Sunday, December 30, 2012

良いお年を

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I spent the long weekend in Hakone, at a rather fancy hotel, Hatsuhana. The weather actually cooperated, so we got to see Ashinoko (although Fuji was being coy as usual), the Little Prince Museum and I watched Matcha-kun transform into a samurai. It also unfortunately came with some angst (on my part, surprise) which now I shall have to work through...
This period can be really hard for expats in Japan, with Christmas being a blingy couple-centered affair, and New Years being when all your Japanese friends go back to their hometowns. We have to find our own traditions, and enjoy the free time to the fullest. I for one have cleared out Tsutaya's shelves of Ghibli and SF movies, pencilled in several runs and decided on an unconventional New Years with a friend. Maybe even hit up the sales at the running store.

One of the awesome parts of New Years is that suddenly Tokyo empties out, and the trains are full of available seats. On my way to another Hash (which I couldn't go to before because of sheer busyness) it seemed as if currently Tokyo has the number of people it should have, rather than the excess it usually has. And thank the kami for other crazy runners, because there is simply too much cake in my diet these days, and I need to make up for it somehow.

I wish everyone a wonderful 2013, and hope that the Year of the Snake will be peaceful and happy.

6 comments:

  1. Have a wonderful holiday. I'm getting very good at making my own traditions, you really have to make the best of it. Wishing you a very happy 2013.

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    1. Happy New Year to you too! Let me know if you are ever in town, you can come run with the Hashwith me ^ ^

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  2. At least you can watch Kohaku on TV and not stupid streaming sites. I'm addicted to that show!

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