I hope everyone had a great Christmas! We’ve had a surprisingly eventful one here – Japan doesn’t hold Christmas in quite the same regard as the States does, but it’s a very big deal in Hakodate, and all our church friends obviously celebrate it.
We got back just in time for our church’s little Christmas lunch party – after the service on Sunday there was a massive potluck and we played some games. The food was intimidatingly good – if this is the standard that potlucks here are held to, I’m nervous about living up to it, even once I have a full kitchen to prepare something!
Then, over the next couple days, we spent time exploring the city now that it’s completely covered in snow. Like I said, Hakodate goes big on Christmas – it’s a tourist city, and Christmas is one of their big draws. In particular, the massive Christmas tree they put up in the docks shopping district!
They also have fireworks over the tree, almost every night!
On Christmas day itself, we didn’t do too much – we video chatted with our families and hung out around the airbnb, mostly. Until we went out to dinner with our friends David, Fridah, and Apa.1 It wasn’t a very traditional meal – Indian curry – but it was, like everything else in Japan, absolutely delicious.
We have one last Christmas party tomorrow, and then Japan shifts into New Year mode – another major event here. We’re very excited to see what it’s like!
- Apa, I have no idea how to spell your name, sorry. ↩︎