On the 19th, we had a Christmas Party at work. It was pretty fun. Actually, the reason we had it is a bit interesting — July is a tough month for getting new students, and we managed to get one at the beginning of the month; as it turns out the reason she joined was because she heard we have really great drinking parties. So we decided to have a party (secretly) for her sake. The manager asked me to come up with a good theme, and seeing as it was too short notice for a 4th of July Party, I went with the only other option available this month: Christmas in July. At first nobody believed me that it was a real thing, but luckily I pulled up Wikipedia on the computer and proved them all wrong (Booyeah!), but I had to prove the same way to almost every student. Eventually, instead of going into a long description about why we have Christmas in July and being met with confused stares, I just started telling everyone the short truth — it’s a marketing scam. That was easy to accept for the students, as virtually every holiday in Japan is either a merketing scam or just an excuse for a day off.

So we asked everyone to being a 500 yen gift, and I wore a Santa hat and cape… I also drew a really crappy poster that everyone fawned over… I felt like I was back in high school, recieving twice the credit I deserved for a project I half-assed. The biggest snare came up when the girl who was the whole reason behind the party wasn’t sure if she could come because she had to ask her husband… so I told her to bring him too, and she finally agreed. Anyway, it turned out to be a big hit, and it was the biggest party we’ve had at tiny little Takefu AEON, topping 23 people! Whoo!

Next month we have another party — a summer vacation BBQ — which is also incredibly short notice. So for that matter I’ve had to construct a very compelling poster that will convince people to sign up quickly before the event. I’m emplyong a power theme that is sure to work, but should only be used in true emergencies: dinosaurs. Dinosaurs riding kayaks, dinosaurs barbecueing, dinosaurs riding on grass sleds… It’s going to be a long shot filling up slots as it’s summer vacation and many people already have plans, but if cartoon dinosaurs can’t bring them in, then nothing can!