Japan part 5

12/18/2008

Teaching is going well for me - two weeks ago we gave out our finals and last week we did grading. I actually really enjoy grading the students essays because they say the funniest things. For example: one essay question was, "is it okay to marry a foreigner?", and one student wrote - "yes, because if you marry a foreigner you will have a mongrel baby. Mongrel babies look like angels. Many times I buy magazines to admire mongrel babies." Don't we all?

This week I have been anxiously awaiting my winter break! Since Christmas isn't a holiday here I DO have to use some of my vacation days, but luckily not that many. Dec. 23rd is the Emperor's birthday (and so a national holiday) and then our school gives us off from Dec. 28 - Jan 4th for New Years. It's quite convenient!

While Christmas is not an actual holiday here, they do still celebrate it ... kind of.

"Merry Xmas" signs are literally EVERYWHERE in stores and buildings and train stations (but we have yet to see "Merry Christmas"), and in some of the bigger malls (and Starbucks) they have been playing American Christmas music non-stop for the past few weeks!

Japanese families with small children will sometimes get a Christmas tree (always fake) and give their kids 1 or 2 presents each ... but this usually stops before the child becomes a teenager.

Couples also celebrate Christmas by going out to eat at the neighborhood KFC (which is also decked out for Xmas; including colonel sanders dressed as Santa).

So, while it is definitely different here; we are still getting into the Christmas spirit! Most recently we went to Kobe to see the luminarie festival.

According to wikipedia:

"The Kobe Luminarie is a light festival held in Kobe, Japan every December. It began in 1995 and commemorates the Great Hanshin earthquake of that year. The lights were donated by the Italian Government. They are kept up for about two weeks and only turned on for a few hours each evening. Each light is individually hand-painted. Major streets in the vicinity are closed to auto traffic during these hours to allow pedestrians to fill the streets and enjoy the lights."

Unfortunately, because admission is free and Kobe is running out of money, this may be the last year they do the luminarie, so we were really glad we had the chance to go.