The Hendersons in Himeji: Merry Christmas!!

Well, Christmas this year was unlike any we have ever experienced before. They definitely celebrate Christmas over here... just in there own way. We loved walking around the Miyuki-Dori because they had a bunch of Christmas lights and Christmas music playing for the better part of the month. That being said there were a lot of little things that we really missed. Things like spending time with family, decorating our Christmas tree together, going to Christmas parties, 6 weeks of continuous Christmas music on 99.9, driving around and looking at Christmas lights and Mexican food on Chritmas day. Audrey did find some Christmas decorations and we put up a little Charlie Brown tree back in November so it was nice to have a little Christmas spirit in our apartment. We decided not to buy much for Christmas because we knew that anything we bought we would have to pack and bring home with us. We had to pay weight overage fees at the airport on the way over here so we are trying not to add to that. My wonderful parents sent us 3 boxes over about a weeks span of some of our favorite foods we cant get here and also a couple gifts for us. I scored an awesome Cubs hat that has a Japanese flag on the side and some slippers, while Audrey got a sweater, a pair of gloves, a scarf and some really fluffy socks to keep her toes warm. Audrey's parents sent us some money to travel and we also got a box from a good friend at church (thank you Matt), filled with all of our favorite candies! Audrey and I have been trying to eat better and exercise more since we have been here but all of our good intentions have gone out the window as these boxes continue arriving. Audrey is blessed with a metabolism that allows her to eat a couple pieces of candy every day with out her gaining any weight. I on the other hand, just have to look at a couple pieces of candy and my butt jiggles for a week! Thank you for your thoughtfulness, we definitely felt loved! On Christmas Eve we had a pot luck with a bunch of our favorite people from Shirasagi. We had yakisoba, fried rice, curry, chips and salsa and other tasty cuisines from all over the world. The food was delicious and the time with friends was even better. After dinner Audrey and I watched a Christmas movie together and got ready for bed because we had to teach on Christmas day. Thankfully we didn't have to go to our High Schools, instead we chose to teach community lessons in the meeting room of our apartment complex. Being that it was Christmas day we decided to teach our students Christmas songs, some Christmas traditions back home, we played Christmas Bingo wrapped it up with a Christmas party. They really seemed to have a nice time and we really enjoyed working with them. All in all we had a nice Christmas season, nothing too exciting, but we really enjoyed our time together and the opportunity to build relationships with new friends. We hope you all had a merry Christmas and that things are going well in your neck of the woods. We miss you all and think of you often during this holiday season!