Blog From The Bench

Christmas here in Okinawa is a strange affar yet not THAT different from being in the States. The Japanese do celebrate Christmas, but it's for small kids and lovers. Kids get rewards this time of year for doing well in school. The adults treat it more as Valentine's Day, and the boyfriends and girlfriends exchange presents. Their BIG holiday is the New Year. But several things do make it festive to be here for Christmas:

They love the lights, so many houses are decked out with elaborate displays. The electric company here has a contest for the best home every year - you win free months of service if your house is chosen as a winner.

There is no traditional turkey, but they do make fried chicken. KFC is slammed with people hoping for an Original Recipe Christmas!

All the businesses do Christmas trees. Most of them say MERRY X-MAS, and are really just store displays to sell more gifts... but it's nice to see. The Japanese get a Winter bonus from their companies (usually an extra paycheck), so they encourage spending this time of year.

My mom and I did a few Christmas Eve parties, a church service, and took it easy on Christmas Day. Just enjoying the beach outside her house, and maybe heading to a movie. We've been so busy the last few days, it's nice to just take a break from all the exploring. Especially since she keeps getting lost and expecting me to help figure out where we are. That's near impossible since there are NO street signs (not even ones in Japanese), and none of the maps have complete roads on them (mainly just the highways).

Hope you're having a great one! Merry Christmas!