Poligon and Polichan: Christmas Decorations

I remember as a kid the excitement of decorating our house for Christmas. My father had hooks permanently screwed in on the eaves of our house to hang up the Christmas lights outside which I always thought was so smart. When we bought our first house it was two stories and I had a long ladder that went to the second floor and I got about half way up and decided, nah, it just wasn't me. The first year we were there a neighbor down the street fell off of his ladder and we all rushed over to see if he was alright. He ended up being fine but that sealed it for me, we would only put lights on the first floor of our house and that was it.

Living in Japan, Christmas is recognized and many of our students celebrate Christmas and get gifts but they don't really celebrate the meaning of Christmas. We certainly see a lot more Christmas items in the stores compared to when we first came to Japan. It's funny because our jr. high and high school needed to have a make up school day because of a typhoon earlier in the year and of course, they chose Christmas Day. Sacrilege! They ended up moving the day to another day.

We decorate (well, I'll admit, Joanna decorates our apartment) and I really like the spirit of Christmas when everything is put out. I remember, yes another memory, when we first moved to Numazu twenty years ago and we needed a Christmas tree but couldn't really find one and Joanna had her students at school make a paper Christmas tree which was on long butcher paper. She told me that she would bring it home and we could hang it on the wall and use it as a Christmas tree. I thought she was crazy but looking back all these years later, it sure brings back fond memories. Here are some of our decorations now.