The best thing about celebrating Christmas in a country that doesn't count it as a holiday is that all the shops are open. I think I have gone out every night for the past couple of nights and partied. Dinner party with my host family, karaoke, and clubbing. The later two had me up all night untill we could take the first train back. Heh.

Yesterday the international students all got together and had a potluck dinner. When I made my dish only 10 people had signed up, so when I looked at the list later I got worried that I would not have enough because the list had trippled. But there was plenty of food so it wasn't a problem. One of my peers was a bit frazzled because no one knew e v e r y t h i n g that was going on. I want to say this: just because there is not one person leading the whole event does not mean things are out of control. Even though there were several things/ideas going on that the 'organizers' didn't know about didn't make it any less difficult or crazy. The most important part is to have fun. Please remember that.

While we are all thinking about food I want to highly recommend that if you go abroad to buy some cookbooks in that country. Sure you can buy 'Japanese' cookbooks in America, but maybe you noticed that they are mostly sushi dishes. I bought two already here and the food is so different than what are in the cookbooks in America. I haven't made every dish yet because translating the receipes are time consuming. Not only does it help with learning the language but you can try local dishes that will be cheaper than buying imported produce like we are used to.