Thursday, December 23, 2004

A new tradition

It was the emperor’s birthday today, so we celebrated as half the population of Japan did - we went shopping at Costco. We weren't actually aware of the fact that it was the emperor's birthday until we were on the way and Dan mentioned it. Ugh! Matt and I had been saving our trip for a weekday when the hoards would be a bit thinner. No such luck. We shopped for beef and giant cases of laundry detergent amidst a mad mad crowd. Ah, but to finish and sit at the plastic tables and eat an American hot dog makes the battle all the more worthwhile.

Matt and I are still in shock that Christmas Eve is tomorrow. In America, the biggest news in the week leading up to Christmas is that Christmas is less than a week away. Four more shopping days until Christmas, three more shopping days until Christmas, and so on. Here, the only sign is the Christmas Cakes for sale at the convenience stores and the random decorations. At the 100 Yen store (dollar store), they’ve already put the Christmas stuff away. After I gobble up some of the enchiladas we bought at Costco (with real cheddar – glorious!), I’m out on a late night shopping mission to get everything else we need. Matt and I don’t even have our stockings yet.

Kiomye and I did get a Christmas tree yesterday. Actually, it's more of a Christmas bush, but we put some lights and ordaments on it and it looks rather lovely. Kiomye and I were very pleased with the results.

posted by Scribbler @ Thursday, December 23, 2004

1 Comments:

At 6:03 PM, Blogger Carol said...

Merry Christmas. Man, I am sooo jelous of your Costo, Real Hotdog and cheddar cheese. Dedicate your next hot dog to me. Wave it in a westerly direction and say, "This one's for you, Carol" I'll smell the fumes from here.

Christmas is a very small event here. I have my own tons of decorations, but stores don't really decorate on anything.

I finally found you an weird Paki Christmas card. They have gotten much better over the years. Before they were full of gross spelling errors and would have any old unrelated picture on the front, now at least they have some stolen holiday art from the computer.
The one we found looks fine, but the verse inside is slightly weird. "May christmas joys beckon you, with surprises in their lap."

I can imagine Mae West sitting on Santa's lap and saying, "Is that you christmas joy, or you just glad to see me?"

 

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