Summer She-Go Fiesta!

It's been several months since our last She-go and we had several more Lady Samurai who needed to be named. So we gathered for a Japanese fiesta with a decadent spread of Mexican food and lots of yellow and blue desserts! This naming was a little different for me since I've already been named. The pressure was off so I got to kick-back, relax and enjoy telling tories about our friends. Our commander's wife has been giving each named lady a wine glass custom painted with their callsign so I enjoyed some yellow soda out of my "EMOJI" glass! Between that, the decorations and our kimonos, it was a very visually festive Samurai event!

A small portion of our delicious Mexican spread.

A few of the beautiful ladies hanging out in their kimonos.

After dinner, the formal portion of the evening began. We called roll, ensuring that every lady in the squadron was accounted for. This event was unique because we had a very diverse crowd. In addition to several 14th wives, we had a representative from the 13th, the Navy, an American civilian (one girl's mom was in town and bravely participated in the shenanigans), and two Japanese nationals! I love the fact that our squadron is so inclusive, even in our special squadron functions. As my friend Kendall said, "If you weren't invited to this, it's your own fault!"

The basic format for a naming is that the special namee sits in the hot seat and tells us a little bit about herself (with special prompting from our Mitress of Ceremonies, who also happens to be a lawyer.) Then everyone in the room is given an opportunity to come up to the front and tell funny stories about their friend. We write possible names up on a white board that are inspired by those stories. Then the namee presents the crowd with a bribe (either in the form of alcohol or a yummy dessert) to appease us and convince us to give them a name that they like. After some deliberation, we christen them with their new name!

For example, we named our new DO's wife Andrea first. This is actually their second tour in Misawa. Last time she and her husband were here, they asked a family member back home to mail them some special gluten free baking flour because the commissary didn't carry it at that time. But some spilled out of the packaging and so they totally shut down the postal service for fear that it was anthrax or some other chemical attack. Thus, we named her MARS for Mailed A Restricted Substance. =^)

Andrea is dubbed "MARS"

Andrea's bribe - a yellow and blue cake!

One of my favorite parts of the night was naming our Japanese friend Emiko. She has been hanging out with the Lady Samurai for years. In fact, she and Claire were very close while Jon and Claire were stationed here. We tend to view her as our Japanese grandma and shopping/Japanese travel extraordinaire. I'm not sure she really understood what to expect from a fighter pilot naming ceremony. Our "names" or call signs are just words that make an acronym relating to a funny story. But she was so excited to receive an English name like "Susan"! So we ended up naming her "MARIE" which stands for Makes Antique Runs In Excess. =^)



Me telling a story about my friend Laurie

Enjoying some suckers that were a part of Laurie's bribe

Me and my friend Kristina - our token Navy girl that we've adopted into our group

So much laughter!

By the end of the night we named 5 ladies (not including Emiko). Each one is unique and had too may funny stories told on them to relate them all here. Looking forward to our next naming sometime this fall!