Saturday:
Saturday was a busy day for us. Amanda invited us to a play her students were in, and Ian and I planned for a date night in Hitoyoshi on Saturday night. We woke up late since we were up so late on Friday night. I got a shower and immediately started getting ready. The play was in Asagiri, which is halfway to Hitoyoshi, so instead of driving halfway there, back to Yunomae, back to Hitoyoshi, went got ready for date night that morning. We decided to dress up and go out to eat (just the two of us) because we never do that. I wore my black dress that I wore for my sister’s wedding, and Ian was looking spiffy in his suit.
The play actually turned into a four hour affair. We got there at 12:30, but it didn’t start until 1:00. There were seven ALTs there: me, Ian, Krista, Justine, Melissa B, Amanda, and Shara, and I think that they were absolutely tickled pink that we all came. It turned into a bit more than a play. There was a slide show, introductions, two breaks, and an English recital before the play. It was cute, but I was getting sleepy and antsy. The play was adorable, though. They told the nativity story very briefly and concisely, interrupting at moments to sing a Christmas carol. Hearing those songs really made me think that I was at a Christmas party. I know it sounds weird because if I was at home, I would be complaining about 24/7 Christmas music. After the nativity play, the seven of us got called up to stage to dress in Santa hats and sing a final Christmas carol with the kids. Ha, ha! Never a dull moment in Japan. When the play was over, they gave us gifts for coming. We each got balloons, a small poinsettia, and a handbag that one of the student’s mother made for us. 
We stayed after to help clean up and take down all of the decorations, and by that time most of us were STARVING. Ian and I hadn’t eaten lunch because we didn’t think it would last so long. It was almost 4, so it was too early to eat dinner but too late to eat lunch. We walked to a nearby grocery store for a snack. I bought what I thought was a delicious bean paste sandwich. I hate when Japan tricks me. 
I love the sweet bean paste, and a sandwich of it is fabulous, but this particular sandwich also had mayo on it. Gross. I ate it because I was hungry, but I did not like it. We carpooled to Hitoyoshi and all went to see Mary in the hospital. Since Ian and I had two poinsettias, we gave one to Mary and all signed one of the balloons. All of us crowded into her tiny room. I felt like we were being the loud, obnoxious foreigners, but darn it if we didn’t have a good time standing around talking and laughing. I love my friends. 
One by one, we left the hospital, but Ian and I didn’t leave until around 7:30. We had planned on going somewhere nice for date night, but we ended up at the 100 yen store shopping for a few things before going to the same restaurant we always eat at, Everest. Date night didn’t go exactly as we planned, but it was okay. On the way home, we had to pull over and get pictures of Christmas lights. The Japanese are crazy about their Christmas decorations. They have the tackiest light displays (think half blinking, half not, a dancing Santa on the rood, cascading red, green, and blue lights dangling from the roof, giant blow-up snowman, obnoxious plastic light up reindeer, etc….trust me, it’s horrid!), but they are so proud of them! Lol.
Sunday:
Sunday was another do nothing day. We originally had planned to go to Amakusa with Krista for another hike, but after the last hike wiped Ian out, we didn’t go to this one. It was a good thing, too! We knew that the hike was about twelve hours long. However, when we talked to Krista, she said that they got started around 10AM and didn’t finish until (get ready for it) 2AM!!! Luckily, she had the day off on Monday, so she stayed the night in Amakusa. My gosh, I couldn’t imagine how bad that would have been if we would have gone! I’m so happy we didn’t!! Instead, we spent the day laying around like the fat Americans we are. It was a good day. 
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