New Year's dinner

Happy New Year to everyone!! I hope you are all well. I must admit that though I had a nice holiday from work and was able to do a few things around the Tokyo area, I have terribly missed being away from friends and family at this time of year. The best way of putting it would probably be to say that being alone in a foreign country on both Christmas and New Years is an experience I hope I never have to endure again in my life, but is also one that I am strangely glad to have gone through because it has made me infinitely more grateful for the time I get with the people I love most.

That said, I am also grateful to the people who were so welcoming to me here in Japan, knowing that I was away from home during the holidays. My very gracious Japanese instructor invited me and my two classmates over to her home on January 2nd to see how a typical Japanese family celebrates the New Year. She cooked an incredible traditional meal for us and even warned her family to "use small words" with us so that we wouldn't feel too uncomfortable or confused. :) It was my very first time in the home of a Japanese family and definitely an afternoon well spent!

















Photos:

• Top left: Our meal. My Japanese teacher is the woman in the foreground and behind her you can see her husband. On the left side of the picture you can see my classmates, Yildiz from Turkey (background) and Hero from Iran.
• Top right: Hero sitting with two of my teacher's children, Yuuka (L) and Hiro (R).
• Bottom left: My teacher's dog, Milk. (Pronounced like MEE-ru-ku in Japanese). Yuuka just walked up to me and plopped the dog in my arms and then, without saying a word just picked up my camera and started taking pictures. Yes, even the dog has to wear special slippers in the house.
  
• Bottom right: this is not a picture from New Year's dinner, obviously, but another one I couldn't resist posting. All I have to say in response is, "I think I know what you mean, if you know what I mean..." (Buckles, this one's particularly for your enjoyment.) I found it outside an electronics store in Akihabara a couple days after Christmas.