A Winter Break Excerpt

Happy holidays friends and family!

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas and are getting ready for a lovely New Year as well! The past weeks leading up to winter break were a blur of activity mainly due to winter seminars. These are like private lessons, but you have them all day, all week. It's nice in terms of classroom management (only having one child at a time to deal with is a lot less hectic), but also very busy since you have to plan lessons individually. I was really worried at first that I would be swamped with work, but as it turns out only a little planning and preparation was actually necessary.

Most of the kids wanted Christmas-themed lessons, with vocab words like "Christmas tree" and "gingerbread man." It was actually pretty fun. :) We even did crafts with the younger students, mine being a paper cube (like the ones you make in geometry class) that the kids got to color and decorate before folding them up into "Christmas presents" which we tied with a bow for good measure. :)

After work on Christmas Eve, we had a holiday party before heading home for the night. It was SO much fun! We had Christmas cake, sparkly wine, and a mixed secret santa/ white elephant gift exchange. Allison made latkes, adding a Hannukah flair to our festivities.  I love that our office is so friendly and fun. Even though I've only been in Japan for a month, I felt really close to everyone that night. All 7 of us were nestled together in one of the small classrooms, shoulder to shoulder, laughing and talking and sharing someof the purest "Christmas spirit" that I've seen in a long time. :)

My Christmas day was relaxing and uneventful. I spent it cleaning my apartment and watching movies. :) As it began to get into the early evening I started feeling really homesick. I guess that won't ever go away, will it? I miss you guys at home. I think about home all the time and sometimes I cry. But I also love Japan with all my heart and am so happy to be here. I think the biggest thing I wish is that I could have someone around to show all the wonderful things I'm seeing and doing on my exploration. You all definitely need to come visit me!

Ok, no more depressing stuff!

Yesterday marked the first day of winter break at school, and I have no idea how to go about spending my time. Everyone from training and from work are busy, so it looks like it's just me and myself with a whole week-or-so to explore! Yesterday I spent the entire day lazing around my house, so today I determined to run all over downtown exploring. Basically I spent the whole afternoon wandering around, popping in stores and getting lost. I found a small park (will post pics asap) which had the weirdest jungle-gym thing I've ever seen! It was a HUGE structure of interwoven rungs, and since it was in the middle of a playground it definitely was for climbing. I wanted to climb it so badly, but there were kids and stuff around so I didn't. Ugh, I'm so self-concious... I will climb to the top one day! ^_^

I saw so many cool things on my tromp across downtown. In front of the city building there was an illusionist performing on the street, which was awesome. I have no idea what he was saying (apart from when he asked the crowd to donate if they thought his act was good), but you don't really need to know Japanese to understand an illusionary show. He ahd those cool glass balls that look like they're floating when you hold them, and did a very intricate routine with a set of 4 flat plastic rings. I should have taken video but I wasn't sure if it was allowed. Nearby I found a lovely little craft store where I can indulge my artistic side with yarn, wool, and dangly jewels. :)

Ok, I'm going to end the writing part here and just post some photos from my winter break excursions. :) A picture says a thousand words, right? Please know that I love and miss all of you! <3 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!