BuzzBQ and Bye-Bye Blue Corn

Sunday was our third, and likely last, BuzzBQ. It's always held at this tiny little hard-to-find park in Yokohama (I know it's hard to find, because anyone who hadn't been there before sent me dozens of texts saying they couldn't find it). Anyway, it's right by the water and mostly in the shade, so it was the perfect place on a really hot day. It was also the BuzzBQ with the highest attendance ever. It might have had something to do with the fact that there would be Yokohama fireworks in the evening. Like they were just for us. Yokohama saying goodbye. Not, not really, they do it every year. But the entire usual Buzz crew was there, plus my gaijin friends. And more kinds than just ours, for once, including some new babies! There were vast quantities of food and drink (that kept needing to be replenished due to the high volume of guests), music, sports, and the fireworks. It was a wonderful party, and I'm sure Macky was very pleased.









































































































































































By the way, the last few pics are Walter's; I stole them from his facebook album. If some of you latecomers are wondering why there are no pictures of you, it's because I was sick of taking pictures by the time you showed up. And then it got dark. I probably should've. Oh, well, I'll get you Saturday.

After, a few of us went to the Blue Corn. Kevin's parents were there. They seemed like nice people. They had the front open, so we got to do our drinking in the open air, which was nice. After a while (Kevin wasn't feeling great: might've been the Jager), it ended up just Cynthia, Osamu, and me, and a deck of cards. That was kind of surreal, sitting outside, playing cards, drinking Maker's, watching the dawn arrive, knowing that when I left, it would be forever (maybe). I drew it out as long as possible. When we were the only customers left, Susan came and joined us, and we taught him how to play rummy. Then Takeshi and the other guy, who's name escapes me at the moment, also joined us. Takeshi and Susan both took pictures of all my tattoos for some reason, and we did group pictures on 4 different cameras. With the Cowboy/Indian. Takeshi, who I am sure was close to tears, dumped a margarita glass full of Blue Corn matchbooks in my bag. Hugs all around. It was 7 am and I was really tired, but it was kind of hard to leave. That place was a comfort-zone for me in a place where I feel like I don't fit in. Thanks, Blue Corn staff. And thanks to Helen for bringing me there.















The rest of the week is booked up with various social and logistical events. The big one is Saturday night: Buzz Attitude and house party. Man, it's going fast.