Today is the day: Christmas Eve!!! I’ve already enjoyed so much culture that is reminiscent of my own holiday traditions. Definitely making up for last year; not that it was bad being in Japan, but there’s nothing like a good ‘ole Christmas dinner and opening presents with the fam.
After a week of rain I brought some sunshine to the region and we went for a stroll through the rolling hills of Kandern, Germany. The wide, luscious pasture land for grazing cows was a stark change from the dead brown rice fields of wintery Japan. The warm sun beckoned me to strip down to my tee shirt and I thought of Tamura, expected to drop below zero and snow.
Yes, I’m definitely getting a better deal.
We walked into small villages and past picturesque homes on sprawling acreage. A reindeer, Santa’s second string no doubt, chilled out in the shade by the fence. At another property we socialized with the local llamas, tempting them to the fence with fistfuls of long grass. Uncle Bob found some mistletoe strangling the branches of a tree along the road. Dave jumped on his shoulders and took it down. The rest of the walk was filled with kisses and laughter. The cleansing country air was refreshing especially after choking down the recycled plane/train air for the past 30 hours. Even the occasional waft of manure was a welcome scent! Hey, we don’t have cows in Japan…you get to miss the small and even annoying things in life.
After a week of rain I brought some sunshine to the region and we went for a stroll through the rolling hills of Kandern, Germany. The wide, luscious pasture land for grazing cows was a stark change from the dead brown rice fields of wintery Japan. The warm sun beckoned me to strip down to my tee shirt and I thought of Tamura, expected to drop below zero and snow.
Yes, I’m definitely getting a better deal.
We walked into small villages and past picturesque homes on sprawling acreage. A reindeer, Santa’s second string no doubt, chilled out in the shade by the fence. At another property we socialized with the local llamas, tempting them to the fence with fistfuls of long grass. Uncle Bob found some mistletoe strangling the branches of a tree along the road. Dave jumped on his shoulders and took it down. The rest of the walk was filled with kisses and laughter. The cleansing country air was refreshing especially after choking down the recycled plane/train air for the past 30 hours. Even the occasional waft of manure was a welcome scent! Hey, we don’t have cows in Japan…you get to miss the small and even annoying things in life.
Nestled in the hills
Father-daughter moment under the mistletoe
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A bit of fresh air
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Chestnuts roasting on an open fire!
Returning to the house, Alison, Hannah, Marshall, Aunt Sue, and I huddled around the keyboard and practiced for the evening service. Yes, I hadn’t even been in the country for 10 hours when I was commissioned to play for the Christmas Eve service at their church. Reading over the chords I transposed it a few times on the fly as the ladies discovered their preferred key for vocals. I didn’t know the song so it was a completely clean slate for me to improvise. Aunt Sue strummed the guitar and Marsh played the jimbe to complete this coffee house style serenade.
Entering church I just had one main purpose: don’t cry.
Yesterday we attended the Sunday service and I didn’t make it through the first song before an overwhelming sense of unity and rest washed over me. I haven’t been to church in English since Easter of 2011 so it’s been a long time coming. It was like the last part of me was finally in place. Now I feel like I can go another year before getting worn down again. Good thing I won’t have to wait that long.
After church we came home and enjoyed family time together, eating food and sharing stories. Uncle Bob started a fire in the raised pit on the patio. We eventually made our way out there in blankets and slippers to enjoy a little outside air. Then the whole family was there. Then another family came to join us and there were carols in the air. More wood stoked the fire. A large pot of chestnuts roasted on the grate over the flames. Cheese and crackers and Christmas cookies appeared, disappeared, and replenished. In the courtyard, adjoining apartment tenants came on their balconies to hear our Christmas cheer in the night hours. The German neighbor lady came to the short fence to offer homemade cookies, which we gladly traded for some of our jam-filled ones. She invited us in her living room and we complimented her fir tree adorned with simple ornaments and burning red candles. They barely flickered, flames steadily reaching upward, giving a peaceful stillness to the evening.
Entering church I just had one main purpose: don’t cry.
Yesterday we attended the Sunday service and I didn’t make it through the first song before an overwhelming sense of unity and rest washed over me. I haven’t been to church in English since Easter of 2011 so it’s been a long time coming. It was like the last part of me was finally in place. Now I feel like I can go another year before getting worn down again. Good thing I won’t have to wait that long.
After church we came home and enjoyed family time together, eating food and sharing stories. Uncle Bob started a fire in the raised pit on the patio. We eventually made our way out there in blankets and slippers to enjoy a little outside air. Then the whole family was there. Then another family came to join us and there were carols in the air. More wood stoked the fire. A large pot of chestnuts roasted on the grate over the flames. Cheese and crackers and Christmas cookies appeared, disappeared, and replenished. In the courtyard, adjoining apartment tenants came on their balconies to hear our Christmas cheer in the night hours. The German neighbor lady came to the short fence to offer homemade cookies, which we gladly traded for some of our jam-filled ones. She invited us in her living room and we complimented her fir tree adorned with simple ornaments and burning red candles. They barely flickered, flames steadily reaching upward, giving a peaceful stillness to the evening.
Neighbor's Christmas tree
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Breakfast toast
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Alison and I were still messed up on the inside so we were in bed by 10:30. I don’t know how we were awake during the past few days. It was a Christmas miracle.
Christmas dinner!
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