Christmas 2008 and SNOW!

A little catching up to do I guess...Christmas this year was amazing because we got snow! OK, well New Years got snow but at least it was for the Holidays. I of course had to work everyday except Christmas..and even that day I was on call. Thank you very much! So I made Brandt reproduce our Beck family pictures... Although I wore my Kimono.







































I got a teacup from Connie to add to my collection for Christmas Tea next year!




















Our Beck - Cullen new tradition is Champagne Fondue for Christmas dinner. Yummy! Next year we will have peopel over and then I will actually look nice for dinner...
















For our New Years eve Party, we invited some people from on of the other ships over and they weren't allowed off the ship (yes they had to work on New Years eve) until 9pm at night. Needless to say, we didn't eat until 10:30pm and I was washing dishes to ring in the New Year. Oh look, it's midnight...happy New Years to the dishes. Then it started snowing...of course it would be a Saturday that it happens - no need to miss any work from Mother Nature!





























First snowfall in 10 or so years in Sasebo. I don't like the snow but once in a while, it is fun to see. Here's our neighborhood...















Always funny to see a palm tree with snow around it!




















Still oranges in bloom since things bloom all year round here.















And of course our neighborhood kids loved the snow!















And of Course the first of the year is another important holiday - no, not New Years, Sale shopping! The Japanese definitely do it right with their sale. Stores open at midnight some and 4 am all the others. The odd thing is that most stores off these grab bags. For 5000 yen ($50) you take a bag and it is a surprise what you get. Some people get awesome stuff, some crap. I don't think that is such a good deal, but people here love them for the opportunity to get a good deal.















Very busy though and the entire shopping are is packed wall to wall.















Another New Year tradition in Japan are these Kadomatsu, or bamboo and pine arrangements, are placed outside ever business. And like everything Japan, their fabrication and placement looks simple but is very precise. They are used to attract spiritual blessings and goodness to add decoration, send invitation to passerby and invoke prayer. There must be an odd number of plants used with the bamboo sliced at a steep diagonal and at different heights to allow spirits to enter. The bamboo must be in contact with the foundation of the house or building because ifonly in cantact with the container, or holder, then this is very bad luck becuase the spirits are not welcomed into the home. And of course, bamboo is so strong that these arrangements must be made by men with superstrength. Who ever thought flower arranging would be a manly past time?




















The best part about the sales was that everyone was so en grossed in shopping that this guy was dancing around and no on noticed. I just sat and laughed. I'm sure they thought I was crazy! (Sorry it is turned sideways...I can't figure out how to rotate it.)