the chapanese chapters.: hello, 2012.

(disclaimer: I wrote this back in January, but never posted. :) hope you are still having a happy 2012!) 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...where will you spend the countdown and ring in the new year? I feel like that is a big question surrounding the holidays right behind "what do you want for Christmas?" We had spent the last two years in downtown Tokyo ringing in the new year in swanky techno clubs and nice hotels and feeling...well...a little too old to that this year. :)

We decided to stay closer to home and go to our Officers Club (equivalent to a country club-ish minus the golf course or swimming pool) here on base with some other friends. This new years I came to a new revelation - you can bring the par-taay with you anywhere you go (it's called an iphone.) Without the help of our posse the O-club would have been a very lame sauce place to spend NYE. I like to think of it as we single handedly saved New Years...sounds a little prideful? well it was truly a New Years miracle. There were a few mishaps for the O-club's music/DJ this year. About an hour into us being there the little Japanese band was done playing and we quickly realized there was no DJ (the ones they had lined up were TDY or deployed, the price you pay living on a military base) and we were listening to a mixed tape...ok maybe it was a mixed CD but it was pretty bad. I like to call myself the "first responder." I was first on the scene to notice this predicament and start CPR. I knew that we had tons of people with iphones w/ music on them and ipods on the scene so I began looking for a cable or a wire or something that I could recognize. If you know me, you know that I have no skill whatsoever with electronic gadgets, the cords, buttons or outlets that are included on them. (This has been passed down to me from my mother.) I'm doing good to be able to check my email, and facebook. But nevertheless, NYE was on the line and I needed to find an outlet for our tunes to be played thru. So, I found a cord that looked kinda right and then started calling boys that seemed a little nerdier (kidding!) than me to help. I like to refer to them as "EMT." They came, rallied, took over and played the tunes that rang us and danced us into a New Year that was one for the books. We had a great time with our Yokota Family. When life gives you a mixed CD make an ipod work. It's all about perspective, you can be miserable and lame anywhere or you can make it fun and un-lame. (I made that up, be impressed.) Save your 2012 and choose to make it un-lame! Happy New Year! May God bless and keep you in 2012! some of my Yokota sisters!!