Yesterday was Saranne's birthday, and to celebrate we had a BBQ (it seemed appropriate, Saranne is an Aussie after all!) It was slightly more subdued than normal (probably because of all the parties we'd been having when Claire and Ollie were here!) but it was just as fun. Good food, good music (Saranne's selection!) and good company. I think Saranne enjoyed it :) I hope she liked my presents: a pink and white "panda tone" Gloomy bear, a pair of pink hair sticks, and a fluffy pink purse that looks like one of the makkurokurosuke from Totoro/Spirited Away (she loves pink!).

Saranne and all her pink!

 The party started at 5.00pm, and continued deep into the night.

For me, one of the most fun things about it was observing everyone. There is, of course, something very primeval about cooking meat outside. And, I noticed that it wasn't too long until all of us had quite unwittingly assumed our classical gender roles. At one point, I observed that all of the girls had congregated on the mat, and were talking together about life and personal experiences. All the boys, on the other hand, weren't talking as much but were gathered around the fire, playing with it with sticks and gin and going off every now and then to forage for more wood. And nobody had noticed just how tribal we were behaving and typical to our sexes until I brought it up. Then, naturally, the matter escalated into us girls making David Attenborough-style commentary on the men (we established that Ian was the dominant alpha male, while Tom was the elder patriarch!)

Japanese of the Day: 無限大 - mugendai - Infinity