Another Christmas Past

This Christmas season seems like it has been one of the best that we have had. It is bittersweet since we are not able to be with family, but it was very quiet, relatively uneventful, and just nice. We had some friends over for dinner on Christmas Eve. It was a great group of people and it was nice to spend some time getting to know them better. We weren't able to partake of two of our family Christmas traditions however, we didn't open one gift (it was just too late once the folks left and we had a lot of wrapping to do!) and we didn't drive around and look at the lights...one of my favorites.

We were supposed to have a small Christmas, but it didn't turn out that way. I will be very afraid next time Kurt tells me he only got me a "few small things"...I guess he wasn't lying...diamonds are "small" after all! The girls got bicycles. Tyler got a light-up police helmet that has a microphone - he has issued several tickets already. He also got a really cool "remote control" helicopter (that just goes up and around in a circle but is held to the controller by a bar). Hannah got two Barbies and kimonos for each. Sarah got a Tamagotchi Color and two other tamagotchis...she is looking rather Japanese with all these things hanging off of her! I got two pairs of jeans and a skirt set in addition to my two pairs of diamond earrings and necklace (WHAT was he thinking? He said one was an "everyday pair of studs" and the other was for dressing up) That jeweler saw him coming a mile away and boy am I glad! They are truly beautiful. Kurt got an Ipod Nano (pales in comparison) and a gift certificate to download Itunes. All in all, we were treated very well this year.

We also went on Saturday to a Japanese/American party/potluck (there was no sushi there). It was funny to play the gift exchange where you can "steal" the gifts up to twice, considering the Japanese feel it is really rude to take things from people. We Americans showed them, and several of the bolder Japanese women got into it...I got mine stolen so I had to steal someone elses and came home with a "tea" tray...perfect for serving breakfast in bed! It was a riot playing Pictionary with people yelling in Engish and Japanese. It is funny how people's cultural concepts are different with some things and the same in others. All around it was great fun.

We are thinking of heading to the Emperial Palace on January 2nd, one of two days the Emperor makes an appearance (the other was Dec 23, his Birthday). He will give his people a blessing for the New Year from inside a glass porch attached to the palace. It should be very interesting. We hope that your new year brings you great happiness and many blessings.

The Man Who Came Back is Out!

Ok all, the movie "The Man Who Came Back," is out on DVD. You can get it from Netflix or even the shoppette here in Japan! Keep in mind that it is rated R (not the scenes I was in) for some violence (it is a revenge western after all) and some nudity (not me, you wouldn't want to see that!). It really is a good movie. I thought it was really well-made and very emotionally charged. It is fun to see Eric Braedon doing something other than The Young and the Restless after so many years. I was in one major scene and was there throughout most of it. :) My Dad said he was surprised at how much screen time I actually got. Keep in mind this was the pre-Weight Watchers/Slimfast me! You can also see Sarah clapping in front of the crowd when the new Mayor takes over and as "Reese Paxton" rides into town with the body on his horse, you can see Sarah and Hannah in a long shot in the top right. Anyway, Glen Pitre is a really good director and I have enjoyed watching some of his other work, check it out. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving at Tokyo Disney

Hello all! Despite getting our stuff the day before, we decided to take advantage of Kurt's day off and went to Tokyo Disney on Thanksgiving day. We drove using great directions from a place on base and had no trouble getting there. As we were driving, it started to rain and the temperature dropped. It was wet and really cold! It turns out that it was the best day to go...no one was there! People had told us that some of the lines were more than two hours long for one ride, but the longest we waited was 30 minutes (space mountain). We went on Dumbo, Small World, Haunted Mansion and all of the other traditional favorites. The only thing that we didn't get to do was meet Mickey...that line was about two hours even that day (mostly Japanese adults). I was so cold that I had to buy a hoodie Mickey sweatshirt and we got Disney umbrellas! We had curry chicken over rice for our Thanksgiving dinner...boy it was yummy! The funniest thing about the park was that the shows were all in Japanese. We went to the Lilo and Stitch show just to get out of the cold and it was really entertaining to see animatronic birds singing in Japanese. They also called Stitch "Stitchy" which Hannah thinks is hysterical. The other funny thing is how many adults were there. They really get into dressing up. Most people had some kind of crazy headgear with ears, some even had tails that hung down the side like a pony tail...men and women alike! One lady matched her leopard boots to her leopard Mickey Mouse hat with ears. I wish I had taken more pictures of other people! I have pictures on Kurt's and my phone, but he left Sunday for Oklahoma for two weeks and I don't know how to download them...all of the istructions are in Japanese! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! BTW, for those of you who feel bad that we didn't get a traditional dinner, we did the next day. Some friends invited us for a meal, that was really delicious and had everything traditional...thank you Joyners!