Finally the end of 2020

There never seem to be enough days in December.  If you haven't gotten everything already done by the end of November, you are hopelessly behind.  I find myself further and further behind every year.  It is a vicious cycle.  The threat of additional COVID restrictions are looming so I am half-heartedly putting up the decorations in hopes that we can have a small Christmas gathering.  We also need to take the annual pictures in front of the tree.  In years past this quasi-photo shoot has generated our Christmas card photo.  Not sure if have a winner here or not.  Wesley looks like he is either scared out of his mind or on his way to prison.  

Ben has recently decided he really wants to learn about car maintenance.  He has already shown a higher than normal interest in driving and spends a lot of his free time on driving games.   He and Jim have been logging some time down at the Hobby Shop tinkering around.  I may never have to pay for an oil change again!

The first Sunday of the month we bribed two of the kids to head over to a nearby town for the final "community yard sale" of the season.  According to some locals, this sale is a good one to attend as the Japanese have a custom of cleaning out their houses at the end of every calendar year.  We thought it might be a good way to find some uniquely Japanese items.  The place was pretty crowded and even though we got there at the appointed start time, it was clear that people actually show up hours earlier (kind of like yard sales back home).  We poked around for about 1.5 hours and did walk away with some treasures.  

The big finds of the day were Tanukis.  As mentioned previously in a few posts, these guys are EVERYWHERE over here. 

 

I was feeling pretty good about our "find" until I came across this teeny tiny guy!  I know exactly where he is going to end up - on our Christmas Tree!!  

The following week, we were fortunate enough to be able to attend the Air Force Band's Holiday POP concert. Jim was the host for one of the 3 performances.  Of course the kids grumbled about going, but once we got there and the show started, they all agreed it was a fantastic event.  As you can see in the photo we were all wearing masks and the seating was all in clusters so each family was sitting together but separated from others.  The band and singers did a fabulous job!

We we got home, I made everyone pose in front of the tree again.  Still looking for the family shot for our now-going-to-have-to-be New Year's card.  I need to get those things ordered or they will end up being Valentine cards - EEK!

Even though Winter Break is coming up doesn't mean that we have been slacking.  Lucy is still doing swim and Lilly has been doubling up on playing soccer and doing intramural Volleyball.  Ben is still training out in town with a Japanese baseball group and for the past month has been working hard to earn his Boy Scout Merit Badge in lifesaving.  With that complete he has been able to earn his 1st class rank - Congratulations Ben!

One fun thing I was able to find in the Christmas boxes was our reindeer antlers and nose.  I had forgotten I packed them.  Lilly's car was the perfect choice!  We have had the best time entertaining the locals here who constantly point/stare/laugh at them when we drive around town.  It is also a good way to pick Lilly's mini out of the fleet of blue minis on base.  

I also found these tiny reindeer antlers that Oscar used to wear.  Yoshi hates them as much as he did.  We were only able to get this quick picture of him.  Wesley was suspiciously absent when I pulled all the Santa hats out of the box.  

The weekend before Christmas we decided to hit up the local mall to try and pick up the last few presents that needed to be purchased.  Ben decided he would rather spend his yen on video games.  So I am not sure if any of us will be getting a present from him.  The girls disappeared the minute we walked in the door of the mall and we didn't see them until it was time to go home. 

Another reason to hit up the mall was to order our KFC chicken dinner.  We were not able to get the "Party Bucket" that comes with a Christmas cake and decorative plate, apparently you need to order those several weeks in advance.  I had been trying to do it using the KFC website but it is all in Japanese and as we have said before Google Translate isn't really that great.  Next year I will ask my Japanese speaking friends to help me out.  We wanted to try the tradition, but really didn't want to have KFC for our actual Christmas dinner so we decided to order it for Christmas Eve-Eve.  

One of our friends gave us a Christmas Cake from an adorable bakery in a nearby town so once we picked up our KFC, were were all set to celebrate like a local.  For those of you that need a bit more of an explanation, I will boil it down for you.  An enterprising manager of the first KFC in Japan, Takeshi Okawara had a dream about selling a party bucket full of chicken.  He claims to have overheard some expats saying they missed having turkey on Christmas so they were eating the next best thing - chicken.  He took that idea and ran with it.  With the slogan ケンタッキーはクリスマス！(Kentucky is Christmas!) and the fact that Colonel Sanders looks a lot like Santa was enough to seal the deal with the Japanese.  According to what little research I did on the subject the Christmas meal constitutes a third of KFC's yearly sales!  That is a lot of chicken sold in basically a month!  

For the record, the Christmas Chicken meal taste exactly like KFC in the states.  There are some other options on the day to day menu that are a little more adventurous, so maybe next time we will try something different.

The cake looks too good to eat!!!

We made it to Christmas Eve Service at the Chapel! The service was a candlelight & carols one which is always a favorite.  Afterwards Jim was only able to convince Lucy and Ben to snap a quick picture by the Chapel Tree.  Lilly said it was too cold and made a beeline to the car.  

Earlier in the day the kids cranked out the Christmas cookies.  They had all baked several dozen cookies recently for a Cookie Crunch event which provides the single troops with Christmas cookies for the Holidays.  Unfortunately neither the commissary nor the exchange sell holiday cookie sprinkles so we had to change up our traditional decorating style.  I must say, I kind of like this new way.  Once the icing dried the cookies can be stacked!  It is a WIN in my book!  

Santa was able to find us!  I am not sure how he does it every year - especially at the rate we move around, but he always does!  The kids seemed to be pretty happy with everything they received and Jim and I were actually able to surprise them with a few of our gifts!!  Especially Ben!  He has been bugging us for this driving simulation computer thing for MONTHS!!!  

Surprise Ben!!

The big Christmas gift this year was a ski trip!  Everyone got used skis/boots for Christmas.  Ben had picked up a snowboard/boots earlier in the year at the base thrift store, so we picked up some bindings for him.  We typically just rent our equipment but since we are super close to world class skiing and used ski equipment is cheap here, so we decided to take the plunge and buy.

We drove up a few days after Christmas to Madarao Mountain Lodge in Iiyama which is just outside of Nagano.  The lodge is a 5 minute walk to the slopes and a great place to stay.  It was perfect!  The first day of skiing had PERFECT weather conditions.   The slopes were essentially empty and there was not too much ice.  The next day the weather turned cold and blustery and the afternoon session was not as nice.  It started to snow and basically did not stop.  Japow (slang term for the insane about of powder Japan gets) is no joke. When we got to Madarao there was a base of 180cm and when we left it was over 220cm.  The kids were in heaven!  Jim and I also had a blast!  We were able to meet up with some friends while there and that definitely added to the enjoyment.  We are already planning our next trip!  

Our last night skiing was also New Year's Eve.  Is there a finer way to ring in the new year than with some fireworks? 

With no move on the horizon, we plan on exploring our new home even more this year.  As long as we are able that is.  Fingers crossed the Covid numbers stay low enough to make this possible.