A Daily Dose of Metros: Bazaar. New Sanno. Baby Showers.

When you first arrive at Yokota, everyone says to you, "Oh, your time here... it'll just fly by!" You smile and nod because "yeah, sure." You're willing to listen, but you DON'T. Get. It.

But now? NOW I understand. I really feel like it was only yesterday that I was hanging my head over a toilet in the Seattle airport because I was so terrified to get on the plane and leave the country and family that I so love. But I did it. I got on the plane, I spent three years in Japan, and now that chapter in my adventure book has come to a close. It's weird.

Remember all of that crazy stuff that I did in March? Well when I wasn't attending fertility festivals or viewing cherry blossoms, I was working on the Officers' Spouses' Club ~~Bizarre~~. Bazaar.

Here's a daily conversation in the Metros' house:

George: What are you doing?

Me: Working on bazaar stuff.

George: What's so bizarre about it? ::giggle::

Me: ::glare::

A-nnoying. I'm pretty sure in 20 years, he'll still laugh at this joke.

I was the co-chair vendor liaison, dealing with roughly 50 vendors and companies that sold (mostly) Asian goods to the base population. I dealt with custom forms, trucking information, base security passes, how many tables each guy would get, who wants a bigger space, and on and on and on. And I LOVED it. It's the most stressful but rewarding time of the year. We raise tens of thousands of dollars for the Yokota community. It really is awesome. Some days I think I'll open my own event planning business. Other days, I'm glad I don't have to work that hard. :) The team I worked with though was wonderful, always going above and beyond. Plus, they made the weekend fun. I wish I had more pictures of this event, but here's one small one!

Guess what sweet husband of mine made us dinner reservations at the New Sanno Spring Escoffier Dinner the same night as the bazaar? Yep. George. It added a little stress getting out of the bazaar early on Saturday, and having to be back early on Sunday morning, but it turned out to be a great way to spend some time with some super fun friends before leaving Japan a few weeks from now. Thanks to the awesome bazaar committee for covering for me! Y'all rock!

Brad, Katie, George, Me, Kristi, Chance, Jessica and Kate. We sure are going to miss dressing up like this when we move to Abilene, Texas!

In case I hadn't gotten my fill of the New Sanno Hotel (I hadn't). My culture club also did an overnight trip there shortly after the Escoffier Dinner. I've spent a lot of time there over the past three years, attending my college graduation there, took my parents there, numerous Beatles shows, Escoffier dinners, etc. It's always a good time, so we hosted our Japanese friends there! But first, they took us to Odaiba! I had never been! It's on the further side of Tokyo, and is basically a large shopping district, but it was my first time, so I was very excited to check it out! It was a rainy and windy day, and but we made the best of it by walking around their giant mall!

I LOVE the Engrish in Japan. It used to really bother me, so much so, that I considered (George said I couldn't really do it) walking around with a red sharpie and correcting the English grammar on all that was wrong.

Odaiba holds a depiction of the Statue of Liberty! I've never seen the real one, (even though I have been to NYC) so this was a good way to check it out.

Shigeko-San and myself at our fancy American style hibachi dinner! (News flash::: The Japanese hibachi grills you go to in America... don't even really exist over there... well I think they might, but they are not the standard!) Shigeko-san and I were the co-leaders of the whole YOSC Culture Club the previous year, so we really got to spend a lot of time together. Love her!

After our fancy dinner, some drinks in the lobby, we were off to bed, because we had to be up early to go to the Tsukiji Fish Market! I had been there once before when my parents came to visit (check out that post here) but we didn't make it there early enough for the famous tuna auction! We arrived at the check in point somewhere in the 3am hour! And we had to wait around til almost 5am for anything to happen, but if you don't get there early, you may not get in!

Here's me making a sleepy fishy face and having my coffee.

A tuna inspector!

So my friend KB (at Konversations with Kay, her blog is very entertaining, bt-dubs)and I have no less than 15 articles of clothing that are the same. American sized clothes are few and far between in Tokyo, so we would frequently wear the same things. I think we just have similar tastes in clothes anyways, but here we are being Sperry twinsies. What's a better shoe to wear to a fish market than boat shoes?

Oh. Rain boots. Rain boots would have been better.

He yelled at me shortly after for taking his picture.

Here I am with my fave Japanese ladies. Mitsuko-san, Shigeko-san and Midori-san. They are just the sweetest.

What else, what else? OH! Baby Showers. Ok, I am NOT kidding. In my three years at Yokota, I attended 21. Yes, TWENTY-ONE baby showers. People don't believe this, and so I finally made a list. And counted, and recounted. It's 21. That's 7 a year. Good grief. I love all of those mama's, and all of those babies! ALL of them!
Speaking of baby showers...

My friend Kate and I hosted a baby shower for our friend Melissa! Melissa lived in my building, and our husbands worked together. I spent the last two years dragging her to spouse events, and she spent the last two years making me watch scary things, like zombies, and batman. Overall, our friendship grew and grew and she truly became one of my most favorite and dearest friends. ever. I love that girl, and miss her so much! One thing we had in common was our love of breakfast. I think she loves it a little more than I do, and so Kate and I gave her a "B is for Breakfast... and Boy" themed shower!