My winter break officially started on the 20
th of December. The day before winter break Saturday the 19
th, everyone went to school and they held a ceremony just saying it was time for break and we had a little Christmas service as well. We then cleaned our classroom and had to take everything home! I did not realize how many books I had and I am now dreading bringing everything back once school starts up once again. On my first day of winter break I went to the Rotary Christmas party. Everyone packed into one bus to head up to
Unzen because there was snow there and people couldn't go in cars. However there was not as much snow at all compared to Minnesota. At this
onsen in
Unzen we had a buffet listened to some speeches and all of the exchange students performed a dance called
Bon Dori and we also sang the song "Silent Night." We all had to bring one gift to exchange. The party ended with playing a game of bingo and getting to choose what present we wanted. Then after everyone received a present we were able to open them. I received a cup from Starbucks that can hold coffee and tea to go. I was happy that my present went to a girl I thought that only the exchange students were exchanging presents. I bought a Christmas Minne Mouse bow from Disneyland while I was there. It ended working out perfectly and the girl who will be an exchange student next year ended up loving it. We ended up going home early so a couple of the other exchange students and I went to karaoke in
Isahaya. I didn't end up singing that much because my throat hurt. Chelsea and I then took the train back to Nagasaki. I rested a lot on the 21st, 22
nd, and 23rd. On the evening on the 23rd though I had a Christmas party to go to and I enjoyed it very much. On Christmas I woke up and ate breakfast. Then I was able to talk to my cousins on
Skype. It was so nice to visit with my family on
Skype . I then opened up my packages that I got. I had three packages to open. I read one of my magazines I received and snacked on some of the treats that I received. It was a very peaceful Christmas morning. When my host parents were finished with work my host father took me bowling. I lost every game that we played but that was
ok because my score got better every time. We also played air hockey. When we returned home we had a piece of Christmas cake. Christmas in Japan is very quiet and not much happens. People mostly celebrate by eating Christmas cake. My host mother explained that Christmas in Japan is mostly a holiday for couples. For Christmas dinner we went to my favorite Indian restaurant. On the 26
th of December I went with Chelsea to the movie "Up" in Japanese, shopping, and out for Italian food. The movie "Up" here is only in Japanese right now. We didn't mind though because we had both seen it previously and it was a chance for us to study Japanese. On Sunday the 27
th I met up with a few of my classmates and we went ice skating. It made me miss Minnesota. One of my friends had never been ice skating before so I taught her how to ice skate. By the end of our time ice skating she was doing so well. The next day I was also once again busy with my friends. We went to karaoke and was there for about four hours! I can't believe how long kids in Japan go to karaoke for. I get bored after an hour or two. On Tuesday I once again went out with Chelsea and we saw the movie "2012" in English. I was a little scared but ended up enjoying it. The next two days people were busy running around preparing for the new year. I went to go get a haircut and my host mother said that many people in Japan go to get haircuts for the new year so I was happy that I could participate in that tradition! On New Year's Eve we ate
soba (long
buckwheat noodles). It is traditional to eat
soba on New Year's Eve because it symbolizes longevity. I did not stay up late on New Year's Eve. However I did watch the New Year's music program on the
t.v. for a little while with my host family. It is the last concert of the year and all the famous bands and singers get together and have one last concert. The costumes and performances were amazing. I did not get to see my favorite band though because they came on too late and I already went to bed. On the morning of New Years day my host mother and I woke up early to go buy
fukubukoros.
Fukubukoros are boxes at stores and they put random items in them and you can buy them for $50 or $100. There are various prices. The $100 have around $300 to $500 of merchandise inside of them. At least the two that I bought were like that. The thing is there are only a limited number of
fukubukors and you don't know what is in the
fukubukors. People were lined up outside of the mall a while before the mall opened and when the doors finally opened people ran to their favorite stores to get a
fukubukoro. I bought the last $100
fukubukoro at my favorite store. There were only ten and then buy the time I finished buying my
fukubukoro at my favorite store they were all gone and so was the other store's
fukubukoro that I wanted. However I did find another store that I liked and bought one more
fukubukoro. There were so many people you could get swallowed in the crowd. When I got home I was so anxious to see what I got inside the bags. One of the
fukubukoros that I got was really good and I liked everything inside. The one that I was expecting to like the most was quite a disappointment. It was from my favorite store so and I like everything in the store but I did not like many things inside the
fukubukoro so I gave some of it to my host mother. When we returned home it was almost lunch time so we headed over to my host mother's parents house. They live only a little ways up the street. They are so nice and my host grandfather is very funny. They had these boxes filled with various foods and it cost around $200. I was so surprised. In between lunch and dinner I studied for a bit and my host father went through all their New Year cards. People send new year cards here out to almost everyone they know wishing them a happy new year. I received one New Year card from my school teacher. It looks like so much work. My host mother said she sent out around 200! We then went to my host fathers parents house which is right next to my host family's home. We once again ate one of the expensive New Year's food boxes. On New Year's day I received money from both my host parents and my host mothers parents. It is called
otoshidama. Children receive this money from their grand parents and parents up until they are grown up and have a job. New Year's in Japan usually lasts for three days. So there is a lot of celebrating going on. The day after New Year's we went to the shrine to pray. Most people in Japan go to the shrine to pray around New Year's so there was a huge crowd. After we were finished praying we went to go get our fortune. We went to my host mother's parents house again for dinner because her brother was in town with his wife and his son. They lived in the United States for two years so they spoke English very well. I had a fun time talking to them and we also played a couple of games. It was nice to have that little family gathering because it made New Year's feel more like Christmas in the United States. On Sunday the 4
th my host mother and I went shopping because there were many New Year's sales going on. Every store had a sale and so many things were marked down very low. We also went to go see the movie "Public Enemies." I enjoyed it a lot. This next week is my last week of break and I am a little bit excited to go back to school once again.
Akemashite Omedetou gozaimasu! Happy New Year!
