So of course I was there, with a few of my friends, to see the Emperor in his own person. As he stood there behind the bulletproof glass on the balcony above the courtyard, surrounded by other members of his family, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to meet him alone, away from the cheering and flag-wielding masses. I think Armand said it best when he uttered afterwards, "That was the best five minutes of my life."
Pictures from our visit to the palace can be seen here.
Once we were done at the palace, I returned home to get something to eat. Realizing I didn't actually have the time to cook, I went to Yoshinoya for some gyudon instead, only going within my apartment to pick up a couple things. I then went back to Ikebukuro station to meet up with Armel, who had kindly offered to go with me to IKEA for some serious party shopping.
IKEA is truly the wonder of the world when it comes to finding Swedish food abroad, especially the food you need for a traditional Swedish Christmas party. Buying a couple of christmas hams, some salmon, pickled herring, meatballs and more, not to forget several bottles of glogg and four boxes of gingerbread cookies, I had the foundation I needed for a great party.
Running around western Tokyo by myself that evening, I managed to find some more of the stuff I needed. I also met with my contact to pick up a package containing the grand treasure - three boxes of imported Aladdin chocholate. When I finally got home that evening, my birthday was almost over. Throwing myself down before a movie, I ended it with a glass of very tasty strawberry flavored champagne.
Though that was probably the hardest working birthday I have ever experienced, it would all prove to be worth it when Christmas Eve came knocking on the door. I had been intent on making my Christmas party the best damn Christmas party this side of the Pacific, and that I can with confidence say that I succeeded in that.
The guests started arriving arround 16.00, but most didn't show up until an hour or two after that. At its peak, there were almost 30 people in my apartment, every single one of them having a great time indeed. There were people from Sweden, Japan, Korea, France, Germany, Brazil, the United States, the Netherlands, and more. To most of them, the traditional Swedish hot spiced wine known as glogg was a huge hit - all nine bottles had been emptied by the time the party reached its end.
The Swedish theme was overwhelming at times. Of course we watched Donald Duck and everything - an old recording with Arne Weisse we downloaded from the Internet. That was a tradition we had a pretty hard time explaining to the non-swedish majority among us, to be sure. They were a bit more understanding when we put on Tim Burton's masterpiece A Nightmare Before Christmas later on. When Asa arrived with her friends from Sweden, they brought with them a bunch of Swedish christmas decorations, which was really the only thing the party had been missing. They also brought Swedish christmas bread - which of course went very well with the ham and some mustard.
Several times during the evening I was told what a great host I was. I can only conclude that I am indeed very good at hosting parties, so perhaps "party manager" would be another job title to look into while waiting for my real career to kick start?
As it had been my birthday the day before, three of the attending guests were kind enough to bring me presents! Sarah brought me candy; from Skip I got an officially licenced NYPD shot glass; and Yamanaka-sensei gave me a bottle of three years matured umeshu distilled by her mother. I can't wait to have a taste of that.
I also happened to kiss two people during the course of the evening. The first one was actually by mistake, and quite unfortunate. I had assumed she would draw herself away when I approached, so when she didn't do so, we both found ourself in what was a highly unexpected and not very good kiss at all. And I got slapped in the face as a result. Twice. The other kiss was during the probably shortest game of spinn the bottle I have ever played, when I got to kiss none other than the great Skip himself! Beat that, all of you Skip-fans out there.
Anyway, let me return to the outcome of the party. Once most of the guests had left the apartment, many of them sad to leave yet hurrying away at the very last minute to catch the last train home, the few of us who remained decided it was time to take the party elsewhere. So we walked to Ikebukuro central, found ourself a Hub (that's the name of a chain of British-like pubs here in Tokyo), and took up trying a variety of drinks while getting into some quite interesting conversation. We also met another Swede there, and a couple Japanese girls who seemed quite interested in the Swedish language. And all the while we were followed by a mysterious tomteluva that someone had left behind at the party.
I can without doubt say that the party held on Christmas Eve was the best one I have had the pleasure to experience in a very long time. Many said the same thing at the party, others have contacted me on Facebook afterwards to express similar views. All I can say is, the fact that the party was hosted by yours truly sure didn't make it any less good. ;)
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