Foreigners Celebrate Halloween

Last night, the Miyagi JET social group put on a big Halloween party. We rented large cabins where we could be loud and not have neighbors get upset by 9 pm. The people running the event decorated pretty well, including carving a pumpkin (Japan has pumpkins, but they're not orange) and putting up fake tombstones with with the names of things that have recently met their demise, such as a favorite Irish pub in Sendai and the Nova language school.

There were a lot of fun costumes. I went as bad Japanese fashion--wearing several layers including a dress over jeans, leg warmers (which are actually incredibly comfortable), and my hair in a small ponytail right in the front of my head.

I got a ride to the party with Dan. But when I got in his car, I found that it was being driven by Santa Claus (or Father Christmas, as Dan calls him). After we picked up Nathan, who had really greasy hair and a painted on skinny beard, we stopped in a convenience store. I can't imagine what the people working there were thinking.
Here's Santa with a Japanese junior high school student.

The cast of Clue was also there! They brought with them a real incredibly heavy wrench and a length of lead pipe. The knife and candlestick were fake.

Best costume of the night!

Here's a guy from the video game Streetfighter and a washed-up Harry Potter.

While it's awesome to have the opportunity to be living in Japan, it's very relaxing to occasionally hang out in a big group of foreigners. But lest you think this post will be completely free of Japanese tales, I will conclude with an 'only in Japan' tid-bit. We had a tin of Pringles. They were "Ethnic" flavor. Only in Japan can something taste like "ethnic."