<3: 2009-12-25, kl 11:48:41 | <3: Allmänt
Skrivet 24 december kl. 21.10Starting of, I just want to point out that I’m 8 hours ahead of you all (hehehe...suckers) which means that I’m allowed to open my presents in like.. 20 min!
So in the meantime I’m writing this.
I guess I haven’t uploaded that much recently, or more like nothing at all. This is due to many different reasons; Sickness and a feeling of not being able to take time to write are two of them.
Today is the 24th.
Many things has happened on this day throughout history, some of you might think of following;
December 24th 1715 Swedish troops occupy Norway.
December 24th 1812 Henry Russell, composer is born.
December 24th 1798 Russia & England sign Second anti-French Coalition.
December 24th 1799 Jacobins plot against Napoleon uncovered.
December 24th 1814 Treaty of Ghent (end of US-Britain's War of 1812) signed.
December 24th 1818 Franz Xavier Gruber composes "Silent Night".
December 24th 1914 German plane drops bombs on Dover England.
December 24th 1924 Albania becomes a republic (ex-premier Ahmed Zogoe's coup).
December 24th 1954 Laos gains its independence.
December 24th 1997 1st time a Chanukah candle is officially lit in Vatican City.
...
Oh yeah, and then Jesus was born, so they decided to start celebrating Christmas on this days (because all our own original traditions occurred during the same time so why not..).
I guess that’s were I want to get to.. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
This year was a bit different for me. As you know I’m not in Sweden at the moment, and I’m not in Japan with my Swedish Family or friends. So making it a good Christmas was all up to me this year, if I started crying and gave up =Christmas would have sucked, if I didn’t I would maybe have a chance at a Merry Christmas.
Before I begin telling my wonderful tale, I’m going to explain some key points in Celebrating Christmas in Japan.
First of the two biggest differences Ive noticed and haven’t understood at all is;
The Christmas cake and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
The Christmas cake is a sponge cake, with strawberries (and whipped cream?), I have no clues on why they have it and that is not due to me not asking around but due to the fact that no one really knows. Until the 23d I thought it symbolized snow, which Tokyo/Yokohama region doesn’t have. Or maybe they had it just because They like cake (which they do.. ridiculously much).
Well as I said before on the 23d, I got my answer.
I saw a TV show on “how to make the Christmas cake”, and she was explaining why they had it.
Apparently all countries in Europe has a Christmas cake, especially France which has the most elaborate cakes and bakeries in the world. Then she continued saying things like “but this version, Strawberry cake is in Japan only “ and so on.
So that’s why I though.. And then actually started thinking.
How many of us Swedish people Celebrate with cake on Christmas?
I mean come on, we eat until were practically laying on the floor, making room for cake would be impossible and besides we have our Aladdin box anyway.
So I asked Liv, “do you celebrate with cake on Christmas in Norway”.
And she answered “no” at least not in her family.
So I like to conclude that the Strawberry Christmas cake is in fact a mystery.
So the next big NONO that Ive seen here is the KFCfenomenon.
Apperently KFCs marketing skills are very good, and because of that Japanese people believe that in the rest of the Christian world, we eat nothing but Chicken on Christmas (along with caked of course.. We cant forget the cake). Beacasue everyone believes that Chicken is the most precious food that they can eat on Christmas, they decide to buy it.. at any cost.
So skyrocket high prices of Chicken is seen everywhere.
I mean come on We paid 890yen for a marinated Chicken leg. That’s about 85kr!
Then maybe some of you will think “why don’t they make them themselves” And because I’m cool and all, I have an answer to that too. The USELESS PIECE OF **** oven that they have here in this country.
No one has a real oven, everyone has hot air(?)ovens that are built into the microwave. And there is no way a Chicken can be squished into a microwave sized oven and still look eatable. So people buy the damn 890yen marinated Chicken leg, and think that they are celebrating true Christmas, because come on.. it all comes down to chicken and cake doesn’t it?
Okay, that was rather unfair.. We cant forget the most important thing of all. For everyone who is single (woman especially) Christmas is made for dating. It doesn’t really matter what you do, as long as your not alone and you get things bought for you. The best is also if the guy can take you to a really fancy restaurant, so that you can talk about it the day afterwards with your friends. Lets call it “the Christmas competition”. “Christmas war” .
(the fact that the girl wont eat at all because she’s on a “diet” and that there will be no romance or TALKING at all during the night is beside the point”.
Well, this and very many tacky Christmas lights and trees (preferably pink that says have a sweet Christmas-which unfortunately is the case in Yokohama-) is the true JAPANESE Christmas.So that leaves me in Christmas hell.
With a lot of thinking I realized, to have a good Christmas I have to make it good.
And that I did.
The 23d is a red day here in Japan, due to the emperors birthday.
That day many people choose to celebrate Christmas, and we were not an exception.
The problem was only that I was starting to get something really similar to stomach flu, and eating/being happy is not that fun when all you do is puke.
It all ended with us eating some salad, and whatever my stomach could keep in. Dad ate the 890yen chiken leg.. or we all shared I guess. Then we made some “Neijlikoapelsiner” ( for you only English people, I have no Idea what the English name for that is but hey, google is your best friend). It was actually really Christmas-ish, I even made gingerbread cookies, so that the house would smell even better.
( they were not so eatable though due to me taking the wrong kind of baking paper, so it stuck to the bottom of the cookies.. but that’s beside the point!)
I woke up on the 24th, went to effing School –Yes first vacation day is the 25th- had two lessons, and then I was finished for the day.
I went to Yokohama to get some work done on my Christmas presents, and then met up with Liv. She gave me the prettiest present ever!
It was a really pretty picture that she had painted, and schoggi was in it.
(I now feel bad that I’m not even close to finished with hers… )
Well, after that I went home and mom and I went shopping for some stuff for “Swedish Christmas food”. We had earlier decided that I was going to cook the 24th.
I bought smoked Salmon, Stuff for making meatballs, sausage, egg, salad, potato, and then chicken legs (for 100yen that I had to make myself).When I came home I called My dad in Sweden to get instructions on how to make proper rice(?) porage and how to make the chicken. After the talk I started working, same time singing my heart out along with the Christmas music my parents sent me from Sweden.
The food was successful, even the chicken even though it was my first try.
We ate and ate and ate, then opend some present. My Swedish mom sent me the most beautiful necklace ever.. THANK YOU Im wearing it as we speak as I write.
Then I later introduced plump, or Blob as Ive starting to call it here.
For those who have no Idea what that is it’s a really good card game, which I usually play with my parents at home. Same time we ate the chocolates that my parents sent, unfortunately not the Aladdin, because we had them standing on a heated floor, so they were kind of melted. But we put them in the refrigerator, and last time I looked they looked very recovered and good.
So as you all can hear, my Christmas was wonderful, with very much love actually.
I hope that you all made the best of this time that you could and that you had a wonderful Christmas!
From me to you with love<3
the dates I posted earlier... I sounded smarter then I actually were
http://www.todayinhistory.com/
Anna
Skönt att höra att du fick en bra jul ändå! O grattis att du lyckades med maten, skulle inte jag gjort :D God fortsättning o massa Kramar! :)
Daniel
hahahahaha bra gjort Sarah :)
Härligt att du ändå fick en bra jul trots att du inte var i vintriga Sverige (ex-vintriga, på ett par timmar i +2 så har 2dm snö bara zzzap försvunnit, och nu blåser det och snöar lite grann så vi kanske får ha snö lite längre)
Glad fortsättning :)!
(plump roxx)
Målar-Malin
Åh, va myyysigt! Jag saknar dig.
Narnia gick på tv nyss och jag lade märke till att lilla tjejen är sjukt lik dig! Fast när du var liten då. Hihihihih. PUSS<3
(Du borde shoppa med mig för det är mellandagsrea, buhu, kom hem fort. Kyssochklös<3)
Hanna
Awesome att din jul var bra <3
Mamma
Jag tycker att målningen du fick av Liv var helt underbar. Jag är stolt och glad att du själv såg till att få en bra Jul. Bra att du tyckte om smycket. Även glaset är självgjort på fusingkursen jag gick. Tack för geten till Uganda sonm jag fick av dig.
Puss
Mamma
Tomten var lite förvirrad av att du inte var hos Börje. Din julklapp från Tomten ligger här och väntar. Pappa tog hand om den.
Kram