Learning Through Experience

Seven women walk into a bar.  Three are Japanese, Two are American, One is Philippino, and One is Chinese.  One woman stumbles home drunk on the shoulders of her friends.

And I have the proud honor of not only being the person who ordered the drunken woman's drinks, but also had to carry her home.  Learning experience.

Some good things to know about the friend you are going drinking with BEFORE you let them order a drink:
1)  Have they recently had any alcoholic beverages?
2)  If so, what did they drink and how much?
3)  Do they have work the next day?
4)  Is it a job that is survivable with a hangover?
5)  What have they eaten recently and when?

For the somewhat idiotic reason that I didn't want to feel like I was interrogating my friend, I did not ask the above questions until it was too late.

Before we left for the bar, another friend had already given her a full glass of wine and 3/4 of a glass of tequila.  She had a sandwich and chips along with some other party snacks at the Halloween party we were coming from.  The next day she had to work at 10am teaching English to 2 and 4 year olds.

I know the strengths of a lot of the alcohol here, so when she told me I should order for her I made some conservative choices.  She started with a cup of sake and water, had a Lime Sour about 20 minutes later, did a shot of tequila (ordered by another friend), and finished the night by chugging down nearly a full glass of Umeshu (Plum Wine).  I did not order the Plum Wine...but it is most definitely what knocked her over the edge.

So I did my friendly duties and slung her arm over my shoulder for the walk to the subway and the trip home.  I have a feeling it is much easier to do when the other person can at least stand up on their own...but I guess I won't find that out until another friend gets really drunk.  The best thing that we accomplished was being home by midnight, where we learned of her commitments for the day.

Drunks are fun to be around...when they are buzzed.  But when you get slapped twice while you are carrying them back to your own place so they can pass out, you lose sight of all of the fun you were having earlier in the night.

....

That being said, I had a blast while we were at the izakaya.  It was a new location and they had amazing rooms, prices, food, and - of course - drinks.  With 7 people, we ended up spending ¥13,300 ($146ish); divided 7 ways, we spent about $20 a piece for nearly 4 hours of food, drinks, and fun.

I improved my Japanese speaking skills, learned some Japanese drinking songs from the large group of Japanese men next door (we could hear them through the holes in a dragon carving in the adjoining wall), and learned some more things about some of the friends I have made since coming to Japan.

There will most definitely be another trip to that particular izakaya, probably with several more people than we had during this past trip, and I will be sure to check that if anyone gets really wasted, they will be okay to sleep it off the next day.  Hopefully there will be more people to help carry them home and put them to bed.