About two weeks ago I decided I would travel home for Christmas to see my family; without telling them. It was a great surprise with my parents crying, my sisters laughing and my cat sitting in judgemental silence.

My family has an unusual tradition of ‘Fakemas’, a day when we celebrate Christmas on another day than December 25th. It started so that we could be together as a family for a day if we were all busy on Christmas Day. I missed both Christmas and Fakemas last year but this year I luckily landed on Fakemas day. We had a spectacular roast dinner, with crackers, jokes, and, most importantly, turkey. Opening presents followed this and it was great fun to introduce my family to Japanese products like kendama and mochi.

Over the last few days I’ve managed to see friends (and eat food) that I have sorely missed. It was strange to walk around the town and city I grew up in and see how it had changed. I can’t wait to see how it all changes in the future. For now though I’m ready to head back to Japan and celebrate another year.

Here’s looking forward to another great year in Japan!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!