MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2007
The most important thing I learned from the planning of Alli's surprise birthday party is that I probably don't have a future in the CIA. The plot almost fell apart on several occasions. I had a very difficult time getting our friends Gabe and Stephanie to lie effectively. I have no doubt that I wouldn't have had the same problem had I planned this in DC with our friends who work in politics. The first step required to trick Alli was to convince her that the plans were somebody else's idea. I asked Stephanie to tell Alli that she and Gabe wanted to take her out for her birthday to a bar we've been to many times. Instead of calling Alli, Steph sent her an email because she was afraid she couldn't pull off the dishonesty over the phone. I later informed Steph that Alli lets emails sit in her inbox for weeks. That required me to just tell Alli that Gabe and Steph wanted to take her out. Later it was Gabe's turn to help me. While Alli was in the room, I took a call from a friend who wanted to tell me that he couldn't make it to the party. I had to think of a quick lie when Alli asked who it was, so I told her it was Gabe calling to say that we might have to meet a little later. In order to keep the plans on track, I then snuck downstairs and asked Gabe to call Alli to tell her that the original time would be fine. He then proceeded to call MY cell phone to leave a message for ME! Why, Gabe, why?
Earlier in the week our friend, Ann, from Kitasato University decided to give me a heart attack. After telling her that I was throwing a SURPRISE party, Ann decided to call me relentlessly without just leaving a message. When I didn't pick up my phone while driving with Alli in the car, Ann thought to herself, "Hmmm, what should I do next? I know, I'll call Alli to let her know that I can't make it to her surprise birthday party." Fortunately, Ann's lack of patience led her to give up the call to Alli after just a couple of rings.
When it was finally time to go to Yoronotake, the bar in which I was throwing the party, everything went smoothly. We didn't run into anybody on our way into the bar and Alli was genuinely surprised and more than a little confused when she first saw everybody. About 25 of our ALT and Japanese friends showed up from all over Iwate. After the party, we packed about a dozen extra people on every inch of floor space in our apartment.
Here are some of the highlights of the party at the bar and the obligatory karaoke session that followed:
happy?
And as an added bonus, check out the slideshow of my birthday presents:
Alli's Surprise 30th Birthday Party
