Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and happy new year! Another holiday season in the books! It’s finally 2018!! Where did the time go?
Just like last year, Christmas kind of snuck up on me. With the weather being not cold, it was difficult to get into the Christmas spirit. Temperatures are up and down for the most part. While it’ll be freezing indoors, outdoors will be significantly warmer (whyyyyyy). We had our first snowfall right before NYE! It lasted about 10 seconds before the sun came out.
As usual with work, no students at school means a relaxed work atmosphere and me not having a whole lot to do. Lesson plans have been made, games are organized, and I’m all caught up on my Netflix shows (watched at home on my own time of course…). After our closing ceremony, majority of my teachers used their vacation days and took off majority of the week until our real “vacation” kicked in. Since we didn’t have much of a vacation (12-29-1/3), I stayed close to Mito this year. I celebrated Christmas with a small group of friends at my annual Christmas party, and spent new years eve in Tokyo; and boy what an experience that was.
I spent the countdown at Shibuya crossing which for those who don’t know is that big famous crossing of chaos that is in all the videos of Japan. The streets were closed down from all directions and had a countdown on one of the main screens that could be seen by everyone. Well, almost everyone. There was the occasional 7 ft French guy that would stand in front of a 5’1 Asian girl. On the plus side, there were so many people that if I got tired of standing I could just left my legs, rest my legs, and stay in the exact position I was in when I was standing. The amount of foreigners definitely outnumbered the Japanese people which after this experience made me think maybe they were all hiding… I wouldn’t blame them. It was an experience that I’m glad I experienced. However next year, I think I’m going to the Onsen… or somewhere not there.
New Years Day I stayed in Tokyo and went shopping! Various stores have this thing called “Lucky bags” where you pay a set price for a bag filled with stuff. The contents of the bag usually add up to more than how much you pay for. I bought a bag from Adidas and from Puma each for 10,000 yen and I wish I had gotten more. Both bags gym bags that would retail for about 3,000 yen. Including the bag, my Adidas goods totaled out to being about 30,000 yen. The prices of lucky bags I’ve seen vary from 2,000 yen to over 20,000 yen. No matter what you pay, the products in the bag will also come to a greater total than what you paid for it. I would spend every New Year’s in Japan just for the lucky bags… I’m addicted to them.
Along with shopping, people (usually Japanese people that come out of hiding) go to the temples to pray. I went to Meiji-jingu shrine which is probably one of the most famous shrines in Tokyo. It’s busy from NYE to New Years Day. I went around 10:30PM on NYE and they told me that I would have to wait an hour and a half to get into the main shrine area (I was in group 9). So instead, I went to the food stands (set up like at a festival) and ate more food before heading to Shibuya for the countdown.
New Year’s Day, the street leading up to the shrine (also had all the shops), was filled with food stands. If only there were food stands like that all time.. I would be incredibly fat. The food stands made it feel like a regular festival. I didn’t bother going to the shrine because the crowds in front of it was a clear indication it would longer than an hour and a half wait to get in.
School starts again tomorrow and I would be lying if I said I was excited. I am looking forward to seeing my students.. But that was no where near a long enough break for me to rejuvenate.
Happy New Year everyone!
