Thanksgiving Dinner - November 23rd

As none of us have a chance to go back home for thanksgiving (it's not really a holiday anywhere other than America or Canada), Takako has arranged for a thanksgiving banquet at the New Sanno hotel, a ritzy hotel near Ebisu. The catch is that it's somehow tied to the military, so only people with military IDs and their guests are allowed onto the premises. Fortunately, Lindsey is a military dependant, and became the escort for the entire CSU group.

I jumped on the Oedo line near my house at what I thought was the appropriate time, but instead of "ten to twenty minutes" like I was told, it took damn near 45 to get there! I finally arrived and Hans, James, and Takako were the only ones by the exit, as everyone had already gone to the hotel. Although I was late, I was not last; Micah and Heather were even further behind schedule than I was, but neither of them ended up coming at all. So I was last.

We walked to the hotel, which was a surprising distance from the station, and met Lindsey by the gate, as she had to confirm that we were her guests. We flashed our passports to the guards, and walked through the courtyard into the main lobby where everyone was gathered. The crowd was choking traffic through the lobby, so a few of us broke off to check out the stores inside the hotel. They all take (only) American money, so I brought all of my five dollars with me. I didn't end up buying anything, but most of the others did. I got a great photo of Toru trying to figure out just what maxi-pads were.

We got into the banquet hall and took our seats. The spread was impressive. Really impressive. A varied and fine selection indeed, and I've worked at some pretty fancy weddings. Bob was determined to stuff himself with as much food as humanly possible, and quickly got to work. I took a slower approach, but was eating pretty voraciously. We took occasional breaks to chat and take photos, before returning to the bounty before us.

At some point, it was made known to me that Akebono, the former Sumo yokozuna-turned-K1 trainer was eating at a table across the room. At first I didn't believe what I was being told, so Ayaka dragged me across the room to point out the mountain of a man. He was surrounded by other large men, but he towered above them all, even in his seat. I couldn't bring myself to go confront him and ask for a photo or anything, so I went back to mull over my own pile of turkey. Finally mustering up the courage to confront a bonafide celebrity, I traversed the dunes of shafers with Ayaka and Yukako in tow, but we were shocked to see that he had already left! I was shocked by how quickly a sumo wrestler could leave a banquet... Dejected, we returned to our seats, content in the fact that we'd soon look like the yokozuna ourselves.

Towards the end of the evening, Takako introduced me to an American named Eric who had come to Japan in the same program 11 years ago, met his wife, settled down and had three children (all of whom he brought with him to the dinner!) it was really interesting to hear about how his experiences in Japan changed the course of his life, and blessed him with a lovely family. Meeting Eric made me wonder about my own future; where will Japan fit into my life in the upcoming decades? Just what am I going to do with myself? I suddenly find myself filled with anxiety about what lays ahead.