Thanksgiving in Japan!!

HAPPY SUPER LATE THANKSGIVING!!!

I was so sad to miss Thanksgiving with my family this year, so I wanted to host a little Thanksgiving themed dinner of my own the Sunday after the real American day. I say "themed" because to have an authentic Thanksgiving in Japan is impossible. Turkey is practically unheard of unless you eat at Subway on Wednesdays (it's the special).
So I invited Mary and Valerie and they invited Heather, a girl we all met at follow-up training. I was so happy they did. She brought pumpkin cheesecake (that's not the only reason why I was glad she was invited). Also, my new co-net arrived in Shizuoka on Sunday, so I invited her too to make sure she feels welcome and so we could all get to know her. I think we're going to get along great. It's been two days and I feel like I've known her for much longer. We spent the evening drinking girly drinks and chatting and eating.

The spread

Obviously Thanksgiving isn't a big holiday here. Scratch that, it's not a holiday here. Mary was very pleased that she didn't have to fight anyone at the market for potatoes. I did take control of the kitchen, but I have witnesses that I was only a little mean and demanding. Mary made mashed potatoes (delicious!). Valerie made deviled eggs (so yummy!). Heather made pumpkin cheesecake (so good!). And I made chicken and stuffing. For not having a real oven and one hot plate to cook food, Thanksgiving was a success!
 It was so nice to have great company and a great home-cooked, American-ish meal. A couple of us did have to use chopsticks. By the way, eating corn and mashed potatoes with chopsticks is more difficult than you think. We had a great time. We stayed up late, swapped (manly) stories, and in the morning, I made waffles. Thank you, girls, for making this Thanksgiving memorable for me!! Until next time! またね！

My lovely assistant, Mary

See, I let people do things..

Of course we all took photo stickers together because that's just what you do.

**Happy Birthday Samantha!! Miss you!

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New Vocabulary:
~サンクスギビング   san-ku-su-gee-been-goo   Thanksgiving
~包丁  hoe-oo-cho-oo   Kitchen knife
~友達   toe-moe-dah-chi    friend