Today we had a traditional "Forget the year Party." It was held at Professor Shiozaki's Rokkomichi apartment (he has a home in Kyoto). All of the students from my laboratory gathered together to eat and drink, all the while forgetting everything bad that had happen in the past year. Nothing like some strong sake to rattle loose and permanently erase some unwanted baggage.

We had a spicy Korean soup that was cooked right at the table, nabemono style, and grilled meat and vegetables, also cooked right at the table.

In addition to the food there was much drinking and carrying on. Shiozaki had been on a tv earlier in the day which was a fun topic of discussion.

After we finished the party we helped clean up the place. To my surprise, the table in the tatami mat room was actually the shoji, sliding doors, that normally separate the rooms. We cleared them off and popped them back into place. Now there is a building material that can multitask...