Merry Christmas (Part 2)

Warning: This post treats Christmas like Valentines.

So my fourth Christmas in Japan rolls around (previous three being '04, '06-'07). Japanese don't do Christmas like Westerners do (though, if you think about it, do Westerners even do Christmas like Westerners "did"?). It's much harder to sucker parents into buying gifts for their kids when New Years (and it's gift-giving traditions) are just around the corner.
So JapaXmas takes its leaf from the other book of holiday marketing, and plays it up as a romantic occasion. As a friend told me yesterday, she feels lonelier on Christmas Eve without a boyfriend than she does on Valentines. At least on Valentines you can give to multiple people without the need to be dating. On Xmas Eve, everything's a bit more "couples only". That is, good luck getting into an Italian restaurant without a reservation.

I do despise commercialism of tradition, but I do enjoy a night out with the missus, and it's a good excuse to splurge a bit (what recession?). Last night it was a slightly over-priced pasta restaurant and a bottle of savignon blanc. Very nice.


Was nice to get in a hello to the family this morning too - we didn't get the connection speed to be able to do a webcam present-opening session, but I still got to see their lovely faces, including Caleb (my 6-month-old stand-in).

I, for my part on the receiving end, got a bag, a belt, a tie, a novel and a sweater. Now all I need is slippers, socks and a dressing gown and I think I'm ready to fastforward to my 40s. Nah, they were all awesome gifts and I'm very lucky to get anything.
My gift from me to me was a new digicam - Canon Powershot IXY 920IS - which was on special thanks to this lovely dip in the economy. I'll probably regret it later when I lose my job and have to scrounge for cash.

Feliz navidad a todos - I wish I could be with everyone I know! Especially because then I could probably score some free food ;)

Crabistmas

I was a bit lonely this Christmas, despite being all over the show. I think I mentioned it in a previous post, so I won't carp on.

After a phonecall with my whanau in the morning and some present opening via webcam, I made a cameo appearance at work in the afternoon. After all, Jesus didn't ever make his way over to Japan, so his birth's not a national holiday.

Just when I thought I was destined to go home and be bored for the rest of the evening, Yukiko gave me a call to say I should come out with them for dinner. For those of you playing the home game, Yukiko is an English teacher who I helped last year, and subsequent hangings-out with the family has turned them into my home-away-from-home in Osaka.

So, what was Christmas dinner? Ham? Turkey? Pasta? No. It was crab. I kinda felt Jewish. Though it was good crab.

Christmas

So, another Christmas devoid of the family (my 3rd ever). Last time I had a girlfriend to soften the blow, and the time before I at least had a date. But this time it's no family, no girlfriend, no Sam, nothing!
Oh well, guess we'll have to find a new family.

I do have a few filial connections in Japan, one of them being Mio's parents in Mie (near Nagoya). So in a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing on Saturday night, I decided to pay them a visit. It's only a 2 hour express train ride to Nagoya (about 3,500yen, or US$30). And in a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing, they decided to give me a Japanese yukata jacket! I forget the proper name.



Mint.