Merry Christmas, y'all!

Jorden here.
     As the 25th nears and Facebook is teeming with apple cobbler recipes and photos of freshly-decked halls, you can bet that we are feeling a little homesick over here. Christmas just ain't the same in Japan. In case you haven't heard, KFC is the place to be on Christmas day here. That's right--Kentucky Fried Chicken is all the rage. I mean, it's not just popular, it's THE WAY. Yesterday I asked one of my classes how many of them were planning to visit Colonel Sanders this Christmas, and every hand shot up. I think some of them actually get him confused with Santa.
     Anyway, rest assured that we are truly enjoying this season nonetheless, and finding our own ways to celebrate. We found an artificial tree for about ten bucks, and I even whipped up a pair of stockings to hang nearby. We've made several batches of eggnog already to share with those who are strangers to the 'nog experience. Oh, and I've had Bing Crosby playing since November.
     Daniel and I are each taking about two weeks off work, and are really looking forward to catching up on some things. There is still so much of Kanazawa that we have yet to see. I had my bon enkai a few weeks ago, which I always assumed meant "year-end party" or "winter party" or something like that, but I found out from one of my teachers that the literal translation is "forgetting party." Nice. There were 90 of us that went to a hot springs hotel in the mountains for a night of fine dining, bingo, karaoke, and, "forgetting about every bad thing that happened in 2012." It's amazing what kind of changes an atmosphere like that will provoke; teachers I had never talked to before (whom I thought didn't speak English) were the chattiest things I've ever seen. They pulled me in to dance, pushed me onto the karaoke stage, poured me more beer, and gossiped to me about other staff members.
     And if you must know, I sang "Santa Clause is Comin' to Town."
     In other news, I went to Tokyo last weekend with my English Club for a national debate tournament. We didn't place, but our shortcomings were assuaged by an unexpected visit to the happiest place on earth: that's right, TOKYO DISNEYLAND. We only had about three hours in the park, but they were the best three hours I've spent in a long time (well, since May when Daniel and I went to Disneyworld, probably). It was awesome to see the kids so giddy.
     Tonight I'm going over to Yonebayashi-Sensei's house to meet his family and eat dinner. He lives in a Buddhist temple, so it might just be another blog-worthy adventure. I'll keep you posted. As always, thanks for reading, and as a Japanese greeting card would say, "it hopes to be refreshing always enjoyment relax of your holiday season."
     Cheers!