Christmas is a special time of year in England. Like Japanese New Year, Christmas is a time for families to gather, spend time together, eat, drink and watch TV!
Every year since I came to Japan (now 10 years ago) I have tried to keep Christmas as English as possible. I have eaten traditional English food, drunk all day and stayed in doing nothing.
It has always surprised me that in Japan there is the build up to Christmas. There are Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Christmas gifts in the shops, even Christmas cards in Tokyu Hands this year. Then on 'the Big Day' there is no event. In England the whole of December builds up to the main event of Christmas Day, we even have advent calendars to count down to the 25th. In Japan Christmas Day always feels like a bit of an anticlimax...
So last year I gave in to my inner Japanese-ness and decided to take my kids to art school in Hiroshima on Christmas Day, just like any 'normal' day...
Then, of course, after that I got home, opened my first can of Guiness and started to cook Christmas Dinner.
In the morning my kids opened their presents from 'Santa' and spent the afternoon playing with their new toys (which have now disappeared to the back of a cupboard somewhere!)
Then we sat down to watch 'Home Alone', possibly the best Christmas movie of all time!
It was a nice family Christmas, and I truly love living in Japan, but at Christmas time I want to be in London...
Maybe this year the OSCATOWN London Tour will be a Christmas Tour...watch this space
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