Best of Both Worlds

This weekend was truly the best of both worlds for me. No, I'm not referencing the fallen Disney star Miley Cyrus...I'm talking about enjoying the wonders of partying it up Japanese-style one day and then making a trip to Little America the next.

Let's start of the beginning, since that is always a very good place to start.

With much sadness and disappointment, last week was the end of the season for volleyball. Our short-lived year ended with half of our games won (which I guess is pretty good for us?) and therefore, a well-deserved fiesta to celebrate our success on Saturday. The spread was plentiful and cho oishii everyone pretty much had a good time all around. I thought only a few of my teammates spoke English, but it turns out that a lot more of them can speak more than they let on! With a little bit of liquid courage, a few more English speakers came out of the woodwork and we tried our hand at having a conversation.

I've met most of the team over the season, but one of our members joined the team, never came to a game, but did come to the end of the season party. We have never met, of course, but after meeting me, he promptly gave me a *wink* and then offered to give me a Toyota car for Christmas. Um....what?

One replay of our last game, a group picture and too many beers later, we wrapped up the first party and headed to the second. Japan surely prides itself on its infamous "after parties". Usually this group would head to Wioli, the bar next to my apartment, but this evening, the bar was closed and we were forced to go to Irori: the one bar in town that Patrick told me to never go to without a group. I understand why now. Don't worry, I don't plan on returning by choice.

Volleyball Team!

Its one saving grace was that it had karaoke and after a few quick rounds, we wrapped up the evening entirely and closed the book on the season. There will be, however, another last tournament held next week, but I'll most likely be missing most of it due to a previous engagement (BON JOVI!...more on that later).

The next day, awake at 9am and shockingly refreshed considering the night before, I arose all jazzed up about our field trip to America that day. Ululani, an ALT from Sannohe, has family that teaches on the base and signed us in for the afternoon. I had several missions to complete while on base including, but not limited to, shopping for our Thanksgiving dinner this week, shopping for Garlic Center's holiday party in a couple of weeks, and mailing the bundle of letters I've been holding onto as I anxiously waited for Patrick's mailing address.

Before even beginning to complete our missions, we were immediately intercepted by our own selves when we made our way to the BX and ended up shopping for those "I don't really need it, but it makes life more comfortable" items all for the bargain military price. Yippee! I made out with American toothpaste, an all-in-one printer, perfume and a Christmas sweater (yes, Mom...I bought my own Christmas sweater this year). And then before we could finally get on task, we made a couple more stops at Cinnabon, the bookstore (where I picked up some Hallmark cards, a Yankee Candle scented Cinnamon Sugar, and Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol), and Taco Bell!

Note: None of these items would usually get me as excited had they been purchased at home...it's the thrill of Americana in the Far East.

In the end, all missions were accomplished. We successfully found suitably sized turkeys for both our dinner and the Garlic Center's party and Ulu's very kind aunt and uncle agreed to mail my bundle of letters for me...fingers crossed that my assumption that those letters would arrive more quickly because they're coming from a military base is correct.

While enjoying my day, I took a little peek into my future and discussed the possibility of working for the Department of Defense as an educator. Much more on this as the time to start applying for jobs comes closer, but it will be brewing in the back of my mind until then.

In other news... I've broken the cardinal rule of the holidays: no Christmas songs before Thanksgiving. Oh well. I'm in Japan; cut me some slack! I am, however, teaching (or rather, reteaching) Silent Night to the kiddos here in Takko, hopefully with a harmony. Wish me luck!

Coming up... Thanksgiving, of course! A group of us Americans in the area (along with some Japanese friends) will be coming over to my place for an all-American Thanksgiving meal complete with a turkey.  Neither Ulu nor I have ever made a turkey on our own before, so this should be interesting. Of course I'll be letting you know!

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