Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas in Japan was pretty good. I got presents from my family and couple friends, and I waited until Christmas to open them. Actually, it was the day after because Christmas was so very busy.

Starting on Christmas Eve, we all got together and went out for drinks. We went to a new bar, owned by some friend's Brazilian friend and ended up staying until around 5 am! We drank a lot, and danced, but because it was Christmas, the bar owners were giving free drinks and tequila shots all night. 3 of my friends, Brian, Shirley, and Dan, spent the night. Even though we stayed out late, Brian and I got up and went to 9am mass, which was in Japanese. When we got back, I talked to my family on skype. I think they got to briefly meet each of my friends too. Around 1:15, Shirley drove us over to Aeon town to the KFC to pick the wanna be turkey (roast chicken). It was surprisingly very tasty! Everyone brought a little something- we had potatoes, veggies, meat, dessert, wine. Sebastian and Lisa joined us around 2:30 (a little late, but still welcome) and we all sat down to a nice, real Christmas dinner (linner). Then we moved into my living room where we opened presents and ate Christmas cake. "Santa" brought little toys and stockings full of goodies from the 100 yen shop (like the dollar store). I don't think I could have asked for a better Christmas away from home.

After my dinner, Shirl, Brian, and Dan had to go but Sebastian, Lisa, and I went up to Matty's for his annual Christmas bbq. Everyone sat around drinking (more and more), eating, talking, and being merry. one of the girls was a masseuse, so somehow between the charred meat and the sweet wine, a massage congo line started. Matty's party ended around 2, which is not late for Japan, but really late since we had to work the next day. Luckily I didn't have to be in until noon.

My weekend so far has just full of doing nothing. I'm on vacation, so I feel like I have all the time in the world! The other reason is that it's snowing!!! And I don't mean a little. Koriyama is really windy, which makes the cold and snow that much worse. Outside my window, the sky is so hazy and grey that I can't see the mountains. I always thought snow would just fall and the sky would be clear. But that doesn't really make sense when I think about it now. I love watching the snow fall. The flakes swirl around, pushed left and right by the icy wind. It's beautiful to just stand and look straight up, but it's so cold walking into the wind!!

Winter

The past couple days I've been trying to think of a way to describe the winter climate of Koriyama, but last night something happened that eclipsed it all. I fell down the stairs again. Only this time, instead of falling forward, my feet flew out from under me, and I slid down 3 jarring concrete steps right into a cold puddle of 2 day old mud water.

Great luck, right? I tried to catch myself, but my hands were full with trash since Thursday is trash and can day. My friend Dave voiced his concern between muffled laughter. I would have laughed too, except I was warring between the urge to vomit or cry. I quickly pushed down both urges, and stood up, which only led to extreme spinning and dizziness. Dave and I sat (I more like rested my weight on my left thigh) on the steps while I tried to decide if I was broken or bruised. Today it hurts to sit, and I have a bruise the size of Mount Rushmore.

On the upside (which is in no way related), I'm finished with Junior high, Elementary schools, and Kindergarten for 3 weeks! WOO WHOO!!

On Monday when I left for work (driving out into the country to Sugama K) I thought it was raining. I ran back inside and grabbed an umbrella. When I go to the parking lot it wasn't raining, but water was still dripping from the roof. As I drove out, it looked like a fine layer of dust had settled on the mountains. I also noticed that in the empty lots, especially towards the shadows, the dirt was lighter than usually. Suddenly, it dawned on me: it was never raining, It was melting snow!

yuki (sounds like u-key) - snow

Disney and Great friends!

Japan is cold, cold, cold! It snowed last week, but around midnight. None of the snow stuck, so I still haven't had a snowball fight or built a snowman. Last Saturday I did manage to make it down to Tokyo Disneyland.

It's pretty much exactly like Orlando Disney's Magic Kingdom, except smaller (maybe more crowded), and in Japanese. I took the night bus from Koriyama and arrived at 7am. The park didn't open until 8am, so I had some time to freshen up in the bathroom (which was my first long line - about a 10 minute wait). I just walked around took pictures until my friends came at 11am. We only got on 3 rides - Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean. SM and HM were the same set up. Instead of just being haunted, the HM had a whole Nightmare Before Christmas theme. I liked it a lot! Pirates was really similar, but my friend from LA said it was exactly like the California Pirates. All of Disney is decked out for Christmas, which I was really happy about. I also go to see the Stitch Christmas parade, and the Electric parade- super cool!! The fire works were cancelled due to high wind :( I took another night bus back, and got back to Koriyama at about 4am. I was exhausted!

Monday I was kind of cranky. It's not Japan, I just keep getting frustrated. But today I got a fabulous surprise! I was at work when a huge box arrived for me. I wasn't expecting anything from Mom, so I teared up when I saw it was from Orlando. Karyn, Char, and Cami spent waaay too much money (really guys, I feel bad who had to spend so much just on shipping!) sending me Christmas in a box! I was so excited that I ripped it open right there in the main office, and Yuri (our secretary, but she does way more) and I started investigating every present. The girls sent me everything from totally rad socks and dvds, to a little xmas tree and ornaments, to oreos and add-water mashed potatoes, to spices and pjs!!! There was also a random red rope ... not sure yet what that is for.
I really just feel so very loved!
I have the greatest friends in the whole world!!!