Merry Christmas (Just a Little Late) ...

To get in the holiday spirit (although it was a little difficult considering the obvious, I'm in Asia), Amanda & I bought small Christmas trees & little decorations to fill our apartments with the infamous Christmas cheer.
Surprisingly, it was not difficult to find Christmas lights, decorations, and/or anything Santa-like. We could find Christmas something or another in just about every shop we stopped in. Although the Japanese do not celebrate Christmas in the religious sense like most/some Americans, they do celebrate to an extent. Here's what I learned by asking around:

* Almost everyone puts up some sort of Christmas decorations, although few homes put up Christmas trees.

* Carolers are absolutely unheard of. I learned this after explaining to a group of teachers that Amanda and I rode our bikes down a rather busy street singing "The 12 Days of Christmas", which, embarrassingly enough, we could barely remember the words to. I should mention that people were looking at us like we were completely insane and a few people even crossed the street to ride on the other side. We were just being merry. My teachers told me that it is likely that everyone thought we were drunk.

* Santa Claus comes on Christmas Eve and leaves each child, well the good children, one gift. In the morning the children wake up, open their gift, and go to school. Children in nursery school (0-5 years old) have school on Christmas day. Insane, I know.

* My 5 year old class told me all about 'Black Santa' (no racial profiling intended). Apparently,　if you are a 'bad' kid your mother can call Black Santa. (Sounds like something my mother would have threatened to do.) If Black Santa comes to your house he does not leave any presents. He doesn't even leave a lump of coal. Nope, he doesn't leave anything. Instead he TAKES your toys. Just like a thief. Isn't that a cruel story?

* Many Japanese people think that American people eat Christmas cake. I can't tell you how many times I was asked if I would eat Christmas cake over the holidays. The extreme sadness and disappointment in their eyes when I said no made me feel as though I had committed some sort of heinous crime. Where did this notion of Christmas cake come from? My only association was fruit cake and, well, that's gross.

* Christmas lights cost approximately $10.00 for a strand. The same strand you can buy for $1.00 at home. I should have brought some over and sold them for profit.

Take into consideration I gained this knowledge from various sources including my teachers, 4 and 5 year old children, and of course my own keen observations. :)
With my teachers, when asking about Christmas, my conversations were in broken English and accompanied by an electronic translator. With the children, the conversations were in broken English accompanied by a teacher, who used an electronic translator. And my observations are just that, my observations. Take everything you read on here with a grain of salt.

I decided to mix two cultures into one. I put up my Christmas tree and decorated it with origami cranes that I had folded. I even took into consideration the way my mom always told me to decorate the tree - large ornaments on the bottom and smaller ones on the top. The bigger cranes are on the bottom and there are itty bitty ones on the top.


I have lessons with 7 second and third graders on Fridays and before Christmas they spent who knows how long making me this adorable and super sweet poster. They used it to decorate our classroom, along with a paper chain of about 200 rings. The poster says Christmas (in Japanese, obviously) and all of the little Santas and the hearts are folded origami. I'm keeping this one forever.

For those who don't know, after a long debate, I went back to the states for Christmas. The trip was amazing. Seeing my family, surprising my grandparents, staying with Debbie & Greg, and spending New Years with some of the most important people in my life was exactly what I needed, right when I needed it the most.

I hope everyone had as wonderful of a holiday season as I did. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year & all that jazz.

much love,
-tara-
xoxo