Lesson learned...do not throw parties...or how many cops does it take to break up a BBQ?

So for a while now I have been trying to plan a big American style BBQ. I was styling it as an "cultural exchange" event and was hoping to have some of my Japanese friends come as well.

It was going to be amazing...hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, baked beans, deviled eggs, chips and dip, veggies, etc. We were going to show the Japanese how it is done. We went around to all the foreign food stores to get hot dog buns, hot dogs (which were so expensive we had to use the Japanese ones that come on sticks instead...seriously 8 bucks for 5 hot dogs?)

Turns out I should not be allowed to plan parties.

First, it rained. It rained all day. Thankfully it was just a light sprinkle so it was no big deal, but still annoying.

Paulette's predecessor had left behind a giant tent so we used that. Liz and Nelis climbed up onto the awning structure that was in the park and draped the tent over it so that we would be kept dry. We had all met up the night before to do the prep work for the food. We cut the corn on the cob into three pieces each (with the help of my knife and potato masher), made hamburger patties, pulled hot dogs off sticks, made makeshift buns by cutting hot dog buns in half hamburger style (because they don't sell regular buns here), cut veggies, etc.

The rest of us set up the grills with the help of Nanami, Yumi, and Yumiko. I felt bad that the Japanese people were doing a lot of the work, but I had to go shopping and I think they felt better with something to do. They were a bit overwhelmed by all the English going on.

We laid out a few tarps but they became useless when the rain picked up a bit more.

Atsushi and one of his friends arrived, but I think he was nervous or shy because there were so many English speakers and he only knew me, and I was running around like an idiot trying to pull things together, so he kept his distance and then left for a while. That totally freaked me out...I wasn't sure if I should have gone and gotten him or let him get up the courage to come over....He sent me a text saying that his other friend had gotten off work late and they went to pick him up. I had to go get butter and when I came back he was there...

Thankfully Dara was talking to them, and her Japanese is like a million times better than mine. I had to get a few more things set up and I probably seemed like and ass not going straight over and talking to them...But I was nervous.

So after a few minutes I joined up with them. I made sure they got drinks...none of them had had Budweiser before so I fixed that. And later I introduced them to Corona as well. Woo Hoo cultural exchange.

I also introduce him to Greg, which is when I started to feel a bit inadequate because Greg's Japanese is also light years ahead of mine AND he shares a passion for literature with Atsushi (don't misunderstand me, I of course love literature too and am quite well read when it comes to Japanese literature BUT I read English translations and cannot really discuss literature yet...damn my vocabulary).

Now for the SECOND reason I should not throw parties....

At about 3pm when all the grills had gone out on their own and we were just drinking and talking I looked up and saw a Japanese guy dressed in blue and white walking over, followed by another...

Cops.

They came over and started talking to Yumi, Yumiko and Nanami who were the 3 Japanese people nearest them. They were asking questions about who we were and what we were doing there. I left Atsushi behind and moved up to join the conversation.

They said a neighbor had called and said they saw smoke. I explained that it was just a BBQ for a friend and so we could have a cultural exchange party. I also assured them that we would completely clean everything up afterward. I apologized for inconveniencing them.

Then 3 more cops showed up and started talking. They asked who was in charge. My sweet Japanese friends said nothing. They refused to hand me over...so I stepped forward. I was the main planner and the only one who spoke Japanese.

The look on the cops face was priceless. If I hadn't been so scared of getting in trouble I would have laughed. They explained that grilling in the park was against park regulations and then took down my name, address, birthdate, work information, etc, and then took my picture.

Then 3 more cops showed up (by the end we had a total of 13 cops all to break up a little BBQ of 23 people). As they took down the names of people who were there (all of us) I kept glancing back at Atsushi making worried faces (I was trying to be funny but I was really really worried). I didn't quite understand what was going on. The cops didn't seem like they were angry and they didn't say what they were going to do with our information. I was worried that they would contact our bosses....I wouldn't put it past them.

Then they said I had to go with them.

So I started to walk with them, unsure of where I was going. They asked if I could read Japanese and I said yes, sort of. I didn't know if I had to read a sentence or like a confession so I just said kind of. They turned around and asked if a Japanese person would accompany me. Before he finished the sentence Atsushi had stepped forward and was walking with me. He was cracking jokes and I was trying not to cry out of mortification as we walked over to the other end of the park to look at the rules (aren't park rules usually placed at the ENTRANCE to the park? not the far end?)

They made him read the part about no fire in the park and made us both point at it and took our picture. They wanted to prove that they had warned us.

Japanese cops don't have enough to do.

We walked back to the group and a representative from city hall was there. Atsushi stood by me as I had to apologize to the official and listen to him tell me not to do it again and blah blah blah. Then there was the deep bowing and the offering of the first born child as retribution.

Then we had to clean up. The cops were there so we couldn't climb up onto the roof of the awning again so Laurel pulled a super cheerleader move as we hoisted her up on our hands to untie the tent. Atsushi stepped in and took my place after a while...cuz he's a total sweetheart. In one day I got him in trouble with the cops AND he let my friend stand on him.

After we got all cleaned up I invited everyone back to my place to hang out. This made me wish I had cleaned my apartment a little better. However, I somehow crammed about 12 people into my tiny living room. We ate more, drank more, and laughed about today's unexpected excitement.

Atsushi stayed for about 6 hours with me and my friends, though his had already gone home. I tried to toss in some Japanese with him and Dara was a lifesaver, being able to help me translate. For the most part he just listened but I couldn't believe he stuck around.

At about 9 pm Dara said she was hungry and the rest all had to go home so I offered to go out with her and invited Atsushi so he could have some Japanese time. I was surprised that he joined.

We went to Mister Donuts and drank some coffee and chatted. Dara was great because she just kept asking random questions about what our favorite colors are, what horoscope we are, how we would describe ourselves, etc.

Then Dara went home and Atsushi and I walked back toward our apartments. I suggested he give the Global Session at the International Center a try since it is cheap and you can participate as much as you like, but it's good English practice. He said he understood about 30% of what was going on, which was impressive because we were all speaking really fast and with a lot of slang. But we did teach them some new words...

This time he walked me back to my apartment...(*^^*)