Happy New Year

Another year has come and gone (I wonder how many blogs are going to start with something like that today) and it is hard to believe that I spent the latter part of this year over here in Japan. Time is flying but, we are enjoying every minute of it. We are at Ayumi's parents place for the holiday with plans of returning tomorrow afternoon. It has been nice to be able to step away from our life in Shima and be with family and able to relax with them. Although I don't have to be at work until next Monday we will be home for a few days where we can get a bit of New Years cleaning done and relax there before having to start the school rush again.

At the end of next month we will be heading up to Hokkaido for a few days for a wedding of Ayumi's cousin. I am excited to go up there and see my little sister-in-law whom I haven't seen in and to go and sight see up there. I really like Hokkaido mostly because it is where I served for two years as a missionary from 2000-2002. It has been over five years since I have been up there and leaving I honestly didn't think I would ever go back but, luck have it I married into this culture and am actually going back. Ayumi's little sister is in med-school in a city named Asahikawa which is relatively close to two cities I lived in combined for over a year (Takikawa and Iwamizawa). They are close enough that I think I will go and stick my heads in them and take a look around. Only been five years but, when I'm only twenty-six, it is like 1/5 of my life ago :). Hopefully I will be writing in my blog a little bit more earnestly then and will include pictures and updates when I get back... don't plan on taking my computer up there.

So New Years in Japan; its not like what I am used to back in the states, or at least what I saw on TV last night wasn't. They start a variety show on television from about six-thirty where they have music acts lined up back-to-back with a little bit of commentary until about eleven-thirty. Mostly Japanese pop (which mostly I don't care for) and Japanese traditional singing style named Enka. I would maybe compare it with something like Frank Sinatra or Country music. For an example click this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTa2QIMKq64
Beleive it or not, I actually have sung this song at karaoke. Well, at eleven-thirty they then do this Buddhist/Shinto (don't know which) where they ring these bells at temples 108 times. Apparently what it is is, for each ring you hear you are suppose to forget a bad thing you've done or ask for forgiveness or something like that. Well, from eleven-thirty to midnight, it just had all these live shots of all these old temples around Japan and the monks ringing the bells. People wait in line from who knows when until midnight waiting to be allowed to go ring a bell and pray to the gods. Interesting to note though, where in the States if it showed a bunch of people on New Years waiting for the countdown as soon as the camera was on them they would start to scream and yell yet, in Japan everyone was quiet and reserved waiting for the time to turn midnight. As soon as it did, people would go and pray at the shrine. Surprisingly the only people who did make silly faces and yell on the camera were foreigners who happened to be crowds they were filming.

I will write more tomorrow...

Happy New Year