This is an eternal dilemna for the expat: where, when, with who to party? That is the question. During my first year in Japan, I had a very few French friends - my ETP fellows, actually; and I was not at all willing to mix with the French society in Tokyo....

This is my third birthday in Japan, far from my beloved family but close to all the others. Having your birthday on a weekday is never funny, because usually no one is keen on partying very late. Except this year : the famous and controversial Beaujolais...

Je peux enfin lui rendre hommage : le colis estival de mes parents qui a ensoleillé mon étouffant mois d'août ! Avec dedans plein de confitures - pour le pain, la viande, le fromage... et des pruneaux d'Agen, et du bon vin !Et un livre par dessus le marché....