Christmas and New Year 2006

I have to say I was never looking forward to staying in Japan this year for Christmas and New Year. This would be the first Christmas for me to be away from home, without an actual plan to go somewhere or do something (like Thailand and Taiwan in 2004).

This year I was planning to stay in Japan and not waste over £1,000 on flying home and thus, waste money that I could have spent on fees for University next year. It turns out I still spent more than I’d planned anyway, although primarily this was because I have put on a bit of weight since moving to Hamada and moving in with Benji, who has a car. I found that in late Nov/early Dec I could not fit into any of my Benetton trousers, which I wear to work, without my gut attempting to escape via the fly…not a particularly attractive sight. I was forced to buy newer (gulp) bigger trousers at the retail outlet in Hiroshima where there is a ‘NEXT’ shop (a British brand). It’s quite depressing putting on weight BEFORE Christmas has even arrived.

This would be a very different Christmas for me, too. Benji was going back to America for a wedding and my other friends all went home. I’m of course like most people, simply used to being surrounded by people at Christmas. ‘I can do it!’ I thought ‘I’m a grown up now!’

Anyway, I took part in some Christmassy things. I made ‘Calennig’ (Welsh Xmas/New Year) decorations with my English club. The girls in my English club always look slightly bemused and bewildered with everything I ever do. They are quite possibly the most shy and timid girls in Japan. It’s always an uphill struggle communicating, so I have to ‘find a happy place’ and fight the urge to shout ‘FOR GODS SAKE! YOU ARE SOOOOOOOO BORING! CANT YOU GO OUT AND REBEL AND PERHAPS IN THE PROCESS DEVELOP A PERSONALITY SO THAT YOU ARE MORE FUN AND INTERESTING AND THEN I WOULDN’T MIND GIVING UP MY WEDNESDAY EVENINGS SITTING IN A FREEZING PRE-FAB HUT STRUGGLING TO ENTERTAIN YOU!’. But of course I am far too polite and well-mannered to execute such ghastly behavior! Anyway, I also made them a roast lunch during the last week of term and organized a ‘Secret Santa’…So I can’t be that evil.

I prepared my usual Christmas lessons with my special ‘Gaikkoku’ (foreign) candy prizes….which were bought exclusively in Hiroshima….shhhhhhhh. I show them a really depressing and graphic John Lennon music video (Happy Xmas…War is Over) which was re-edited by Yoko Ono in 2003 and tell then that they are damn lucky to live in rich Japan, because for the rest of the world, Christmas blows. The students were all eerily shocked and silent, and you could choke on the fumes of guilt. Then I had them write ‘Wishes for the World’ on little ‘peace angels’ (an Idea from a Canadian girl, Koren who used to work in a nearby town). Some of the kids wrote really thoughtful messages in English and they ALL tried really hard. One of the kids wanted to send the angels to an NGO or to Amnesty, but of course I quickly informed him that this was outside of my work remit and for god’s sake, it was bloody Christmas! I was going to be far too busy preparing my feast and shopping for presents – Duh! ;-) In my visiting school I made reindeers and snowmen with my special needs classes and showed them ‘The Snowman’ which is a cartoon made in 1981 by the English animator and cartoonist ‘Raymond Briggs’. ‘The Snowman’ cartoon is shown every year at Christmas in the U.K.

Benji and Rebecca and I organized a Christmas dinner for ALT’s in our town before everyone left for winter break. We ordered a big fat Turkey and a Ham from the Foreign Buyers Club in Japan and various parents sent the missing items and ingredients needed for a successful Christmas dinner. Rebecca’s mother sent traditional British Christmas crackers….not the type you have with cheese. Crackers are kind of ‘party poppers’ but with a hat, a joke and a toy inside. I was surprised that American’s don’t have them, although I expect if they did there’d be 20-ounce steaks or hand guns inside.

All ALT’s chipped in and we had some amazing food including Gratin, roast spuds, roast veg, mashed spuds, gravy, trifle, chocolate mousse, Austrian biscuits and eggnog. Some members of the local Board of Education were having a meeting in the same building with some exchange students who’d been to America on a study trip. We invited them in because we had so much food and they ended up having a very decent Xmas lunch and of course they discovered the joy and surprise of a British Christmas cracker!

For my Christmas day, I invited Mario and Barbara and my co-worker Tateishi Sensei. I cooked a really simple roast of two small (Brazilian!) Chickens and of course the customary mash, veg and gravy. Barbara made some fruit salad and Mario and I polished off a few bottles of wine. It was very nice company, so I’m glad I was kept busy on the day! The next day, I was supposed to be at work but I went in for the morning meeting before escaping and going home at 11am, tactfully hiding my bag and sneaking out the back entrance in a James Bond-type move…One should be able to recover peacefully from a Christmas hangover, I think. After all it is a religious festival, so it’s perfectly within my rights; I feel….even though I’m technically not a practicing (or believing) Christian…

Between Christmas and New Year I went up to see Hitomi Takeshita, my old Japanese teacher/gossip merchant from Hirata where I used to live. I hadn’t seen her since July, so it was nice to catch up. She was having a nabe (Japanese broth/stew) party and her daughter Naho was home from University and she wanted me to meet her. Naho had brought her friend Arisa and Steven, ALT from Kyoto (originally from Pittsburg, USA). Naho studies English at a prestigious University in Kyoto where they study Shakespeare every day and write and direct monologues and performances in English as part of their studies.

Her friend Arisa was hilarious music student, with bags of personality. It was snowing heavily when I arrived in Shobara, Hitomi’s town and Izumo was covered in snow. As soon as I walked through the door, Naho and Arisa were already shrieking ‘KAWAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!’ (CUTE!) at me. I hate being described at ‘cute’, it’s so embarrassing! We had fun drinking and eating and then the next day we went to Yurari Onsen (Yurari Hot Spring) which is lovely.

The wind was blowing a gale and it was snowing lightly but the outside Onsen was toasty warm and very atmospheric and Japanese. I got that serene feeling of ‘Ahhhhhhhh I’m in Japan and I’m at peace with the world’-type feelings – you know? After that we went to Izumo Taisha shrine – the shrine of love and happiness. It was freezing and I couldn’t feel my feet but it was lovely and I discovered a new part of the Shrine grounds which I didn’t know existed. I saw a very inspirational tablet probably written by some starry-eyed girl, a message about her other half/prospective love which said ‘Shin demo Daisuki’ (I’ll love you till I die!). It was so romantic. See…All you need is love!

Of course being away from Benji at any time feels unnatural and weird. We spend so much time together that we’re simply not used to being apart. I was dreading Christmas and New Year, but I made it through in one piece and I’ll look forward to him coming back tomorrow (the 5th January). I have missed him so much. I got to speak to him a lot though while he was away, and even his friends – Dirty Eric, Nina and Darcy. I do hope some of them will come and visit us in the U.K. I couldn’t help but laugh when Benji told me he already has a back pack full of food, ready to bring back to Nihon. Benji really is a creature of comfort. He is particularly sensitive to the crap-ness of Japanese food and this frustrates him more than most. I try to comfort him by making sure we have good home-cooked meals and apart from Thursday (Sushi night) eat as little Japanese food as possible! I look forward to seeing what American Culinary delights Benji has brought back from his native land…perhaps some microwavable processed sausage on a stick covered in cookie dough? They’re real! I saw them on ‘The Daily Show’.

I am however, most shocked of all to learn that Benji has actually bought a pair of trainers! NIKE TRAINERS – Benji! I couldn’t believe it! Apparently, he is going to use them to go running! I was both shocked and proud at such a bold attempt at a New Year Resolution. Maybe I should take a leaf out of Benji’s book. I should join him! We should go running together! I could get us matching tracksuits! I’m sure Benji will be thrilled…