Merry Christmas Everyone!

In case you're wondering how Christmas is celebrated here in Japan, here's the scoop. It's a workday!! In fact I just finished working. This week is school break so we are giving English classes to community members. As assignments go, it's quite easy. The classroom is the meeting room on the first floor of the apartment building so there is no commute involved. We're team teaching and each assigned just one day to lead. And class is from 9 to noon! Today's lesson plan included a discussion of Hannukah, Boxing Day, and then a compare/contrast of Christmas and New Years here in Japan and in the US, followed by learning the lyrics to some songs. How easy was that?


Here in Japan, with most people believing in Buddhism and Shintoism, I was surprised by the holiday spirit. The stores play Christmas songs, but two are by far played most - Last Christmas by Wham! and All I Want for Christmas is You. There are some holiday lights up and stores have a window decorations and other decorations for sale, but it's probably 1% of what I'd be seeing in America. And of course there is no religious significance to the celebrations.

Christmas here is more of a romantic holiday. Young adults will go out to dinner with their boyfriend or girlfriend. Many restaurants are advertising very expensive Christmas dinners. And everyone eats "Christmas cake", whatever that is!! They look beautiful but I'm told they're not too tasty.

Some homes have Christmas trees, and Santa brings presents to children. But Santa lives in Finland, and he comes in through the window because most homes don't have chimneys. Santa does not have little elves to help him, but the reindeer do guide his sleigh. And Santa does not make guest appearances at the malls here. Nor do they have candy canes.

So how will I celebrate Christmas? Well, on Sunday night there was a little Christmas party here which I made chocolate covered pretzels for. By now, you shouldn't be surprised to hear that they make green tea flavored chocolate here... so I used that for the green!

Then, last night I went out for Indian food with some friends. This morning, I called my parents (it was Christmas Eve for them) and watched my nieces open my Christmas presents through the webcam. Then I taught class until noon. Now I'm feasting on all the little American treats I've saved up or friends have sent - like a can of Pepsi from Costco, Cinnamon Life cereal, a noodle-roni pasta dish, candy canes and chocolates! Wow, that sounds kind of sad, but really I'm quite happy with my little cornucopia!

I hope you're all having a very merry Christmas! Look for more posts later this week, as I will have plenty of free time!!