Remember New Years? Part I: I have a bath and eat a lot

So my original plans were to go to Thailand and Cambodia with some friends; however, when it came time to buy tickets I discovered that recently buying a car meant that I had no money. So I decided to suck-it-up and experience a traditional New Years in Japan - not exactly a terrible thing to do. As it turns out, I got sick over the holidays, which would have made for a terrible time overseas. So I guess it was just mean to be.

When my Taiko sensei heard that I was staying in Takayama she immediately invited me over for New Year's Eve dinner with her family. I jumped at the chance. After a rather painful 'conversation' over the phone (it's much harder to speak Japanese when you can't gesture wildly to help get your point across) I agreed to help B.-sensei clean the Taiko dojo, and then help her with dinner preparations.

The dinner she (we!) prepared was incredible. There was nabe (hot pot), huge crabs, a million little dishes of salads and different beans etc. There was fish and mountain vegetables and pickles and fruit. And plenty of beer and sake. I spent the afternoon peeling and chopping and stirring and stuffing and arranging.

Around 3:30, before her daughter's family came over, I was told that it was now time for me to take a bath and relax. Ok. Bathtime. I was given a towel and led to the family shower/bath room. As I was scrubbing myself off (in Japan you wash yourself outside of the bath) B.-sensei walked in! She had an armful of roses, which she proceeded to dump in the bathtub. Then she turned on the radio and told me to take my time. Then she finally left. I finished with the soap and climbed into the bath, which was full of roses. How... romantic? The radio was tuned-in to a heavy rock station that just happened to be blasting AC/DC. So I spent the afternoon of New Year's Eve taking a romantic bath, listening to AC/DC, in my Taiko-sensei's house. I bet you've never done that before!!

After my bath the rest of the family came over - kids in pajamas - and we tucked-in to dinner.



It was great to be a part of a informal, family gathering, and although we couldn't have any truly meaningful conversations, we did the best with the help of several electronic dictionaries. (After much beer and sake had been consumed I was 'asked' why there was discrimination in America. How does one answer that exactly?) In Japan there are some traditional New Years games that are played, and the B. family also had their own. The whole family played Hide and Go Seek and Karuta - kind of like the card game 'Snap'. Then they brought out an elaborate bean-bag toss game which I was terrible at. Whenever the kids 'won', they were given gift-certificates to local toy stores. They had an absolute ball! B.-sensei's 5 year old granddaughter - whose name I can't remember now - drew me pictures and made sure I was surrounded with her stuffed animals at all times.


As the night wore on, more food was eaten and drinks consumed. The grandson spent the night with his face buried in crab shells - he was after a delicacy known as 'Kani Miso' aka. Crab Brains. B.-sensei enjoyed her sake and turned a brilliant cherry red. I impressed everyone with my chopstick skills. Eventually I had to say goodbye, despite B.sensei's protests. (she sat on the hood of my car and tried to tackle me to the ground). It was a fun evening, but as midnight approached I wanted to be out among the shrines and temples.