Although I really missed being at home, it was more about missing the food. And once the food ended up at our Thanksgiving table, there was nothing more to be sad about! Plus, I got to spend it in the company of my best friend, more friends, and new friends (Japanese and JETs)!
Vinnie, Mark, and Mikey feeding eat other turkey.
I took an overnight bus to Tokyo and then a train to Mikey's. I arrived pretty early -- around 9 am. We did some T-day shopping, then went back to his (crumbling) apartment to begin our long day of cooking. Overall, success!!! We ended up bringing 1. matzoh ball soup 2. sweet mashed potatoes with marshmallows 3. a big daikon which was later destroyed in daikon battles 4. pumpkin pie!!!!!!
Cooking. The big thing I am holding is a daikon. A large, Japanese radish that can conveniently be used as a rolling pin when the occasion presents itself! Let me tell you a little about cooking in Japan. They don't have ovens here. Sometimes your microwave can double as a microwave/oven, hence everything you cook must be very small. Mikey had no oven, so we did the yams with a microwave recipe. The pumpkin pie had to be cooked at Nas's house. I miss ovens. And microwaves with appropriate wattage. 500 kw is not enough.
Our pumpkin pie was a huge success, though. We are quite pleased! We arrived at Nas's house and happily a group of 20 of us, including some Japanese Thanksgiving-First timers, ate real Turkey (thank you Tokyo), mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie, drank lots of wine, beer, and were merry and happy. Then the daikon (huge radishes that only take one judo chop to be broken in half) battles began ... I tried my best to stay out of this. I also stayed out of the stupid drinking games such as "blow on the string hanging from the ceiling" and instead tried to get some sleep after my sleepless night on the overnight bus.
Mikey claims victory during "Daikon Battles"Vinnie is noticably distraught.
Somehow, we ended up at karaoke (2 a.m.) . I slept in the karaoke booth.
Until Ashlee Simpsons "Pieces of Me" came on. Then I sang my little heart out.
The next day we did some sightseeing around Iwaki, went up an observatory tower, looked at the coastline, ended up at a rooftop onsen, and ate Indian food. The night ended with a big 15 person slumber-party-esq huddle as we watched "Smokin' Aces". I kept eating pumpkin pie, for it was the most amazing pumpkin pie you could have asked for. (This was after we took 30 minutes mocking the Japanese porn section at the local video store).
Beautiful turbans, Nas and Mikey.The day after Mikey and I went to a resort called "Hawaiians". Its a big indoor waterpark/thing, but we had free tickets. They sold expensive Macadamia nuts, shirts that said "Haliewa" on them, and fake Hawaiian food.
Proof!Weekend after I was part of a 10-man relay race with teachers at my school. I did the 1.2 km run and it wasnt so bad!
The 10-man running team
It was around this beautiful lake where the leaves were changing and it was really nice bonding with the teachers. Other teachers came out to cheer us on, make us lunch, and let me play with their kids.
The whole group, including our cheering section
We won 7th place. After the race we went to a cafe that is known for extreme desserts. This can only be expressed in a series of pictures where 10 of us teachers had to devour our individual desserts and then finish the large tub of ice cream/cornflake/fruit monstrosity.
Me and Akiko with our parfaits
The Story of the Tub of Ice Cream:
We are still smiling at this point, but it starts going downhill. 
One quarter of the way through and Honma looks like he is going to puke. 
Through deligence and teamwork, we make it to the final, soupy ends. Everyone is required to take a sip of the soupy endings. 
The intiation continues, as the teachers each take the tub to their mouth and start swallowing the soupy ice cream. 
Ouch!
Mayagawa sensei looks strong.
I opted out of the salvia-drinking fest. 
This guy finishes it up for the team -- after he ate his own smaller-version tub.
Successful? I think so!
This event of tub-devouring was much more devasting in real life. I was impressed and nauseas at the same time.
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