Merry Christmas

Christmas is finally here and for the first time in my life it feels just like any other day. I am stuck here in Japan with nobody else to celebrate with. Even for my host family it is nothing special. People are still out working. All the businesses, banks, post offices, and restaurants are still open. Meanwhile I am stuck at home at the moment. It looks like Vaso and I are going out to find some fun in Tokyo later on today. I may have to pick myself up a present just so it seems like Christmas.

Yesterday I woke up and celebrated with Vaso, Sheun Sheun, Amy (from Kyoto), and Miles. We went to a Chinese food buffet in Harajuku. After the food we went to a really expensive cafe (Bellagio?) We sat outside and savored some delicious cuppacino and hot chocolate. Vaso then ditched us to go to Disney Land, meanwhile we went to Karaoke for 2 hours. It was lots of fun.

That night I met up with Steve and Kyle to have a Christmas feast with Steve's host family. The first thing that struck me is that Nishi-Ooi is a maze. There are roads every which way and I swear we turned 10+ times just to get to Steve's house. Steve's family is really cool. It made Kyle and I jealous because we are both living with an older couple. Steve's little sister Chika-chan is so cute! She is 5 years old and has all of the exceptional energy that little kids have. We played baba-nuki (old-maid) with her after dinner. Speaking of dinner, (Hiromi?) is an amazing cook! It was a feast to behold. We talked of school, host-families, and life in general. I had a really good time.

After dinner we walked around Steve's neighborhood, got lost, found a train station, and then headed home. On the way back home I e-mailed every single person in my phone book to wish them a Merry Christmas.