Prom

I never went to prom in high school - it was an American tradition I never quite caught. I was given another chance this weekend, though, as another English teacher in Himeji organized a Himeji Prom.
This one had a little twist, though: we were supposed to wear "tacky" formal clothes. Fortunately I had my Humphrey Bogart tie, which most people agreed was an appropriate level of tack. And Chelsey had wondered why I bothered to bring it to Japan! I found a cheap hat at the 100 Yen ($1) store and I was ready to go.
Chelsey decided to make her own outfit - out of duct tape. She found some sparkly tape for the front of her shirt. The back was originally black, but the fumes from the glue were making her sick, so we had to strip those off. After her original idea for a skirt didn't work out, she matched the shirt with some shiny pants that she got in Cambodia. They're actually nice pants and might not have been quite tacky enough for this event, but it was a good effort.
Chelsey also made us matching a matching corsage/boutonniere with some fake flowers. Classy.
We didn't end up winning any of the awards at prom, but we had a good time dancing for a couple of hours.
-Jason