Notes from a Yokohama Christmas.

• The first official day of vacation was spent picking mikan - the sweet, juicy, and delicious Japanese orange.  I was invited by my calligraphy teacher, Kobayashi-sensei (as were all the participants of the course).  Only myself and my friend, T., accepted.  It was fantastic day-long adventure, out into the wilds of Kanagawa prefecture, up into the mountains to pick mikan with a like-minded group of folks.  Midday we ended our harvest with a traditional tea and then went to a local famous ramen-ya that specialized in shoyu (soy sauce) based ramen.  Very, very delicious.  The weather was perfect, the views of Mount Fuji were better than I've ever seen in my life, I've got more mikan now than I can ever hope to eat, and pictures will be forthcoming over the weekend.

• Eunja and I spent Christmas Eve day together taking in a "history of Ikebana" exhibition at the Edo-Tokyo Museum.  We also ate tempura, road a water taxi on the Sumida River, and exchanged Christmas gifts.  We're planning to meet again next week, when my friend N. is here for the New Year.  Tentatively, we're planning a day-trip to Odaiba.

• Christmas is not Christmas for me without watching Die Hard.  So, as you can imagine, I just got finished watching it.  That movie just never gets old, you know?  I suspect it will in time be remembered is the single greatest Christmas movie ever made.  (Although Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles is an extremely close second, IMHO.)  Christmas is a time to miss loved ones if you happen to be far from them, as I am, but watching classic movies from my childhood helps me to feel close in spite of it all.

• It turns out that I can make pretty good gyoza.  My Japanese mom, Takako, taught me how to make them the last time I visited her in Tochigi, and I decided to attempt to replicate the process for the IUC Christmas party.  Being the worrywort that I am, I felt that I needed to make a test batch ahead of time.  Just in case.  They came out pretty well, I have to say, although I hope everyone else likes them. Naturally, they aren't as good as Takako's.  (My meatloaf isn't as good as Mom's, and my Mac'n'Cheese never comes close to Dad's, either.)  But they're pretty tasty.  And there's something inexpressibly cool about taking homemade gyoza that your J-mom taught you how to make to a party for friends.  I will, of course,  do my utmost not to brag.  ;>

• There's interesting changes in the air here.  Nothing that I can really say much about right now... just a pricking in the thumbs.  I'm looking forward to the New Year.

Sincerest wishes for happy holidays to all of you out there.  You are dearly missed, often in my thoughts, and a continual source of inspiration and support.

<3 TJ.