The End of Year Party

　　　　　　
忘年会
It's December 1st and we have only one more month left in the year. Hasn't it gone fast?

What do we have in December? There seems to be a lot of them. I'm talking about year end parties and for some of you, Christmas parties.

Here in Japan they are called 忘年会 or literally, "forget the year party." 

These parties are held at the company level and also amongst groups of friends. Some companies may have a party for the entire company and also teams and divisions and sections might have a party.

Amongst friends is common as well. Some of the parties I have heard of are really unusual and you would wonder why this particular group would need to meet up but they all seem to do it and love it.

These end of year parties are the most anticipated of the year and the planning seems to start months in advance. Well, you have to try to start planning in advance because as you can imagine in a place like Tokyo in December, a great deal of the places would be booked out and if you start planning in December, you might be out of luck on a venue.

Good old introverted me, who works by himself and doesn't have many groups I belong to doesn't have many end of year parties to go to. Other people seem to have one every night in the month of December.

"I have my work party tomorrow and my section party the next day and then my university friends are meeting next week and my gym is having a party the following week and my kindergarten friends are meeting and the people I drink with at my local pub are having party that week as well."

"You are having that party at the pub?'

"No, we are going to another area of town to a famous restaurant."

This kind of conversation is not unusual as some people are attached to may groups.

This time of the year can be tiring for introverts. When you are out every night and you have to socialise with people that you might not have much time for this can be hard work.

My advice to introverts is to pick and choose which ones you want to go to. You don't have to go to them all. Don't feel obliged. Think about your mental health as well as the affect of drinking all of that alcohol.

Have a great December and enjoy the end of the year but remember that you have to listen to your gut occasionally. Don't drain yourself out for the new year.