1pm - I finish making the cardboard star to put on top of the Christmas tree. This stupid star has taken me about an hour. But it turned out well. After spending another 10 minutes deciding at what angle I should place the star, I climb down from the ladder and start putting the little star-shaped GelGems on the windows.
2pm - An hour before the party starts. My mom begins to panic. The meatloaf is still not fully cooked, she has not showered, the cardboard star I spent an eternity making has fallen off the tree, and there is a large spot on the floor in the living room that is extremely slippery. While I tie the star to the top of the tree, my dad decides to solve the slippery-floor problem by unsticking the GelGems from the window and sticking them to the floor. His argument is that the GelGems will make people aware of the floor and get them to be more cautious........No comment.
2:50 pm - The first guests arrive. Of course, my mom is nowhere near ready. She is in her bathrobe. My dad and I are left to entertain Mayumi-san and her son, Shota (my age). My dad gets really awkward because he is not a very sociable person towards people he's not close with, and I was kinda in the middle of scooping all the crap off the floor of my room and into the closet. Plus I have yet to decide what to wear - although there isn't much to think about, because I own no party-worthy clothing. So I leave my dad to serve the guests drinks, and I go get changed. When I come out, Mom looks me over and asks, "Don't you have anything more holiday-ish?" So I go back into my room and don my Santa hat. There.
3pm - Okay, more people come in. Mom assigns me the job of "mashed-potato-maker". And no, they're not real mashed potatoes. I open the box of powdered mashed potatoes and start pouring in hot water, just as one of my best friends at school, Hibiki, arrives and saves me from all the exclamations of "You've gotten so grown-up!" and "You're taller than me now, I think" (uhh yeah Japanese people are uber short). Thank God. Hibiki's mom and my mom are total biffers. No joke. It's actually kind of disturbing.
3:10 pm - Hibiki and I are sent out to buy bread. I am wearing my Santa hat and my ridiculously bright red jacket, so I get a lot of weird looks. I forget that Tokyo doesn't have as many crazy people as Manhattan does. We buy 3 baguettes and a roll of some sort of pumpkin bread. Hibiki insists on carrying the baguette bag home, because it makes her feel French. Hahahahah. Well actually, to her credit, she does look extremely classy in her heels and general party attire. And I'm the bright red Santa wearing jeans and a pair of Converses next to her. Woo!
3:20~7 pm - General merriment. Other than Hibiki and Shota, there are two other guys I've known since I was little - Takuji and Dai-chan. Takuji is the ladies' man; funny, cool, easy to talk to. Dai-chan is more serious, but he's still very nice. Anyway. One of my dad's friends brought his three kids with him, Ben (9), Uta (7) and Aya-chan (3). They are ridiculously cute. Ridiculously. And they're all weirdly smart, too. Seriously, if they weren't over 7 years younger than me, I think I'd be really intimidated. We discover their seemingly unlimited intelligence while playing various card and board games. They can pick up games instantly, and even Aya-chan, the youngest, is able to contribute. Aya-chan is assigned the position of dealer during our game of SET (which both Ben and Uta can play perfectly. Good lord), and she can look at the cards already put out and know immediately how many more she has to deal. And she's such a sweetie, too - always the first to start cleaning up when the game ends. We also play the aMAZEing Labyrinth (a maze/puzzle, obviously), and Uta appears to be the smartest of us all - finding paths and solutions that nobody else can even imagine.
8 pm - Secret Santa! Mom has arranged the $10 gifts everyone has brought under the tree. We pick numbers from a hat, and grab the gift corresponding to the number. I pity whoever gets my edamame plant...
8:30 pm - As the young'ns start to get sleepy, the party gradually deteriorates. Everyone is busy saying goodbyes. Most of the guests have left when I spot my edamame plant abandoned on the coffee table. Hardy har har. I give it to a very eager and grateful Uta.
8:45 ~ 9:45 pm - As usual, Hibiki and her mom are the last ones left so we all hang out on the couch, chatting and eating ice cream. Then Mom brings out the fitness ball to demonstrate the latest exercises she's learned at the gym. Knowing this can get pretty ugly, Hibiki and I escape to my room to play a round of Catchphrase (yes, I brought it across the world with me).
10 pm - Hibiki and her mom leave. My parents and I are exhausted, so we all just collapse into bed. It finally feels like Christmas! Other than the fact that we can't leave gifts containing chocolate under the tree, because the floor-heater makes everything melt. :D
1 comment:
you are uber cute. but really:
"They can pick up games instantly, and even Aya-chan, the youngest, is able to contribute."
what happened to my lovely, slangin' pumfer?
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