Our 2007 Christmas Cake package
Boxed cake
Four perfect strawberries for decorating the top of the cake. Notice that they are wrapped in bubble wrap and came inside a small box!
Streamer poppers and two votive candles. We still haven't figured out why the poppers look like American flags. Anyone have any ideas?
Strange tic-tac-toe game
Christmas Cake!
Christmas Cake with candles!
Ellen being silly in the kitchen on Christmas Eve
Hello Kitty is ready for 2008, the Year of the Rat!
Temple down the street from us that I pass by on my walks
As the Japanese would say, Happy Merry Christmas to everyone!
Christmas is already over here, but it's still Christmas Day in the States, so I thought I could still post my greeting. I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday and enjoying time with family and friends. Things are well here in Japan, and we've been having a fun time. Zach is working a holiday schedule right now, which means that he gets more days off between his work days. We were lucky this year because he didn't have to work on Christmas. We had friends over for dinner on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was quiet and we stayed at home.
New Year's is a big holiday in Japan, but Christmas isn't. The one Japanese Christmas tradition that we have discovered is eating Christmas Cake. I've posted some photos so you can see ours this year. Zach bought it at the little convenience store just down our street, and it came with all kinds of fun stuff. I could not believe that they packaged the strawberries for the top of the cake in bubble wrap and a separate box! It came with birthday cake candles, so we put candles on the cake and lit them. It seemed weird not to sing "Happy Birthday," so we did. :-)
I know there are many New Year's traditions here, and we're slowly learning about them. 2008 will be the Year of the Rat, and as part of my Christmas presents, Zach got me a stuffed Hello Kitty wearing a rat costume. I've included a picture. I think she's really cute, don't you?
Well, I guess that's it for today. I'm going for a walk this afternoon. It's so beautiful and sunny outside. I've included a picture of the temple that I often walk by when I go for my walks. It still amazes me every time I go by it and reminds me that I really am living in Japan. Happy Merry Christmas!
2 comments:
Hi LN,
Your pictures are very cute. I'm so glad you seem to be having a good time in Japan and you and Zach are entertaining yourselves. And it's so great that you have this blog so we know what you're up to! Jessica and I had a good Christmas up at my Mom's house in Birch Bay. My nephews were all there, they are now 2-1/2, 4, and 16! My mom made one million cookies and we had a funny yule-cake in the shape of a log. We even had a little bit of snow that night while we were driving home. For XMas I got myself a new 2008 Toyota Tacoma truck... I who have never had a vehicle with less than 100,000 miles on it before, so that's quite a change! Now I'm trying to get a whole ton of work done before the end of the year when we have a stupid arbitrary budget deadline at work... anyway, Merry Christmas and have a fun New Year's! Year of the Rat, yay! I was born in a rat year (1972) so I expect everything to be perfect this year and will be very disappointed if it isn't.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I think a stuffed pink kitty with an abnormally large head wearing a rat costume is very strange.
Ellen, you look the picture of domesticity in your frilly God Jul apron and pink sweater. Wow, you should hire yourself out to go stand in people's kitchens. I'll give you a dollar to stand in my kitchen.
How much did your cake and all of its trappings cost?
Yay Jen and your new truck! Yay year of the rat!
Boo hiss on work deadlines. Boo hiss on computer programming, especially when it has to be done by an English major.
Yay for the English major who has gone to Japan! ---Carol
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