Happy New Year

New year's eve in Japan isn't a huge affair - it's usually spent with family watching the national celebrities perform in a concert competition. Although I had a few drinks, I was saving myself for the next night... The Japanese celebrate the start of the new year for several days, and don't usually go back to work until the 5th or 6th. During that time there are various parties and nights out at Izakaya pubs, and everyone you meet will say "Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu".

On new year's day we went to pay our respects to the new year at Shizuoka's Sengen Shrine, along with the rest of the city's populace. It was bitterly cold and windy, but there was a variety of food and sake on sale. I also bought a fortune paper, selected by birthdate, which told me I would do well at work, fail half my exams, get sick then get better, and have a baby girl. Hmmm. I also got a chance to use my new pocket-knife (thanks dad!) on a bbq chicken steak we were supposed to eat with chopsticks.

In the evening the whole family (including the pet rabbit) went over to the head of the family's house (Chihiro's grandma's, who has her eldest son and wife living with her) for a celebration. There was an enormous amount of delicious food, and the beer and sake flowed freely. Chihiro's uncle was very friendly, showing me how to do sumo wrestling, and challenging me to an arm-wrestle. The whole family was very interested in where I was from and where I'd travelled and what I was doing here. They also told me a lot about Japanese culture, themselves, and gave me a some presents like a very old 100-yen bill, and some towels advertising the uncle's used car yard. Everybody stayed the night (they had a lot of futons) and in the morning the children were given the traditional gifts of money (gift-wrapped of course).