We caught a whiff of potential disaster again during the gift exchange. Everyone had been instructed to purchase a tacky gift from the 100 yen ($1) store, which A. and I had faithfully done. The Japanese contingent, however, arrived with tastefully wrapped gift sets from Starbucks and Tokyu Hands (think Target, except more expensive). With fear in our eyes, A. and I watched the recipient of a 100 yen package that contained strange slutty Barbie thing. Her eyes lit up and a tiny gasp escaped her lips. "Baaaaaaaaaaaarbie!" she shrieked. "Sugoi!" (terrific!), shouted the rest of the room. A. got my 100 yen package of Christmas lights for her 100 yen plastic Christmas tree and I came away with a solar-powered Donald Duck whose head sways hypnotically back and forth. All was well.
The whole post is hilarious, though -- go read it here
