Christmas isn't as big in Japan as it is in North America, but most parents still indulge their kids with a present on Christmas morning. Many Japanese celebrate Christmas in a non-religious fashion with beautifully crafted (and rather expensive) Christmas cakes and many consider a big bucket of KFC a special Christmas dinner! In many ways, Christmas is a young couples holiday here with young lovers going out for dinner and an evening stroll. Shops are still fairly busy, though, and there is still the hustle & bustle of Christmas in the air when one is in department stores and shopping arcades.
As for me, I hurt my back on the morning before Christmas day and spent most of the next 48 hours lying on a futon, except for a daily, pain-filled, walk to a chiropractor about two or three hundred yards from our apartment. Luckily, after three days of misery, I was finally able to get on the subway (the start and stop, herky-jerky motions can trigger a spasm) and travel to a clinic where I was prescribed muscle relaxants and pain killers. So, while the kids were happy to get toys and candies, I'm just happy to be able to get up and move around a bit. I'm still crooked, twisted, and tight, but at least it doesn't hurt to sit anymore and I can finally walk a reasonable distance. Most of all, I'm just thankful that I'm on the track to recovery and that, despite being in severe discomfort, I was able to quietly sit and observe my kids during the holiday. It seems that life flies by so fast while we're busy raising children that it's easy to miss their growing up. This Christmas, rather than worrying about who was opening what or what to do with the wrapping paper, I was able to simply lie there and enjoy their expressions of joy and the priceless idiosyncrasies of my children at play.
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