Recently I was asked to send a tribute for a friend’s birthday celebration. I went through and found some fun old photos from when she and I both worked in Asian Access’ U.S. office. They are good memories of a few of the great friends who have been part of our lives….and put up with some of my bizarre ideas. For those of you who know some current and former staff – I thought you, too, might get a few chuckles from these photos and brief stories. (For some reason some of the scanned photos can only be viewed as thumbnails- sorry).

Here are some of the Asian Access staff who enjoyed working together in the mid-90s:

Here are our good friends Peter and Wendi- Wendi hasn’t changed a bit!

Alene and I… I’ve done a few good “facial massages” in my time… convincing innocent suspects that I have taken facial massage classes; they beg me to give them one…not realizing that my fingers are coated with lipstick. Here, friends got revenge on me!

Truly one of my favorite photos – Tim, Jeff, and Reiko in Santa Barbara…they tried to see who could find the best outfits for the cheapest price at thrift stores. Hard to say who won?

One of my favorite parties – a surprise Dating Game party for our friend Reiko! We had three guys from Fuller behind a curtain and the winner got – a date with Reiko! The night of their date, we taught the winner, our friend Jay, how to say “You look really nice tonight” in Japanese. Only somehow we ended up teaching him in japanese, “you are a beautiful horse”. Reiko was rather surprised by this first greeting! (They had a nice first date, but no romance. Reiko did just fine on her own, and now is happily married to Jack).

A staff retreat:

My first year living in Pasadena and a new student at Fuller Seminary, I got a bad case of mono. My sister Allison flew to LA to nurse me back to health, and good Asian Access friends were kind enough to bring Thanksgiving dinner over to us. Alene made her famous southern, deep-fried turkey; Allison will always be remembered for her corn pudding. Following my typed recipe exactly, she added 1 TABLESPOON of salt instead of a Teaspoon!

And, one of my favorite Pasadena memories was a Polyester Prom party my roommate Mary and several Fuller friends hosted. The costumes were great – Mary is so sad that she no longer has that quilted red, white, and blue maxi dress!

Now some of us are back in Japan; some are still in the U.S.; one friend is in China… but I remain thankful for the rich bonds of friendship that exist through Asian Access.