Do They Know It's Christmas?

I have spent the last few months constantly faced with the question "Why?" Why do they eat raw fish? Why can't I blow my nose in public? Why does every event involve at least 1 hour of hanging around doing nothing beforehand? Why is age valued above ability? Why? Why? Why? I seem to be on a never ending quest for understanding, trying to rationalise this very foreign culture and these are some of the things that have gone through my mind as I have struggled to come to terms with life in planet Japan. In many ways it is so far removed from everything I have ever known, yet it has the look and feel of any advanced civilised society. It conjures up a very strange feeling within me.

A few weeks ago it was the Japanese who got to ask "Why?" and it was followed by the words "is he singing?" The Christmas party season kicked off in style and together with some of the AIESECers and the businesses they work with here, we headed for a meal and then to a very exclusive and private Karaoke Bar in central Osaka. The food was odd. Konyaku, a jelly type, fish smelling substance (that apparently is very healthy, like most disgusting things here,) was first on the menu. Two words were uttered as I finished the first bite "never" and "again!" Next was some cold rice and some raw fish eggs, which weren't as bad as they looked, but I was fading fast. The old woman behind the counter serving us started giving me disappointed looks as I stopped eating, so I decided to go on a charm offensive so not to look ungrateful. It was fun trying to talk to her in a mix of English and Japanese and many of the people there were trying to teach me new words. The old woman (clearly in her sixties) asked me how old I thought she was so I said "seventeen" (jeu nana). Her husband, who also worked there, then asked the same question of himself and I said "seventy" (nana jeu). There was much laughter and I earnt myself plenty of free beers and a friend for life in his wife. There was loads of beer on the go by this stage so I decided I could cut my losses and drink instead of eat, which I think was a good move. Unbelievably the businessmen paid for everything and gave us a Christmas present each, which was extremely generous as there were 30 of us there! They also paid for the Karaoke bar, which was fantastic and though I admit that I still can't sing, when I am drunk I tend to think I can. I guess I got polite applause and plenty of laughter after my fifth song - it was a great night though!

Lately work has been getting better, I am getting to know the kids a bit more and also teaching many classes now which is fun. Two of my three year old kids (Karen and Kota) are fantastic, they have mastered greetings, clothes, fruit and vegetables, the weather, colours and Christmas vocabulary so I am very pleased. One of them, Karen can even sing Christmas songs on her own which is amazing given how young she is!

Christmas is an "interesting" event here, and it explains a lot about Japanese culture. It is best summed up as being "all surface and no feeling". The Japanese decorate everywhere on December 1st, and the video game music that booms out of shops for the other eleven months of the year is replaced by Christmas Carols. Unfortunately that is as deep as it goes. For the last week I have attended a Kindergarten Christmas Party everyday, watching kids get excited about Santa Claus, and getting furious when I try and steal their presents. They do all of the superficial things so well. But there is no love for it, obviously for religious reasons the majority Buddhist nation does not celebrate it, however the friendship, the feeling of family and sharing in fun, that so characterise our Christmas, is also missing. It leaves quite an empty feeling and so despite the decorations being very much in my eye line as I walk through the streets, the warm glow and sense of anticipation that surrounds Christmas at home is noticeably absent.

Today was a tough day. It is a national holiday here for the Emperor's Birthday, and amazingly it is back to work for everyone tomorrow and for many people also on Christmas Day itself. I am off for Christmas and desperately excited about heading to Yokohama to spend it with Claire (and to search the city for a turkey dinner on Saturday!) Today, however, I did some volunteer work, which is relatively uncommon in Japan. We held a Christmas party for some mentally and physically handicapped children. I dressed as Santa and we desperately tried to make the experience fun for the kids and their parents. The idealist in me believes that everyone is born with the same, with the same opportunity. So to see kids in wheel chairs, or unable to grasp what was going on around them was a harrowing and also humbling experience. I guess I was not prepared for it and I only hope that our party made them happy, if just for a little while.

So, I enter my third month in Japan, bruised from a tough introduction to life here but starting to feel a little more upbeat. I'm still asking "Why?" all the time, though I guess today I learnt the hard way, that there is not always an easy answer to that. Tomorrow I take the Shinkansen to Yokohama to leave that part of my life behind for a while, to spend Christmas with Claire. I am left wondering though, what the kids I met today will be doing on Saturday and I suppose the unanswerable question "Why?" is replaced with a more poignant "Do they know it's Christmas?" I hope so, and I hope you do to.

May it be peaceful, safe, happy, drunken and whatever you want it to be.