Six years ago I wandered into a bar in Kuki, Japan. I was giving Aya some alone time with her parents so I decided to set out on my own. Feeling a little overconfident and wanting a sense of independence and adventure, I hit the streets loaded with about ten Japanese words in my vocabulary and a digital translator dictionary that I had no idea how to work.
This is my 8th visit to Japan. Each time I visit I’m much more comfortable, I question the food less, the customs less, and I go with the flow as much as possible. There is one place though that always remains a mystery to me; the Japanese hot springs, or onsen as they are called in Japan.
We started our New Year’s Celebration on New Year’s Eve with a soba noodle dinner. I’ve been told that it’s a tradition to have soba noodles on New Year’s Eve and udon noodles for New Year’s dinner. The long noodles represent longevity and a long prosperous year to come. Also, soba noodles easily break. This can represent any misfortune you’ve experienced throughout the year, that it can now break and you can let it go.
Continue reading “Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! (HAPPY NEW YEAR!)”
I ended after a very long, stressful, irritating, exhausting flight asking the question, “Isthis what vacation is like from now on?”
“This” being not really having a moment alone, a moment to relax, a moment to feel rested, a moment that feels like an actual vacation. You know, like you had pre baby. Well, the short answer is, yes. Yes, this is how vacations will be from now on, which sounds awful. But the long answer isn’t a simple yes or no, and it really isn’t as dreadful sounding.
Knowing what happened after the last time I met my friends, the pressure was on. Aya’s parents had moved away from Kuki since then, and what made this visit a little more stressful is that I couldn’t walk home after going to the bar. I had to take the train back home an hour away. So the trick would be to not miss the last train for the night. If I missed the last train for the night, well, let’s just say that wouldn’t be a good thing. Aya’s mom gave me a curfew of 12:30am and said if I missed it, she wouldn’t let me in, and Aya wouldn’t be allowed to let me in either. She was joking of course… I think.
