Christmas Post

The month of December has brought a lot of joy from my mailbox.  I'm not talking about my emailbox, although that has been bright as well.  My post box has held messages from loved ones, wishing me and my family joy during the holiday season and letters telling me about their life. 

I've always been a snail mail kind of girl.  It always sends me over the moon when I receive something in the mail that isn't a bill or an advertisement. 

Today, Christmas day, I had an extra special surprise in my mail box.  On November 28,  I ordered seeds from my favorite seed company, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  The seeds had to get to through customs before arriving on my doorstep.  I have thought of my order a few times recently, thinking I should see where the seeds are, assuming they were stuck in customs. 

When I checked the mailbox this afternoon, there they were.  I took them inside and ran upstairs to lay them out on my bed.  I wanted to bask in their glory.  As I pulled them out and verified everything arrived, my eyes welled with tears.  Dreams of my spring garden flourished in my imagination. 

Although I had a garden this past year, I really struggled with it.  The seasons are so different in Tokyo versus Seattle.  I was constantly behind "schedule" so my plants were always struggling to get going.  Add that will the poor quality of the soil, and I barely produced anything.  For the last couple of months, I have focused on improving the soil with compost and attracting worms with burying mulch.  I've noticed a vast improvement in the color and texture of the soil. 

I've also found English instructions for planting in Tokyo (which I didn't have until very late in the season last year).  This year, I feel more prepared for the differences in growing here.  I will be starting some of the seeds later this week!

One item that I am most excited about is growing tomatillos.  I have not seen them for sale in Japan and all of my friends are at a loss as to where I can locate them.  So, to me, the easiest solution is to grow them!  Send me your positive growing thoughts as I embark on this new garden adventure testing out my skills and hopefully expanding people's worlds with my produce.

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And in case you are wondering... I made a lovely Christmas dinner of roasted sudachi chicken, potatoes, mushroom dressing, and ginger orange cranberries.  It was delightful!

The chicken craze

While I consider Japanese people to be very patient, they don't fit that criteria when it comes to Christmas.  They do all of their celebrating on Christmas Eve.  The only thing they leave for Christmas Day is for children to open the one gift they receive (if their family even does that).  Christmas Eve is when most people celebrate by going out on a date with their significant other (Christmas is celebrated as a couples holiday, not one for kids) and enjoying special foods earmarked for the day.

Back in the 80's Kentucky Fried Chicken convinced the Japanese public that Americans eat chicken (more specifically, KFC) on Christmas Eve.  Since then, people have lined up to enjoy their annual Christmas dinner by picking up a bucket of drumsticks. 

I've often heard of this tradition, but I pretty much didn't pay that much attention to it because I was not going to participate in it.  It has always been something that I've chuckled about, but nothing beyond that.

Tokyo loves it's lines.  There always seems to be lines for things here - from restaurants, to stores with specific products, to raffles, and more.  It is part of the culture to wait in lines.  If it is something big, you will have to wait.  You might get there before it opens or starts, but regardless of your arrival time, you will wait.  Getting your Christmas KFC is no different.  Lines, lines, lines.  We were out and about today and saw lines at every KFC we came across between 8 am until almost 8 pm!  Despite pre-ordering, people still wait in long lines to pick up their dinner.

I also noticed a big push by other restaurants and food stalls offering take out sets of their fried and roast chicken.  From convenience stores to fast food restaurants to fancy restaurants, everyone offered special holiday take out meals featuring chicken.

After picking up the chicken, there is another line to wait in. 

Many people enjoy Christmas cake.  The most traditional version is the same cake that is enjoyed on birthdays - a genoise cake with whipped cream icing and strawberries.  However, just like pie, people have branched out more and more over the years.  The big difference between birthday cake and Christmas cake is the Christmas cake has Christmas decorations on it.  There are many options of decorations from a little plastic Santa to paper or chocolate signs saying "Merry Christmas." 

Despite the cake being nothing extraordinary, people special order them to ensure securing one for their family. 

I had forgotten that all the celebrating is done on Christmas Eve.  Luckily for Japan, this year most businesses (except retail) around the country had the day off.  December 23 is the Emperor's birthday.  Since that was Sunday, it was observed on December 24, giving everyone the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with their beloved. The only thing left to do is for kids to patiently wait until morning to open their gift. 

We need a little Christmas

My son declared he wanted a Christmas tree.  We have never had a Christmas tree before.  In the 14 years that I have been married, not a single tree has come into our home at Christmas.  We have always celebrated the holidays with people and not with things.  It has been our choice and we really enjoy it.

At 5 years old though, our son is determined to get everything he can out of the holidays.  If anything is decorated with a Christmas tree, Santa, reindeer, or so forth, he shouts "Mom!  It's Christmas!"  He believes in Santa wholeheartedly.  It is truly wonderful to watch his enthusiasm.

Last year I learned that Santa only brings Japanese children one gift.  My husband and I discussed it and decided that we could participate and let our son believe in the magic of the holiday by supplying him with a present from Santa.

While we have relaxed on the whole "no gift" concept, I just couldn't bring myself to pay ¥24,840 ($223) according to the price tag we saw last year.  So, I casually said "If you want a tree, you can make one." 

So, what did that little elf do?  He made a Christmas tree.  He outlined the tree himself and drew a number of ornaments.  His eight pointed star was inspired.  It quickly became a family project, as my husband and I were tasked with adding more ornaments and then helping to color in the tree.

Once hung on the living room wall, he grabbed the one present he knew about in the house and placed it under the tree.  One was from Santa!  My son brought it home from school on Friday.  He explained to me that Santa visited the children at his school and gave a present to each child.  Santa even left sleigh tracks and ice in the play yard.  My son has repeated told me "It was the REAL Santa!"  As floored as I was about a Santa Claus in a public school, we decided he would wait until Christmas morning to open it up.

I always realize that my son is one of the most positive, inspiring people in my life.  He brings such joy to me and everyone around him.  He makes the spirit of Christmas come alive.  And I can't thank him enough for that.

Read the small print

I think we've already covered how much I love gingerbread.  I was recently treated to amazing gingerbread at a friend's house (okay, it was my recipe, but she did all the work!) and I indulged in Lebkuchen at a Christmas market in Roppongi.  But I've had my share of misses over here as well, like the gingerbread cookie decorating kit that was actually chocolate cookies and the gingerbread house that was just not quite the same.

So, when I saw a little tea tin at the import store decorated with gingerbread spice tea, I was gung-ho to bring it home and sip some gingerbread flavors.  I could tell from the packaging there were two tea cookies inside and two bags of tea.  Perfect!

I purchased it and ran home to rip it open it.  Oh, I was probably a little too excited.  I filled the electric tea kettle and set it to boil.  While it was warming up, I grabbed a large mug from the cupboard and opened the package. 

I gobbled the cookies, not even waiting to enjoy it with the tea.  I really enjoy cookies with tea leaves in them.  These shortbread were lovely - rich and buttery with a great tea flavor. 

Then I opened the tin.  Inside, where I expected to find gingerbread spice tea bags, I found Sleepytime and cinnamon apple spice!  This is not what I wanted!  What was going on?

I then used Google Translate on my phone to really read the package.  On the back of the plastic wrap was a lot of writing, including nutrition information for the cookies.  After a paragraph of text discussing the "flavors of Christmas," but before the calories and ingredient list was a short sentence "Package does not contain gingerbread spice tea.  One bag of Sleepytime and one bag of cinnamon apple spice are included."

Argh!  If I had not eaten the cookies I would have returned the whole thing.  What an awful thing to do to a person.  My hopes were so high and dashed so deep. 

I know it isn't the end of the world, and if the package was in English I can't say I would have noticed it either.  But at any rate, that is not nice to do to people!  Alas, live and learn.

You wear that to work?

Like many places around the world, there is a lot of construction going on in Japan.  Buildings are going up, being refurbished, and torn down at surprising rates.  Worksites are typically enclosed by tall white temporary walls that hold in dust and debris to not annoy the neighbors too much.  I'm sure it helps with noise, too.

Recently, there has been a lot of buildings in our neighborhood getting repainted.  The building gets wrapped in scaffolding and then a cloth barrier before they start pressure washing and then adding a new color to the exterior of the building. 

I notice the building because of the very strong odor.  But what I typically notice even more is the uniform worn by the construction workers, painters, and other craftsmen.  On the top they wear a form fitting thick jacket made from what looks like to be Carhartt fabric (thick canvas).  The pants are typically very wide, balloon-like pants that get narrow at the calf or ankle. 

Photo courtesy of: are.na

These huge pants have never made sense to me.  Won't the excess fabric get caught in the scaffolding?  Or brush up against the fresh paint?  Or even get caught on a nail and snag? 

After going to the Workman store with my husband, my curiosity only got stronger.  Workman is a brand of outerwear for professionals in Japan.  Their stores sell top quality jackets, shoes, uniforms, and supplies for tradesmen.  They sell things to the general public as well as professionals.  My husband wanted to purchase rain boots and heard theirs were the best since they were created for people to wear them outside for 8+ hours a day.

The Workman brand is so popular with non-tradesmen that they have created a second line of clothing that is more stylish.  These more fashionable outerwear clothes are sold under the Workman Plus brand in stores with the same name.

It turns out that the pants are wide for a variety of reasons.  The pants are considered free flowing and nonrestrictive.  The loose fabric around the knees and hips allow for workers to bend down and climb up easily.  By having loose pants that come back to the body at the ankle or calf, it allows the legs to move more freely while the pants act as a sensor for dangers.  The fabric makes contact with other objects before the leg does, which means the worker doesn't have to look down at his or her foot placement.  The wide pant can also measure the intensity of the wind.  The pants that are tight around the calves improve circulation and reduce fatigue.

After learning all these things about these workpants, I think I might want a pair.  Of course, once I had them on, I'm sure I would quickly change my mind.  They definitely aren't my style and I don't need any of the perks.