Surprise party

It just so happens that there are three birthdays in January back to back to back.  Mary’s is the 13th, Justine’s is the 15th, and Ian’s is the 17th.  For the LONGEST time, I’ve wanted to blab to someone back home that me, Amanda, and Melissa B. have been working hard to plan a surprise party for them.  BUT I NEVER COULD!  I generally talk to people at home on skype, and when I talk to people on there, Ian is generally right beside me or very close by.  I couldn’t write anything on here for obvious reason, but now I can tell ALLLLLLL about it!  Yay!

First of all, our circle of friends over here is pretty tightly knit, so it was difficult to keep a secret….ESPECIALLY FROM IAN!  Amanda, Melissa B., and I mainly communicated through email.  There was one time when Ian picked up my phone thinking that it was his and started checking “his” email.  I immediately flipped out and snatched the phone away, which led him to be suspicious.  I told him that yes, there was a surprise and to NOT check my email, but I wasn’t saying anything else.  Amanda, Melissa, and I decided to have a nabe (delicious HOT Japanese soup) and fondue party.

Setting the stage was easy.  Melissa B. asked Ian to come over and fix her computer.  Justine and Mary were with us at the time, so she invited them as well.  I told Justine that we would pick her up since it was on the way.  Mary lives on the other side of Hitoyoshi, so getting her to arrive at the same time was a bit of a challenge.  However, since she and her boyfriend, Hiro, are fluent in Japanese, I asked if they would meet us in Hitoyoshi to go look at Ian’s potential work place before heading over to Melissa’s.   

I spent a large part of Saturday texting people back and forth confirming last minute details.  Amanda and Melissa were meeting up earlier in the day to buy decorations and food for our nabe.  I was in charge of getting things for the fondue.  Ian stayed up half the night and therefore slept half of the afternoon, which was actually a really good thing because it allowed me to load up the car and carry out the fondue AND nabe pot without being detected.  I was also able to go to the grocery store and buy fruit without having to make up an excuse for doing so. 

We left around 4:30 so that we had time to pick up Justine and run a few errands in Hitoyoshi before the party.  Everyone was supposed to get to Melissa B.’s at 6, and we would arrive at 6:30.  After our errands, we met up with Mary and her boyfriend, Hiro.  The plan was to caravan together to Melissa’s house, but we got separated in traffic.  Mary arrived a few minutes before we did.  Everyone had parked their cars in a field, so none of the birthday people saw them.  Melissa greeted us at the door, and just as we were taking off our coats and getting settled in, everyone rushed in from the back room yelling “SURPRISE!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”  It was fabulous!!!  After all of the planning and secret-keeping, that one moment of surprise on Mary, Justine, and Ian’s face made it allllllll worth it!

Everyone had a great time that night.  We had the most RANDOM conversations.  That was the first time we had all been together since before Winter Break began, so we had a LOT of catching up to do.

That’s all for this blog.  Today is actually Mr. Ian’s birthday, so I’m sure that I’ll have more to write about tomorrow.  I have to tell you guys what I got him.  hahahahahahahaha!!!!