Flower watching?

The article below was interesting even to me, a Japanese speaker. This author writes in a funny way, but she describes some cultural difference b/w Japan and the US well.

Accoding to the Japan Times:

Saturday, April 7, 2007
JAPAN LITE
The short-lived cherry blossom -- Japan's national identity
By AMY CHAVEZ

The most beautiful time to be in Japan is right now -- cherry blossom season. Oha-nami cherry-blossom-viewing parties are taking place everywhere, and you don't need an invitation to go to one.

As a matter of fact, almost anything you do, as long as it is under a cherry tree, is considered ohanami, (flower-watching).

Stroll along a cherry tree-lined road, and you can say you have done ohanami.

... All you have to do is find a cherry tree and claim it as your own. But hurry, because the trees only bloom for two weeks.

The cherry blossom is the national flower of Japan and for Japanese it is part of their national identity. This brings up some important questions.

Which part of the cherry blossom do they identify with -- the petals, the stem?

Can the Japanese really have a national identity only two weeks long? I guess you have to be Japanese to understand.

With just two weeks to enjoy the festivities, I suggest you get out there and start partying with the blossoms -- your buddies -- right now. But here are a few things to keep in mind.

Be sure to take a vinyl sheet. In the West, we tend to take a nice soft blanket to sit on when we go on a picnic, but the Japanese prefer a large, blue, crunchy, plastic sheet.

The Japanese are champions at matching plastic with nature, so it was determined a long time ago that blue vinyl matches the pink blossoms better than any other color.

... There are advantages to vinyl sheets, however. They are easy to clean up spills on, and they are much easier to flick ants off of.

Oh come on now, don't try to tell me you don't take part in some good "bug flicking" now and then. You see an ant, you ready your thumb and index finger, you line up where you want to launch the little blighter, and FLICK!

... On my planet, the United States, there is no way they'd let you drink outside in public and share your national identity with the trees. But the Japanese acceptance of alcohol is the very reason people in Japan can identify, on a national level, with the little pink blossoms. ...
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20070407cz.html