When I was living in Binghamton, I always looked forward to walking back to my apartment on a snowy, cold winter night. The white feathery flakes of snow dancing on my hat, tickling my cheeks, and landing gently on my mittens. It was always easy to forget the bitter wind as it threatened to blow right threw my thick winter coat; especially when I focused on the perfect crystals of snow that collected on the tops of my mittens. I wanted to protect them just like Horton the Elephant and his clover. Maybe if I stayed outside forever I wouldn’t have to worry about them melting as soon as I stepped inside the front hallway of my apartment. And to think, all it took to create these beautiful patterns was a extremely small speck of dust.
Although it is/was not snowing here in Japan, I did my best to make this winter break memorable. I had two weeks off (December 22nd to January 4th) to relax, explore, and spend time with friends. After finishing up work on December 21st at 9pm, Lauren and I were ready for our time off to begin. Hiroko treated us to a delicious holiday dinner at Outback Steakhouse, which is not far from Hands On English. We ordered the ever popular “Bloomin’ Onion”. Lauren and Hiroko ordered steak and potatoes, Harumi ordered chicken, and I decided to get baked swordfish. Lauren and I savored every bite as if eating it would bringing us closer and closer to America.
The next day we went to the Omodesando Hills shopping district to pick up some last minute presents. While we were there, we chanced across the ever popular SMAP Souvenir Shop. SMAP is a very popular Japanese Pop (J-Pop) band. We thought it was interesting that a band would have their own store.
We weren't brave enough to stand in the long line but that doesn't mean we didn't want to take advantage of the photo opportunity. Lauren is standing in front of the SMAP Souvenir Shop near Omodesando Hills.
On Christmas Eve, I was invited to my friend Kozue’s apartment for dinner. I met up with Azusa at the Tsudanuma station and we both headed to the 100 yen store to buy candles for Kozue’s birthday cake. After some searching, we found the candles and headed to Kozue’s apartment near the train station. We enjoyed our dinner while chatting and watching Japanese television. I made German potato salad like my grandmother always makes and brought some veggies, Amiko made Japanese baked chicken, Azusa brought a plethora of baked goods (She has a gigantic sweet-tooth.) and Kozue provided the location.
This is our delicious Christmas feast; without the "roast beast and Who hash".
Happy Birthday Kozue! Thank you to Azusa for making her a yummy chocolate cake.
Yes, here in Japan we do have "Winter Cheese Fondue" Pringles. :)
On Christmas morning, Lauren and I opened all of our gifts that had been accumulating around our tree since the beginning of December. I would like to thank my family for the warm clothes and other goodies, thank you to the Weiss’ for the heated mattress pad, thank you to Mark for the cookbook and gummy worms, thank you Mrs. Dake for the ornament and book, thank you Lauren for all the silly and awesome gifts and thank you to anyone else I missed. Also, thank you for all the Christmas cards!
After relaxing around the class, Lauren and I headed to our friend Hyj’s apartment in Tokyo. Hyj lives very close to Roppongi Hills, which is comparable to either Manhattan’s 5th Avenue or L.A.’s Bel-air. We enjoyed a catered dinner in his beautiful three floor apartment.
This is the traditional Japanese Christmas strawberry shortcake that you have heard so much about.
From left to right: Pierre and Suh (both from Cameroon), Joe, me and Hyj.
From right to left: Johanne, Chris and Emma.
After visiting Hyj and some other friends, Lauren and I had a chance to spend some time with Minsoo while walking around Roppongi Hills. The lights and seasonal decorations were so beautiful!
Minsoo being himself. (He is wearing the scarf with gray skulls I gave him for Christmas!)
Enjoying the lights in Roppongi Hills.
Episode 2 is coming soon so please be patient! I will also post some more pictures from the Christmas Party as soon as I get a chance. Thank you for tuning in despite my tardiness!
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