Christmas Eve marked the last day of Midori's art children coming round for 2011, and to mark this we had a Christmas party. We were all given a plain sponge cake the size of a small dinner plate, and with a variety of creams/icings, sprinkles and chocolate bits, we made our own 'Christmas' cake. I went for the terribly run of the mill face cake, but that seemed to entertain the small children well enough. While they took the cakes home to share with their families, I put on my big boy pants and ate the whole thing myself, the first in a series of over indulgences this holiday season (there weren't actually all that many).
Christmas Eve night was spent on YouTube of all places, as there was nowhere I could go to replace to the Carols by Candlelight that I'm used to going to in Nelson. So with 14 windows open, I had 14 different Christmas carols a-playing, and despite the lack of candles, it was an adequate substitute. Several nights before I was home alone, and used that time to wrap up all the presents I had brought with me from NZ for my host family, and they were safely hidden away in my drawers for the 25th. Akira went to work on Christmas Eve night, being one of the duty staff at a resthome, and he made his way home mid Christmas morning, the first Christmas where not everyone has been home for the entirety of the day.
There is a running gag at my house in NZ that Dad will always think of something that he has to do before we open the presents, it has gotten to the point that we often ask him if he is going out to dig a swimming pool for all the time he takes. A similar story occured in Japan, and that was the arrival of a plumber. We had recently gotten a new dishwasher, and for some reason that was preventing the shower draining at its normal rate, so the shower was more of a paddling pool. As Christmas isn't such a big deal in Japan, it's life as normal for many, but that it is a holiday in many countries is known, and the plumber too seemed to be aware of this when I asked him what he was doing for Christmas, fixing our pipes. 'Shigoto' he replied somewhat miserably. The context alone should be enough to translate this word, but for the truly brick headed, it means 'work'.
With the pipes fixed (I'm still not convinced that they are though, the drain gurgles something chronic) we had morning tea, a fairly normal affair, green tea, a few Japanese crackers, and then PRESENTS! I had packed my presents into a coupe of boxes which I balanced precariously in my arms as I descended the stairs, getting a loud 'Oooooooo' as I entered the lounge with them. It seemed that Midori had heard my laments that Tsurumine doesn't have a Calligraphy class(what kind of joke you trying to pull, Tsurumine), and for my Christmas present I got my very own Calligraphy set! Well excited about that, I can tell you. I gave them a variety of New Zealand products, such as honey (The Japanese love our honey), chocolate, NZ wool, an album of a New Zealand jazz artist, and a quilt of New Zealand made by my very talented grandmother for that very purpose. As well as that I got a variety of things from overseas myself, so all in all, it was a very good first Christmas not with biological family/not in Summer/not in New Zealand/not in the Southern Hemisphere.
Tim Tam Slamming with Akira, Christmas 2011
'What's this?'
CALLIGRAPHY SET!
My Lovely Clover Calligraphy Set
I spent much of the afternoon skyping my family back in Nelson, and introduced them to Midori and Akira, and then sat down to watch a movie. Aside from my first few Christmas', of which I remember nothing, I would say that this Christmas was the most laid back, quiet one, perhaps even slightly too much so, but no matter, for once the movie finished, I began to pack my bags for my last journey of 2011. But more on that in another blog.
Dinner was a comparatively spectacular affair, Midori had prepared a whole chicken with a smorgasboard of stuffings, roast vegetables, etc, and the for dessert a white chocolate cake! It says someting about the temperature when I say that in order for the slightly running cream that was inside the cake to set, she left the cake outside on the table for half an hour, and the 2 degree celcius air soon had that cream well set!
With Christmas Day 2011 more or less over, my bags packed, my stomach full, I set my alarm for half past 5, and headed to bed. The next few days were going to be quite busy.
This is the first in a series of blogs over a period of a view days, got so much to tell, but can't do it justice in one blog! Wishing you a very Happy New Year, hope all my friends and family in Nelson aren't getting flooded out, and that for everyone may 2012 treat you kindly.
Sayonara from Under the Kanagawan Sun!
Toroi
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