many university cafeterias on the day she is also at the university.

The last day before the New Year holiday, she brought some Spanish omelet that she had made using the eggs I gave her. She had also made Christmas cake (in Japan, everyone thinks Christmas food includes cake as one of the main dishes; in Sweden I don't think cake is included in Christmas food at all). Both were great.

Almost meeting the almost Miss Universe

A while back, a woman I know sent me a message stating: "There is a Christmas party on the 25th. It is in a series of parties for a circle of girls aged 20 to 30. Do you want to come?"

I replied that actually I am not a girl, and I am not 20 to 30 years old. Was she sure she sent it to the right address? She replied back that indeed she knows that I am not a girl, and that I am not young. She said that this particular party was going to be open to older people and to men too.

Also, she said, a former Miss Universe candidate from Hokkaido was going to participate. This could be interesting, I guess, since I have never met anyone that was a Miss Universe candidate (as far as I know). It would be even more impressive to meet someone who became Miss Universe, I guess, but the Hokkaido representative would also be impressive, maybe. My colleagues at work said that more information might be necessary, "maybe she was a candidate 40 years ago?"...

I ended up going to this event, and I saw the Miss Universe Hokkaido representative. She looked to be something like 26 years old (though Japanese people look young to me, so I guess she could be over 30).

Me in "really weird clothes"

The friend who invited me also said that you could come straight from work so there was no strict dress code, but that you should at least make some small effort, like putting a flower in your hair. Presumably mostly for girls, but I answered that I have some flip on fake flower that I won in a crane game somewhere, so that would not be a problem. In the end, I could not find that flower (I have too many small things at home waiting around for me to come up with some clever magic trick to use them in so I could not find it even after searching for quite some time). Everyone thought I looked really weird anyway, since I showed up in white trousers, white shirt, and a beige coat.

I thought the placement card was a sheep, since 2015 is the year of the ram. I was told that it was not a sheep, it was an alpaca. 

The woman who invited me also kept introducing me to people she thought I should meet as: "This is Jonas, he always wears weird clothes. Like today. Also, he is unbelievably unpopular with women." Most people said that they also thought the clothes were weird, but that they were "sure that you are popular with women". To which my friend said: "No, I am not kidding. He is really really unpopular. It is incredible!". She is not wrong, perhaps, but maybe she did not have to press it that hard? haha

I did not have time to talk to the Miss Universe girl, since everyone had their seats assigned and then I was asked to go and talk to specific people all the time until the party was over. There was a second party (there usually is in Japan), but the Miss Universe girl did not go there. I did, though, and it turned out to be in a place where I have been many many times. My friend who invited me is apparently good friends with the owner there since way back. So am I. But neither of us knew that the other one was.

Christmas dinner

In Japan, Christmas is celebrated in two different ways. Either you eat Kentucky Fried Chicken (this is believed to be Christmas food in Japan) or you go and have a romantic date at a Western style restaurant. KFC has huge lines on Christmas, and you cannot buy anything there unless you have booked in advance (!!).

If you have a girlfriend, you are expected to go to a fancy restaurant and have an expensive dinner. I usually do not have a girlfriend, but one of my friends who is a girl also usually does not have a boyfriend, so we often have Christmas dinner together (and then at least people that do not know us will think we are a couple and not just very lonely losers, haha).

Last year we could not get a table at any Western style restaurant (at Christmas they are all fully booked) but this year we had Italian food. It was very nice.

My friend is very funny too. This year, the conversation was much darker than usual, but there were still funny moments too.

White Christmas

Since Sapporo gets huge amounts of snow, we always have a White Christmas here. We also always work on Christmas, but you can enjoy the view through the window while you are waiting for your software to compile or something.

Japanese Christmas is crazy and weird

Japanese traditional Christmas. Probably.

In Japan, Christmas is not celebrated that much since there are almost no Christians here (half a percent of the population or so). It is considered a great chance to do something fun, so it is celebrated in the way people believe Westerners celebrate Christmas. This belief is mainly based on what people have seen in Hollywood movies.

Christmas food

One common way to celebrate Christmas is to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken. In fact, KFC is so strongly connected with Christmas that you cannot eat at KFC on Christmas without booking in advance. And there are huge lines outside KFC with people who have booked.

Christmas present

An acceptable alternative to KFC is fried chicken in general, or roasted chicken. I had some roasted chicken last night, and it was good. My theory is that the thinking is Western world = U.S.A. American Christmas = turkey, turkey is a bird, chicken is also a bird, chicken = Christmas food.

My friend was dressed as "Christmas Marilyn Monroe". He had also bought an underwear set to wear underneath, but discovered that it was completely see through and decided to wear normal underwear instead. At least in the beginning.

Christmas is also celebrated as a "date night" in Japan. If you have a girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband, you should go on a date on Christmas Eve. In general, you should eat expensive Western food, mainly French or Italian food. This means it is impossible to get a table at any good French or Italian restaurant on the 24th; they are all fully booked well in advance.

Another guy, trying to hide his beard. Very ungirly shoes, though.

Marilyn Monroe had managed to find high heels almost large enough for men to wear.

Since this is a night for couples, people who are not part of a couple feel left out. Some places hold special "Christmas party for lonely people", and I went to one last year. I went to one this year too. My friend who works there was very sure that he would not be lonely anymore this year, so they would not be having such a party again, but as things turned out he is still very lonely.
When I showed up, it turned out that every other man in the place was dressed in women's clothing. I am not sure that this is a Japanese Christmas tradition, but then again I am not sure it is not. Lots of men did that last year too.

Some weird Japanese thing going on outside the bar.

Underwear inspection

Another thing that was a bit weird with this party for lonely people was that while there were a bunch of people like me drinking alone at the counter, all the girls that showed up showed up with their boyfriends... So they had obviously missed the theme of this party.

Marilyn Monroe posing outside another bar (and people passing by said: "Ah, so this is a gay bar!")

Yet another Japanese man dressed for Christmas

More people showed up later during the evening, and more people showed up wearing dresses (all men). Later, my friend who had decided not to wear the skimpy underwear on account of it being completely see through (and his dress to short not to wear non-see-through underwear) decided to wear the skimpy things anyway. And to go out and pose in front of unrelated bars looking like that. Japanese Christmas is weird, but pretty entertaining.

"Normal" underwear worn under the see through underwear.