A night of raucous laughter and great memories

So, a group of four male teachers asked me to go with them for a fun night of karaoke... Those of you who know me will be surprised that I said yes! I did eventually tell them that I don't usually enjoy a night of karaoke. I then suggested an izakaiya (Japanese style bar). I was a little nervous about the prospects of four guys and me together for dinner... Me with my limited Japanese and, as far as I knew at the time, one guy with pretty good English. I dragged a female teacher along for support.
I HAD THE BEST TIME. It turns out (as with many Japanese), that most of them had passable English and with a mixture of both native languages we got by. The boys were hilarious and lots of fun. They had me laughing so hard I almost cried. They were behaving in my kind of 'normal'. There was no behaviour that they had to conform to. Just relax and have fun. Anything goes style...
Oh. I forgot to say...
I ATE THIS!!! Sea cucumber - raw!
Not so much I can say about the flavour. I didn't like the texture though. It was like trying to chew through a huge rubber band. It went down and stayed down and I can check it off my list of things tried. I will not have it again though!