It’s the season for a year-end party in Japan. It’s called ‘Bonenkai’ which means ‘a party to forget this year’. Too negative. During the course of a year, there should be something good to remember, at least a couple. So, my partner and I adapted a new party with a different concept. My partner even created a new word for its name. We call it ‘Obonenkai’ which means ‘a party to remember this year’. We threw it today. I found other different aspects in our party than the name. People have a ‘Bonenkai’ party with many colleagues and friends, over an expensive meal. Ours is just two of us, over half-price prepared foods that are left unsold at a grocery store. It’s just like my style -or let’s say, ‘Hidemish’…

A coffee company sends me a newsletter once a week. They assigned a number to each member upon sign-up, and pick a winning number for the prize of two thousand dollars every week.

When I checked email today, I saw my number on the newsletter. I screamed with surprise and joy. My heart beat weirdly, sweat poured off. As I fixed my eyes, the newsletter showed my number as a reminder, not as a winning number. I didn’t win, of course. I buy a lottery ticket every week that you can win up to four million dollars. I learned today that I couldn’t survive if I won that kind of money, because two thousand dollars was enough to almost kill me…

Episode From Surviving in Japan by Hidemi Woods