メリ クリマス

I've taken to writing entries sitting alone in the Brazilian restaurant I've come to love as one of my family. Writing and eating alone on Christmas should be reserved for psychopaths or...I don't know, Jews? I've worked on Christmas before but never having to miss a family get together. The feeling of working on Christmas was the same to me as it was in America. Something is always happening and there is a certain level of busyness but everything feels slow and mildly depressing. It's comforting to think that people at home are likely asleep for most of my Christmas. I suppose I shouldn't come off like I am the biggest Christmas freak. Like everyone else, I enjoy being with family and friends - but the actual holiday doesn't really mean all that much to me. I suppose I could say it's too commercialized...I mean, it is but that doesn't really affect me much. Let's see, it's usually more of a stress than it is a relief. Again, my family is small and not too focused on gifts, so I can't use that either. Ok, so I don't have a reason for lacking Christmas sentimentality - but I do.

All told, I miss the Christmas season and being able to see the family together, but I signed up for this so it's not a complaint. My one and only complaint of the day was that I had a four year old student say "Merry Christmas" before any co-worker (aside from Jacqui) did. I got to talk with Jeff this morning and he thought it unfair that we don't have Christmas off. Now I don't believe our school should be closed - Japan doesn't celebrate Christmas traditionally so I saw no purpose for that...but our co-workers know we celebrate Christmas, they know when it is, they know enough to make us plan Christmas themed lessons but not enough to give us the happy wishes.

It's a little unorthodox here...Christmas is everywhere. Lights are up all over town, Christmas music blasts in every store, red and green adorn all types of decoration and there are signs wishing everyone a "Happy Fun Time Xmas" (and the like) but I have not figured out why. I've asked my Japanese friends and I've asked my students and I still really don't know why they're "celebrating" a Western holiday. The reason I put quotes around 'celebrating' is that all the people do is eat cake and give their kids a present. Being a little more sociological, I don't think it varies too much from America. Most Americans don't really celebrate Christmas for its intended purposes - they do so to see their families or pretend to be Christian again for one of two days a year. I feel like this entry is bordering on cynical - and I don't mean it to be so I'll move on.

This weekend, a bunch of friends and I gathered at Mike's house for a Christmas party called "Otsukaresecretsanta". "Otsukaresamadeshita" is the Japanese way to thank someone for their hard work, so we made a play on that. Our party was the second in a line of gaikokujin parties - the first was ArigatoGiving. A lot of the same faces appeared this weekend but we also cycled in a new batch. Mike mainly organized our gift-giving activities. We did a white-elephant 100 Yen gift exchange - which turned out to be much more entertaining than the regular gift exchange. Everyone vied for and eventually lost out on (to me!!) a mysterious gift within many balls of newspaper. Once my friend, Chieko (my official card-holder/present opener) finally got to the middle, we found a little dog nose/tongue mask. It served itself well in pictures and again in school this week.

I was given my friend, Shuko, in the gift exchange. Having known her all of a week and, therefore, knowing nothing...I just went to Kobe and spent about twice the limit because I didn't want to waste time finding something she might not like but fit the spending guidelines. The Body Shop translates cross-culturally I've learned! Easily the most enjoyable part of the night were Chieko's drunken antics. She came to the party having already began her alcohol adventure and wine just about did her in. One second she was sipping on coffee, the next she was passed out kneeling and hunched over a chair. After taking obligatory photos putting a Santa costume on her, we decided to get her to a bed. The process included...propping her up with her arms on peoples' shoulders - nope, she was still passed out, couldn't walk. So I threw her over my shoulder (thank you tiny Japanese girls) and carried her to bed, put her down and effectively wrapped her in a blanket as if she was a Japanese burrito. Something must've gone wrong because as we all exited the room, she fell off the bed and onto the ground. Let me tell you, she may be a little Japanese girl but dead-lifting anyone is difficult. Finally we got her to remain stable in bed - and, miraculously, she slept through all of this and remembered none of it. She woke about an hour later and rallied. Well done Chieko! If you know anything about my Japanese life, you know how this night ended.

What's coming up - ohh...BREAK! Even though I will be doing absolutely nothing for the first half of it, it's just about the right time. A week off from the kids is going to make me much less likely to throw one out a window when I return. And, on the 2nd, Gino is coming!! Even though he's only staying for a few days, I cannot wait. It's a little stressful to try planning for Gino - he gives me absolutely no ideas about what he might want to do - basically, it'd be like me coming to visit someone. I am happy doing pretty much whatever that doesn't involve discomfort, so I'll approach it that way! It's somewhere around 75 days until Becky comes! Becky, on the other hand, has spreadsheets and things broken out by time and activity. This is much easier for me because I show up, give her a place to stay, pretend to be a tour guide and fumble through remedial Japanese to impress her. We're going to Okinawa - you may remember my plan to re-enact The Karate Kid 3 - but another fabulous reason to go to Okinawa is that there are four Taco Bells there. My only hope is that they're not closed to the public because they're on American military bases. I'll present whatever form of ID I need to to run for the border again. The only remaining issue with Becky and my parents' visits is that, even though I trust them both, they have not booked yet so I refuse to totally believe either trip. In late April, my parents say they're coming - and then Dave/Scott/Andy/Aubrey come! I am going to have to go through another strenuous ordeal to get days off for their trip but it's all worth it. Alright, my Christmas dinner is about over and I don't want to be the loser that just sits in an empty restaurant hacking away on a laptop so I'll sign out, go home and put some pictures on here for you.

Merry Christmas to everyone and I can't wait to see and talk to you!

Mom, I am wearing the bitchin tie you sent me! It amused more adults than it did children but that's ok!