Kurisumasu in Japan

In case you didn't know, the Japanese love them some Christmas. It's not a religious holiday over here of course, but a secular one. One of my teachers explained to me how they celebrate Christmas and New Years as the opposite to how they are celebrated in America. For Christmas day they go out and party, and for New Year's, they stay inside and celebrate with family. New Year's is much more spiritual. All the super markets and department stores have Christmas decorations everywhere, and playing Christmas music. Some of the music are the old classics in English, but some are in Japanese. One store has a Japanese version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town playing on a continuous loop. It's all in Japanese, except for the chorus of "Santa Claus is coming to town" and for some reason they throw in a random "merry Christmas" here and there. I have also heard a Japanese Jingle Bells that was similar.

Last week sometime, a friend of ours invited us to a Japanese Christmas party in Kashima put on by the Rotary Club. Yes they have Rotary Clubs. We were pretty nervous, as we didn't know what to expect, and we are both naturally shy when it comes to the unknown, but part of the reason for this whole trip was to do something out of my comfort zone, so we decided to do it. We went to the hotel where it was being held (pretty big for the area) and pushed open the large double doors into the large banquet room. We knew we were a little late, so what would await us on the inside? A lot of Japanese people silently eating, then looking up to see why three foreigners (including our friend) had interrupted them? Naw, not exactly. It was much like I imagine something like that would be in America. A buffet of Japanese and Western foods, and many tables scattered around filled by Japanese people having a grand time, and someone playing Disney favorites on the piano. We got some food and sat down to eat with friends of our friend, and had a good time. At some point, they started having kids play musical chairs for prizes. First, really young kids, then older elementary school aged, then Junior and High school. After that they asked for parents to come up. I laughed and remarked to Tessa that we would (thankfully) not be playing since we didn't qualify. But I was wrong. The slightly tipsy Japanese emcee dragged me up there anyway much to Tessa's delight and my chagrin. Out of like 15 adults, I got second place somehow (with Tessa giggling all the way), and won a box of snack things. Afterward, a random old Japanese man vigorously shook my hand and thanked me for playing. Thankfully, there is justice in this world, as they had another round of musical chairs for adults and dragged Tessa up there. She got FIRST PLACE and won a larger box of snacks. Later in the night they had some kind of raffle and ended up with some nice flowers, and a giant bag of rice (about 30 pounds) that the winner didn't want. It was a really fun night.

We're getting close to Christmas and our winter holiday here. We have to work Monday and Tuesday, then have Wednesday off (national holiday for the Emperor's birthday), then back to school on Christmas eve (what's the point?). We have Dec. 25th through Jan. 11th off, though Tessa has to go back for one day on Jan. 8th for some reason. We love and miss you all. Happy holidays!!!