yamaonna

Hello everyone!

I hope you had a great Christmas and looking forward to an even better
year in 2007!

Its hard to believe that another month has passed!  As always,
December seems to pass by so quickly.  Unfortunately it wasn’t the
best of months for me, with persisting colds and flu, but I seem to be
better now, so I’m looking forward to January!

Being sick however didn’t prevent me from getting out and doing things
🙂  December is the month for Christmas Illuminations in Japan, and
they can be quite pretty, if not as ‘christmassy’ as we are used to.
At the start of the month Peter and I went to Roppongi Hills to check
out their Illumination.  We also went up to the observation deck
there, said to be the tallest in Tokyo I think.  Tokyo is an amazing
city, it just goes on and on!

Work was pretty busy last month as well, but I’m really enjoying it.
This company allows the teachers to socialize with the Japanese staff
and students, so about mid month we had a large end of year party at a
Korean restaurant near work.  It was pretty enjoyable, and everyone
seems to be fun-loving.  With work I also had a training day last
month, and I got to catch up with all the people I did initial
training with.  They all seem to be doing well.  I’m actually on my
last day of holidays now, in total, for New Year we have had 8 days
off.  I wish it was a little longer, but the rest of this week at work
will be only be two days long, and with no regular lessons, so it will
be pretty easy.

Peter and I also went to Disneyland to see their Christmas lights and
parades.  As always, I love that place, but unfortunately my favourite
ride – Space Mountain – was closed for the day.  However, as a special
holiday ‘event’, the Haunted Mansion was themed with Nightmare Before
Christmas characters, so that was pretty special.

On the 23rd we had a public holiday for the Emperor’s Birthday.
Apparently you can see the Imperial Family on this day at the Palace,
so I went along for a look.  I didn’t see them myself (I probably
arrived too late in the day), but I did walk around the outside of the
palace (its a huge place, it took over an hour) and the east gardens.
It was very picturesque, however I think I’ll have to go back in
spring when the flowers are out.  I’ve attached some pictures for you
to look at.

For Christmas day we didn’t make any plans, but Christina pulled
through and we went to the Grand Hyatt in Roppongi for a buffet lunch.
 Believe me, the food was really really good!  And it was really great
to spend the day with friends, even if the lunch wasn’t so much of a
traditional Christmas spread.

Over the New Year, my friend Yui invited me to her house for a few
days.  It was really great time.  She lives near a place called
Hakone, which is famous for its hot springs and views of Mt Fuji.  And
on New Years day we took a bus tour to Tochigi Prefecture.  The bus
tour included a visit to a shrine, a flower park, a shopping outlet,
and a strawberry farm.  Now, I’m not a big fan of strawberries, but
they were really really sweet and tasty!  So those few days with Yui
were spent relaxing, enjoying hot springs and eating really good food
(her mum’s a great cook too!).

Well, that’s about all for December!  Hope you are all looking forward
to the new year as much as I am!  I would love to hear from you too!

Take care!



Michele