Merry Christmas, from me and my sad little Japanese tree ♥
Spending the day with my boy and my sister—there is nothing better.
the holidays are making me homesick
I wish I could say otherwise, but all I really want is to be home, with my mom and my dad and my sisters and my cats planning a trip to New Jersey and celebrating advent and baking cookies…. On the bright side, Bret is here, which (despite both of us being a bit stressed out) is about the best thing I could ask for, and we skyped my mom and Sara for advent, and Meg will be here surprisingly soon. I wish Japan knew about things like fresh-cut Christmas trees and central heating and eggnog, but I’m going to try to make the best of it that I can
Thanksgiving in Japan! Aya’s family was kind enough to let us use their house and kitchen, and I think we managed pretty much all of the Thanksgiving essentials (from turkey to pumpkin pie). Also, her nieces are totally adorable.
It’s weird because this is the first Thanksgiving I’ve ever spent away from my family, and because it was a bit surreal to be making a bunch of food so different from what’s normally available here, in a kitchen decorated straight out of the American Midwest (where Aya and her family spent a good number of years).
only seven days until Bret is here…. ♥
gifts from a three-year-old
Lately my student’s little sister has taken to bringing me small “gifts” (see: berries and acorns she has picked up on the walk to our school) every time she and her mom drop her sister off at class. It’s pretty much the cutest thing ever. :D
booked our hotel in Kyoto
so I guess I’m really going~!
17 days until Bret’s here.
33 days until Meg’s here.
39 days until Kyoto.
Blurry pictures of Tokyo Tower (all decked out for Chirstmas)
Pictures from around the Imperial Palace… Well, mostly of the moat for the Palace itself. Also the samurai statue from the Outer Gardens.
