My Christmas Story

I would first like to apologize for my extended absence. Honestly, I haven’t been busy; I’m just really lazy.

So, lets pick up from the week before Christmas. My friend Chad from home came to Japan for a week or so. But I had work the majority of the time I was only fortunate enough to see him for two days. I took him to the traditional tourists spots and let him take lots of pictures. (It’s amazing how much we become like Japanese tourists. Taking every picture we can and trying not to forget a moment.) We went out to dinner with my friend Midori and ate all-you-can-eat yakiniku. Which is like Japanese BBQ. It was amazing. I thought I was going to die because I ate so much food. And on top of all the food the beer they gave me was in a liter mug. Being like the girl I am I wasn’t able to finish it so I had to share it with Midori.

That girl Midori is something else. Think of the traditional Japanese girl, being polite, nice and considerate. Now think of the complete opposite--- loud, crazy, and borderline rude sometimes, and that's Midori. During dinner the table next to us was eating something different then us and she demanded that they let Chad try what they were eating. If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, after we were finished eating, she told the boys next to us that they should introduce Chad to Japanese karaoke. At that moment I put head down and my tail between my legs, but they said okay and recommended their favorite karaoke spot. So the six of us all went and had a karaoke filled night.

Now its time for me to tell you about my Christmas story, well it’s not much of Christmas story actually. First you have to understand that they majority of people in Japan have NO IDEA what Christmas is about. Most of my students thought that it was a holiday invented by big business to make more money. And Christmas isn’t a national holiday in Japan. I had to work like any other day. But the day before Christmas was a Monday if I remember correctly, and that day was a national holiday. You would believe what they call it, HAPPY MONDAY. That's it. There is no reason for the holiday and it has no relation to Christmas. Even the idea of Christmas is lost in Japan. There is no spreading of love or of good deeds, and no anticipation of opening your presents on Christmas morning. The younger generations have turned it into a DATE holiday. It’s not uncommon for all the love hotels to be free on Christmas Eve. When I think of Christmas in Japan I think of chicken (KFC), Christmas cake, and love hotels. Sad.

To go on with my story, because I was in Japan for Christmas I though ‘while in Rome.’ So I found one of my cute-boyfriendless-friends to go on a date with. We went to the most popular “date spot” in Tokyo, it’s called Odaiba. This place was hoppin’, they have live bands, street performers, Ferris wheel, and a view that over looked the harbor. It was actually a great place for a date, except that it was winter and the wind was howling.
For our activities for the day we walked around, ate some lunch, watched a movie (which was in Japanese and when I entered the theater everyone stared at me like I wasn’t aware I was going to watch a Japanese movie with no subtitles). They movie was great, I highly recommend it, and you will probably shed a tear or two. It’s called Always. If you are bored on a Sunday afternoon go to blockbuster and check it out. After the movie we went to eat dinner but there was about a 2-hour wait for all the restaurants so we decided to go to a different city and find a place there. We found a nice cozy place, ate, talked, finished, and then parted ways. I wanted to hangout longer but I live in Butt-Fuck-Egypt so my last train is a little early. And that concludes my Christmas story.