Christmas in Japan 2020

メリークリスマス

Merry Christmas everyone. 

In an unusual move this year, most likely due to the pandemic, there were still classes on Christmas. In past years, winter break usually starts a few days before Christmas (usually around the 22nd - 23rd of the month). But yes, we had classes on Christmas - something my friends and family back home couldn't believe when I told them. While I have worked Christmas back home for my old job, Christmas back home is public holiday. As a result, pay was significantly more for Christmas, our hours were shorter (so we could get home and still catch up with the family), and we usually got compensated with some sort of gift (usually Chocolates or a bottle of wine).
Fortunately, classes were pretty chill on Friday as I expected. The 2nd Graders at my Jr. High School had a Christmas party themed lesson, where we just played games and had quizzes in English (and I ended up participating too). I learned that the green on Christmas symbolizes eternal life. Or at least life on further research in to this. I also learned that Santa Claus has a postal code in America (for those that don't know, it's HOHOHO.) I only ended up with having 2 classes, and the rest of it was spent just studying or chilling out. School lunch was nice - though being Christmas, I was kind of expecting fried chicken (as is tradition in Japan), and ended up with hamburg steak instead. Don't get me wrong, I love hamburg steak as much as anyone else, but I was expecting something a little more... special. Well, we also got a Christmas desert for lunch to go with it, so I was happy with it overall.

After school, my girlfriend and I went out to get some food to prepare for Christmas dinner. A friend who lives in the same apartment complex as us also happened to be free, so we also invited him over for Christmas dinner, and hanged out playing games afterwards. A fun way to end Christmas overall.

Now that the winter break has started, I can take a week and bit of time off. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, going back home to see the family is impossible. However, I did give the family call yesterday to wish them a Merry Christmas. Maybe I'll give the apartment a clean up during this time. 

In any case, have a Merry Christmas and a happy 2021. Hopefully things will start looking brighter next year.