Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! During the weekend I caught a cold, so I stayed in and tried to recover. I also cleaned my apartment and went shopping so that everything was all set for Eddie's arrival! I found a Christian church and went to a service on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure exactly what kind of a church it was but it definitely wasn't Catholic. It was obvious that we were celebrating Christ's birth, so I knew I wasn't too far off. I opened my Christmas presents too!

On Christmas Day I went to work and planned out fun things to do in Osaka once Eddie gets here. That's about all I did. At home I watched part of the Office season 2 and the movie Adaptation. Once my family woke up on Christmas morning, I was able to talk with them over the phone. A pleasant Christmas, but definitely missing some fun family members and delicious food. It didn't really feel like Christmas to begin with, so I sometimes forgot which day it actually was.

A highlight of this past weekend has been driving a tiny little car. Almost all of my friends left the country during winter break, and two of them left me with their car. I have an international driver's license and insurance, so I'm all set. Man I miss driving!!!! I am already accustomed to driving on the left side of the road because I've been following traffic rules on my bike this whole time. The only thing that I mixed up the first couple times was that the turning signal switch is on the right and the windshield wiper controller is on the left of the steering wheel.

Tonight I leave for Osaka. I am staying at my friends' apartment while they are visiting the US. I'm taking care of their adorable cats while they are gone. Eddie flies in tomorrow and is staying with me until January 14th. We're going to stay in Osaka through New Years and then head back to Naruto. Some highlights of the things I have planned are an evening river cruise through downtown Osaka, the instant noodle cup museum, Spa World, Osaka's Aquarium, sake brewery tour, New Years Eve in Shinsaibashi/Dotombori, shopping, and lots of eating (Kobe beef, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, etc). Oooooh I'm pumped! I think I'm going to have a hard time sleeping tonight due to the anticipation and excitement!