Old age and the Holidays

Well I had a great, somewhat hedonistic Birthday weekend and in two days I leave for a big trip to Thailand. I am excited, which is good, because it is taking the edge off the fact that I just turned 26 and have the sudden feeling that 30, 50, and 70 are now just around the corner. My new found age panic is kinda good though, because I have really kept to my jogging routine the last few months, since I wanna be hot while I still can be.

What a good weekend. Friday I had an overnight Bonenkai (Xmas party) with the people from my office at a nearby hot spring resort. I was the only foreigner there of course, and I didn’t have the benefit of someone translating everything for me because I was seated far away from the English speakers. This meant I had to rely on my Japanese skills a lot more, but I actually surprised myself. I managed to understand most of what was going on and ended up having a great time. As usual, the old men and a few of the alchie women were surprised by my drinking skills and the night ended with a room party with the girls, and talking about some down right dirty stuff. Let me tell you, Japanese women may be repressed, but get some drinks in them and they got some good stories to tell. There were also a lot of Japanese university students at the resort for some reason, so we got subjected to cute, drunken, and mostly naked Japanese boys running around in the corridors which all of the ladies enjoyed greatly – cultural differences can seem so insignificant sometimes. It was also one of the few nights that I have spent with all Japanese people where I didn’t feel like a `gaijin` but rather like an actual part of the group.

On Saturday, I got back to mine at 11 am and made the mistake of dropping by Aaron’s to see if he was up. He was. He was also with Hayden and they were already drinking and made me join (well granted, it didn’t take too much convincing). By the time that the peeps from Shimabara arrived at my place to go out to celebrate my Birthday I had been drinking for close to 24 hours and was somewhat unsuccessfully trying to put my make up on straight, while the boys were already passed out and laying scattered around my room. We managed to pull it together and go eat though, which ultimately gave me a second wind. It was a really nice time overall, and I was glad to be surrounded by good friends (some of whom had driven quite far to boot), especially since I will be spending yet another Christmas away from family. I know I have been saying this a lot, but it just amazes me how much Japan really feels like home for me now, even though I still miss everyone in Canada (and Europe and the States for that matter).

Well, only two days to go now, and I will be in the tropical paradise that is Thailand! Therefore no posts for a while. So on that note, I hope that everyone has a great winter vacation wherever in the world you may be – I know I will! Happy Holidays!