Last Saturday, Dan and I went to a bonenkai at Zabu Zabu in Berkeley to celebrate the end of 2009 with friends. For those that aren’t familiar with what a bÅnenkai is, Wikipedia offers a good description:
A bÅnenkai (in Japanese, 忘年会, literally meaning “forget the year gathering”) is a Japanese drinking party that takes place at the end of the year, and is generally held among groups of co-workers or friends. The purpose of the party, as its name implies, is to forget the woes and troubles of the past year, usually by consumption of large amounts of alcohol.
The Japanese love bÅnenkais, and in Japan, it’s typical to go to several throughout December with various groups of friends, classmates, and colleagues. It’s a good excuse for them to do what they do best. 😉 This time, we got together with some friends from the SF Bay Area Japanese Language and Culture Meetup and celebrated over all-you-can-eat shabu shabu. It was fun to catch up with friends we hadn’t seen in a while, as well as meet newcomers and make new friends.
Dan and I both love shabu shabu and we stuffed ourselves so much that we were still very full for much of the day on Sunday. haha* But we’ll be going back soon enough — there’s only so long we can stay away from those savory thin slices of meat!
A huge thanks to Kyoko-san, who worked so hard to plan the bÅnenkai and made it such a big success!
Saya
December 17, 2009 @ 4:34 am
忘年会ã®å£ç¯€ã ãï¼ï¼I have been going to some here n there too =) gotta love those end of the year parties~!
ben
December 17, 2009 @ 7:55 pm
the Japanese sure do love their drinking parties. hey, any excuse for a drink is fine in my book =P
Misono
December 17, 2009 @ 9:55 pm
Saya:
Yup, bonenkai season is in full swing! 🙂
We’re only going to one this year… the rest are holiday parties!
Ben:
haha* Yes, the Japanese love to find every excuse to consume large quantities of alcohol. I’m not a heavy drinker, so in a way, bonenkai’s aren’t really the place for me — but it’s fun to meet up with friends! 😀
iBonus
December 26, 2009 @ 3:54 pm
I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
And you et an account on Twitter?