Giving thanks - cliché, but true

I should be planning out the rest of the itinerary for my fam's trip, seeing as how they started the first leg of their trip at 4 a.m. this morning in Canada. But I was looking through my blog, and noticed that I didn't write about another holiday: my (American) Thanksgiving!

A bunch of us a met up in Iwaki (いわき), a huge city facing the Pacific. N., who is seriously an amazing senpai of mine (mentor) opened up her sweet apartment so that we could all celebrate Thanksgiving last month. It was a Mexican-themed party, so there was so much delicioso food. (I copped out and brought wine). Anyways, my favourite part of the evening was the time for giving thanks. We squished into N's living room - some of on the floor, others perched on her two ballin' couches - and shared what we were most thankful for this year.

It was a room filled with people from around the world. N's from America. But others were from Japan, Ireland, Scotland and England; so, they said it was their first time to really celebrate "Thanksgiving," and they thought it was pretty dope. Once again, I was struck by how the JET Programme draws people from around the world. (I was in Tokyo during the Canadian Thanksgiving. I think we had Thai that night - no turkey dinners for me here!)

The night in Iwaki was pretty hilarious. We headed to Est Est, a bar in Iwaki. We noticed that it was filled with Japanese people who happened to be quite well-dressed. Two seconds later, the bride and groom waltzed in. It turns out that we crashed a wedding nijikai. (In Japan, they usually have a formal reception followed by the nijikai - the after party). Needless to say, that was "gaijin smashing" at its best. (See the definition of "gaijin smash" here: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gaijin+smash).

So, what am I most thankful for this year?

First and foremost, I am thankful for my parents and brother. They are always there to support me - both emotionally AND financially. They are one of the reasons that pushed me to head over to Japan. I am pretty excited that they're coming over in a few hours, so that they'll see what my life is like here! But I'm also really overwhelmed, because I am terrible at navigating and such... I'm sure we'll get lost in Tokyo and in the Kansai area more than once. But I guess that's all part of the experience, right?

I am also thankful for my friends back home. I've been terrible at replying back to their e-mails, but I do try to jot down my own updates to them. I received some Christmas cards from K. and M. - so great to hear from them! It's so nice to hear everyone is doing their own thing. S. is completing her master's; M's studying at Oxford; K's living it up downtown and working for the government; Q's busy with her second degree and school life; L's juggling two dogs, school and wicked adventures involving potential avalanches; M's living it up in the 'Peg; and M's going to Africa, I believe?! I am definitely proud of each and everyone of them.

Finally, I am thankful for the new friends I've found amongst the Fukushima JETs. We've all come from different walks of life, but we're all facing the same challenges and amazing endeavours here. I know that someone's always a quick drive or train ride away if I want to eat some Mos Burger or have a chill night at an izakaya (Japanese pub) followed by karaoke.

Hmm... so, yes. Thank you. Merci beaucoup. ありがとうございます. Muchas gracias.

Woo hoo, going to see the family soon!! I hope they make it up to Koriyama without fail... I know the shink system can be ridic, but I figured they'd be OK without me fetching them all the way from Narita. They should be arriving around 3:20 p.m. local time. I know their flight from Ottawa to Toronto was only seven minutes late in departing... I hope their Toronto to Narita flight goes swimmingly well! Apparently, it is "Snowmageddon" back home - lots of flights have been cancelled in T-dot.

Next blog: Bonenkai with the Board of Education bossmen. What it's like to party with your Japanese bosses. It all boils down to shochu, karaoke and onsens.