Here Comes 2009...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
明けましておめでとう

"Akemashite Omedeto"

Happy New Year to One and All.
2008 was an exciting and eventful year for us- and we're hoping 2009 will be just as exciting (just maybe not so chaotic!) and filled with many many new things.

A bonus of living in a foreign country is learning about their customs and culture. In Japan, New Years Day is apparently one of the biggest holidays of the year.
Here is is a clip from Wikipedia...

Hatsumōde, hatsuhinode, the "firsts" of the year

Celebrating the new year in Japan also means paying special attention to the "first" time something is done in the new year. Hatsuhinode (初日の出) is the first sunrise of the year. Before sunrise on January 1, people often drive to the coast or climb a mountain so that they can see the first sunrise of the new year. Hatsumōde (初詣) is the first trip to a shrine or temple. Many people visit a shrine after midnight on December 31 or sometime during the day on January 1. If the weather is good, people often dress up or wear kimono. Other "firsts" that are marked as special events include shigoto-hajime (仕事始め, the first work of the new year), keiko-hajime (稽古始め, the first practice of the new year), hatsugama, the first tea ceremony of the new year, and the hatsu-uri, (the first shopping sale of the new year).

So here is to our First of this year- our first New Year in Okinawa.

We spent a quiet New Year's Eve- watched "Dan in Real Life", BBQ'ed hamburgers and snacked on shrimp cocktail. We all made it until midnight (thanks to a late coffee with plenty of caffeine for me!)and stood outside with neighbors watching the fireworks (see above) over Chatan Town and listening to all the shouts of "Happy New Year"!