It’s a new year…
Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu! Happy New Year! I hope everyone, whether near or far had a wonderful holiday season. I’m sure it was a different holiday season. It was different for us, celebrating just 3 of us (Alex made it to Shanghai and out of quarantine at the beginning of Dec), family unable to visit us, however it was nice to relax, enjoy some time off, explore, and appreciate the little things in life: family, health and love.
In December, covid numbers were starting to increase in Japan. Since tourist have been unable to travel to Japan since last spring, the Japanese government created a “Go To Travel”program to encourage citizens and residents of Japan to travel internally. Discounts were subsidized by the government to hospitality businesses. We had our holiday travel plans already booked so we continued on our travel from Tokyo to explore Kyushu, the southern most part on Japan’s main islands. We adventured to 7 new prefectures over 12 days, it was incredible. The 7 prefectures included, Kagoshima, Oita, Miyazaki, Kumamoto, Saga, Okayama, Kagawa. I will soon be writing about our adventures on my blog under Travel- Journey through Kyushu with lots of pictures.
Since my last post, we sent Alex off to college in Shanghai. A tip for parents who will soon be sending their child off to college in the near future- plan a small trip or escape at the same time. Alex’s flight just happened to be the same day we flew to Okinawa for Thanksgiving break. It was the perfect distraction from bawling my eyes out and being sad at home. He enjoyed 2 successful weeks of quarantine at a 4 star hotel with 3 meals delivered daily. He was able to continue his online fall term and connect with friends online. Now, he is enjoying freedom and college life. He spent the holidays in the dorms with his international friends, mainly students from the US, who all stayed to enjoy the holidays in their new city. Spring semester just started last week. I asked Alex to send me more pictures of Shanghai and NYU, I only got a few so far. Can’t wait to visit the campus. Alex took these pictures of the Shanghai skyline from the Bund.
Thanksgiving was beautiful in Okinawa. We were all missing Alex. Andrew missed him the most. It gave the 3 of us time to bond as a family and Andrew time to adjust to being now the only child at home. We traveled with friends to Ishigaki and enjoyed snorkeling, kayaking, and hanging out together. Even in late Nov. the weather was nice and warm- 70’s and the water was still warm enough to snorkel and swim with wet suits. We went snorkeling on both islands- Ishigaki and the main island near Onna. We saw two other families in Okinawa visiting the islands for Thanksgiving. A lovely opportunity to relax and recharge.
New Years Day was a quiet one in Tokyo. The Japanese government was encouraging people not to go to shrines on New Years Day. So we enjoyed a rather relaxing New Years day and went to the shrine on Jan 2nd. It was definitely less crowded than last year. The Japanese government eventually called another State of Emergency in Tokyo and several other prefectures. It basically means that restaurants and bars need to close by 8 PM, and people should refrain as much as possible from going out for unnecessary things after 8 PM. Since we returned from our trip to Kyushu, we have mainly stayed close to home and hunkered down again.
2021 will become a year to expand my knowledge on two fronts- personally and professionally. To help me achieve this goal, I was given a Daruma from my friend here in Tokyo and I purchased an Omamori, good luck charm at Meiji Jingu shrine for studying. The Daruma doll is a Japanese traditional doll which is a symbol of perseverance and luck. When given a Daruma, the eyes are left intentionally blank. When you set a goal to achieve during the year, you draw in the right eye. Once you accomplish the goal, you complete and draw in the remaining eye. The Omamori charm for studying should be hung on a bag or purse to remind you of your goal. My personal goal is to continue learning Japanese. I am enjoying my private lessons with my sensei Yoko, who has become a friend of Blake and I. We visited her and her husband while visiting Okayama. It was so lovely to practice my Japanese while exploring Okayama for 2 days. My professional goal is to achieve my CFP. I am in my 3rd course of 7 courses prior to studying for the exam. It is a hefty goal, but I am taking it in stride. Hope these Japanese good luck charms will be able to help.
Staying home has inspired me to do more cooking again. Since the break, we have made Shabu shabu and sukiyaki at home with my new clay nabe pot, made homemade pita, hummus, chicken and beef kabobs, oyakodonburi following a chef’s recipe, made my own nishime, kuromame, ozoni, soba for New Years Day, and got back to baking pies from scratch.
Wishing you all a wonderful 2021 and hopefully with the vaccines becoming available, we soon can resume traveling. Look forward to seeing you all soon.