In Review: Thanksgiving Break, 2008 (part 1)

I spent Thanksgiving Break in Tokyo. Roaming the streets and alleys of several Tokyo neighborhoods, browsing their shops, and sampling their eating establishments triggered memories of past Thanksgiving Breaks whiled away in other world cities: Zermatt, Vienna, Paris, and London…Paris and London multiple times.

Actually, Jennell and I did not know for sure we had a room at The New Sanno—a four-star hotel in Tokyo for US military and DoD employees stationed in Japan—until the week before Thanksgiving. Caroline and Michael Valenzuela, who teach at the middle school, had reserved rooms a year ago (which is what one does—the hotel allows reservations to be booked up to one year ahead—if one wants a room at key times). They have friends in Seoul who originally planned to travel to Tokyo for the break but ended up not doing so. Michael, who teaches science across the hall from me, and Caroline, who was my sponsor when I first arrived in Japan, offered their other reserved room to Jennell and me. Hmmm…Thanksgiving at the mess hall on base and a possible jaunt to the spa in Enoshima or Tokyo. We said yes to Tokyo!

Jennell, who moved to the elementary school this year to teach 5th grade, swung by the middle school to pick me up right after school on Wednesday. Transportation plan: Jennell drives, furnishing car and gas; I ride, navigate, and pay the tolls—almost $25 one way for maybe 45 miles. Meanwhile, the Valenzuelas would take the train after Caroline’s afternoon pedicure appointment, and we would all drive back together. Once we checked into our room, Jennell and I sated our desire for Mexican cuisine and then headed to the area that we gaigin refer to as the international market. Jennell had never been there before, so I played the guide. We dawdled in a book store that carries books in English and from there perused the aisles of the “international” grocery store selling goods from the USA, Australia, and Europe—such as a box of Hamburger Helper for about $5 or a Ritter Sport chocolate bar for about $3. Our meanderings culminated in the Christmas tree lot where waist-high trees cost $100 and the traditional full-size ones wore tags advertising purchase prices of $400+. The pine-scented aroma throughout the lot was truly divine but failed to inspire even an inkling of possibility to purchase.

The New Sanno presents an amazing Thanksgiving Buffet. If one will not be eating around the dining table of friends or family, it rates as quite a delectable runner-up. Caroline reserved a table for nine of us: the Valenzuelas, Chris and Mimi Wichart, the Hickey Family (Chey, Kurt, and Julia), and Jennell and me. All of us except Julia—who is a high school sophomore—teach, or did teach, at the middle school; Kurt, like Jennell, has moved on, but he teaches at the high school. Elegantly arrayed, the buffet tables held quite the range of feasting options, traditional to Asian: roast turkey, prime rib, and ham to dim sum, sushi, and sashimi; pumpkin pie to shoo fly pie to cheese cake to ice cream sundaes. Almost everything measured up to the most exacting tastes of holiday tradition, even the mashed potatoes. Only the stuffing failed to satisfy, but maybe that’s because only one’s own mother knows how to make stuffing right!

Two hours later we staggered away from the table fully laden. Since Caroline could only get an 11:30am table reservation for all of us at the Thanksgiving Buffet, we had most of an afternoon still before us. The men chose to engage in traditional holiday lounging and napping despite the dearth of football games available for viewing. Since Japan is across the International Dateline, Thanksgiving football games don’t show up on the TV schedule until early Friday morning. The women headed out to Shibuya, a famous Tokyo shopping district.

I am ambivalent about shopping, and Jennell is downright apathetic. (We both carry books when we go shopping with “a group” because we tend to weary of the activity long before “the group.”) However, neither Jennell nor I had ever been to Shibuya, and such an expedition with Mimi, Caroline, and Chey—Tokyo connoisseurs and expert shoppers—as guides could be way fun.

We happily squandered an inordinate amount of time in a store called Frank Frank, a place with everything you never knew you needed—or desired—for the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, stuff just oozing swanky European design and eye-popping colors. Oh yeah, some items included a scent factor as well, so we indulged in aroma therapy too. From Frank Frank we wandered into Tokyu Hands (I was the only one who had never been in one of these stores before), perhaps a place with merchandise for the poorer, more pragmatic and practical shopper, but in Japan, even these kinds of stores overwhelm me with their options and possibilities for sale.

Shibuya has a Krispy Kreme, one of the two or three of this establishment that has recently opened in Tokyo. Only Jennell and I believed enough time had elapsed since Thanksgiving dinner to be able to eat one. Man oh man, was it melt-in-your-mouth good—warm and fresh from the doughnut making machine!

At first we thought we’d taxi it back to the hotel, but we found a bus before we found a taxi, and Mimi and Caroline thought they could figure out where we needed to get off. We met the guys at a table in the hotel bar—how did we ever arrange a rendezvous before cell phones—where we talked and laughed away the evening over drinks and appetizers. The ladies, except for Jennell (who doesn’t drink either) and me, tried out this drink recommended by Mimi, a kirsch royale…or something like that. It was a pretty drink, and I guess they liked it because they each drank three apiece as the evening unfolded. When we began dispersing just before eleven and requested our tab, the bar bill totaled a figure capable of stunning even the most experienced in the bar scene. Evidently those kirsch royales came in at a price with amazing heft for such pretty elegance. As I nursed only one Diet Coke and then ice water for the entire evening, I was not privy to the exact amount of the bill. It was a fun evening, but I suppose it came with a price!

At the middle school, Chris teaches various shop classes and Mimi teaches art. I hardly ever see them because their classrooms are located on the opposite side of the building from mine, and, if truth be told, before this Thanksgiving we were only nodding acquaintances. Monday morning back at school, Chris sent me an e-mail inviting me to their Christmas party. I guess I passed muster…and I guess Chris and Mimi passed “my muster” also because I really do like them. Both are artsy personalities—met in college in Colorado and then did grad school in NYC—but Chris especially is way out of the box in perspectives and fun. However, I sent my regrets regarding the party invite; it will be Friday night, December 19, and I leave for Sri Lanka on Saturday, December 20.