last blog of the year!

As I’m sitting at my desk watching the minutes tick by s-l-o-w-l-y, I thought I could pass the time by writing my blog. As perhaps you could tell from my title, I’m fairly certain that this will be my last blog of the year. I’m sure tomorrow morning will be spent packing, and then tomorrow night we’ll hop on a night bus bound for Osaka! We don’t really have definite plans for what we want to see or do, but I’m sure we’ll manage.

Last night, we went out to eat in Hitoyoshi with a few friends. Justine’s mom came to visit her for Christmas, and she wanted us to meet her. I was really excited! It’s always fun to have a new face in the gun, and it was almost like we had our own little family sitting around the table enjoying one another. It’s lonely over here sometimes, and you forget what it’s like to have a normal family. Skype helps a lot, but being physically present is different than an image on the screen. Justine’s mom being here made me very excited for two things: 1) going home in July and seeing everyone. I can’t wait! 2) my own family coming to visit me!

I guess Christmas/New Year’s is the time to give your co-workers gifts. Yesterday before I left work, one of my co-workers gave me a Christmas present. It was not only very sweet but absolutely precious as well. It was half of a cardboard egg carton. It was decorated very fancy. She had cracked the tops of the shells and removed the egg. Inside each egg, she had put moss and a sprig of a plant. There were instructions in Japanese, but she explained to me that I should water each egg for the next two weeks, and then I could plant them. It was too cute! Today, the principal at my elementary school personally came over to thank me for the cookies I made last week. He gave me a sack and told me that the “cookie box” was inside. When I lifted it up, I realized that the bag was way too heavy for just one Tupperware container. Inside he had all kinds of little sweet treats. My container was full of them, and there was another small bag of treats. Also, this morning some guy came to the elementary school and brought all of the teachers sweet potatoes. They were already cooked and warm and delicious!

That’s really all I have to say for now. It’s crazy to think that 2011 is coming to a close. I stop and think where I was a year ago and how much different my life is now. A year really does make a difference! Here’s to the future and whatever might come in 2012. Happy New Year, everyone!