hello hello.. as i sit here.. under the kotatsu.. well at least half of me under it. isn't this the dilemma with kotatsus? the bottom half gets all toasty warm while your fingers get all frigid trying to write blog posts to love ones at home? .. anyways yes.. as i sit here and it slowly drops below -4..-5... maybe down to -8 (sorry i can never get the conversion to F just right so ill leave it at C).. i think about how this last month has seen its share of adventures and silliness as, as I've come to realize, is a prerequisite when living in Japan.
Thanksgiving happened. We had quite an all inclusive thanksgiving... mashed potatoes, peas, stuffing, quiche, a fantastic chicken dish (made by this little chef).. even topped off with pumpkin pie.. and of course friends. And out of the five times Ive spent this holiday overseas, this one was one of the best. This event also inspired me to make a pumpkin pie from scratch to give to my friends who had never had pumpkin pie... well.. one pie turned into seven and i never want to see and another pumpkin pie again.. ok well maybe for a year.
Pumpkin Pie Marathon
First Snowman of the Year
Drive to Nikko
Nikko
We stopped by Rome.
Confusion
My first trip snowboarding!... was attempted but we got sidetracked by a cool artisan village in the mountains. We rented bikes and went to different types of workshops for different art .. thingys. It was cool. This weekend also included Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" .. in Japanese.. by the local Katashina theater troup. Now, its been a while since I've read the book but I am pretty sure that in the original, the ghost of Christmas Past wasn't a samurai. But I could be mistaken. It wasn't too bad.. i think.. of course i really don't know because i didn't understand it.
And school life is going... I have already taught "Christmas" 5 times and probably will at least another 10 times.. It really is a thing of power this job- I can tell them that Santa has a pet alligator and they'd probably believe me. But no, I'm keeping to the truth- that Santa watches children all year long, has small people with weird ears building the toys, visits malls when he can, and fits down chimneys.
Mandatory end of the year work parties start soon which means spending loads of money, drinking with old men, and being requested to sing The Carpenters at kareoke. It's an incredible busy time of year both at school and outside of it... when all you want to do is cuddle down under your kotatsu. But someones gotta spread the Christmas spirit around here... so i guess Ill be wearing a Santa hat and singing Jingle Bells till i get on the plane to come home.
ME-RI- KURISUMASU!
