No you can't jump in the river!

Today was the farewell party for the OSU students.

The day was scheduled as a free day, but the college kids didn't want to go out and about by themselves and I didn't want to go to work at the office, so we conspired to get me to go along as a chaperon. At the reuse dinner earlier in the week I got a couple of the kids to "corner" Kojima-san with me. They told her how much they wanted me to go with them so Kojima-san called my boss to make sure it was ok.

My boss called to tell me I would have to get a few translations done first, but I was able to get that done of Saturday so it was no big deal.

So this morning I went to the office for the first time in about a week and turned in my translations and then I ducked out at 10:45 to get ready to take a nice boat ride down the Hozu River....

Of course Jared, Meredith, and Jon were already drunk when I met them at the station. I could see where this was going.....and yes they did have to pee like halfway through the hour and half ride. I had warned them more than once to be careful because there would be no bathroom breaks...but drunk college kids will be drunk college kids. It was funny watching them squirm and whimper until Jared stood up and almost jumped off the boat. I had to explain what he was doing to the people in charge and then yell at him to stop. Thankfully they made it til the end, but their experience did not make them stop drinking...nope they moved on to Strong 7s (Japanese beer with a higher alcohol level than normal beer).

Marla, Scott, Kyle, Fujiki-san and I went for lunch and then rest went for drinks. Afterward we took them to Monkey Park. I think they had more fun with the giant slide than the monkeys, though one monkey did try to attack Jonathan, which was pretty funny. They gave quite a show to the Japanese people as they raced down the giant slide.

Of course the entire time Marla was telling me about different bird calls and I was trying not to act too disinterested. Then Jonathan came over and made it worse by asking her what the sounds were (he was making fun of her), til I just about lost it.

I think I need to work on my professionalism...

We took the train back into Kyoto and I accompanied them all back to their hotel. I hung out with Jon and Jared for a bit while they got ready for the Sayonara Party. Jared just about passed out until he went to get food from 7Eleven, only to return saying that he forgot his wallet, which he only realized after ordering like 7 corn dogs. So he just walked away....

Oy.

At the party I was the last to be seated since I was acting as translator (even though I was paying to be there....) so I ended up at a table with Jared, Jon, and Meredith and one Japanese woman who spoke no English.....

Unfortunately for her I was not paying that much attention to what was going on and was not a good translator. It was a party, not work. I did try but I couldn't translate everything that was being said. I tried to talk to her but she wasn't very helpful....

The best part of the evening was that Ijiri-san came and joined our table and told us that we were way boring compared to last year's group. Apparently we were not drinking enough. So he started ordering all kinds of drinks and encouraging the group to drink more.

At the end we all took a ton of pictures together until Jon fell over and knocked over this really heavy wooden partition and caused a huge scene. Ijiri-san and Fujiki-san, both sufficiently liquored up by this point, wanted to go to karaoke so we all went to find a karaoke bar. Kim, Jonathan, and I carried Jared, Jon, and Meredith back to the hotel first, however.

Though Jared did not cooperate. Somehow I got stuck with him....This is how that went...

Jared comes up and links my arm with his then holds my hand so I can't get free.

Jared: Where are we going?
Me: You guys are going back to the hotel. It's bedtime.
Jared: You're coming too?
Me: No no, I can't. I have to go hang out with my coworkers.
Jared: No. You have to stay with me. You love me. You'll come with me.
Me: Ummmm...no Jared I don't love you.
Jared: Yes you do. You told me so.
*I try to remove my arm from his but he won't let go...meanwhile Jonathan is laughing behind us, thought apparently Meredith was trying to get his attention*

Me: Ok Jared, I love you. But I'm not going to the hotel with you.
Jared: Ok then I'll go with you.

We get them back to the hotel and Meredith starts wandering the hallways looking for Jonathan who is in his room while I try to get Jon and Jared to bed, with Jared telling me he loves me the whole time.

Jon falls asleep immediately but Jared was being a pain. He kept following me out of the room or keeping me from leaving. Not in a scary way, just a harmless silly drunk boy way. Then he disappeared. We found him down by the 7Eleven. He came out with a sandwich and sat down frighteningly close to the street so I gave up on trying to get him home and took him with us.

We got to karaoke and were having a good time. I ordered Jared a "Jack and Coke hold the Jack" and got down to singing.

About an hour later I noticed that Jared was passing out. I was the most sober and the most capable of getting him home so I walked him back....Me in heels, him leaning heavily on me, still telling me how much he loves me.

I get him up to his room and he tries to kiss me. Thankfully I was quick enough to dodge it. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and told him to enjoy Thailand. Then went back to the karaoke bar laughing the whole way.

I actually ended up crashing in the hotel with Kim, Kevin, and Jonathan because I missed the last train home. Thankfully I took Tuesday off so I didn't have to go to work. (^_^)

I had a lot of fun with them, but I am glad to get my life back.

We took the train back into