it's not life that matters but the journey...

This is a photo that we took from the 5th station at Fuji-san on Wednesday evening, around 4:30 p.m.  The clouds and the colors are almost surreal up there, especially at sunset.  We went up there Wednesday as it was a holiday and the weather was beautiful and clear - of course up at around 2,500 meters, it was extremely cold, too.  But we were prepared - we wore our North Face jackets, gloves, and hats, and we climbed to the 6th station and about halfway to the 7th (the absolute top of the mountain is station 9 1/2 - and quite a ways from the 6th or 7th).   

   We also walked out to see the big hole  (I guess you'd call it a fissure) that was formed years and years ago from the volcano exploding.   The whole atmosphere on that mountain is like being in another world, almost like being on Mars - the unstable, volcanic rock, the red color of the earth and the white whisps of clouds that you walk right through.  The place where the fissure formed was amazing - I could see black lines in the red rock, and with the mist around us (from the clouds moving in), it was just like being in some kind of dream . . . or like being in some science fiction film.  We were practically the only people up there (past the 6th station) and it was so peaceful.   The only word that comes to mind is awesome - I felt such awe at being a part of nature like that.  Because when you are on Mt. Fuji, you are so high, and so far away from reality, that you really feel like one with nature.  Its phenomenal!   I can't wait to go again next year - we plan to climb to the top during the regular season (summer) when its safe and much warmer.   This week was the last chance to go up there until next spring - tomorrow they will be closing the road up there for the winter and only a few brave (or shall I say reckless) souls will brave Fuji-san with ice and snow! 

As its the dawn of Thanksgiving Day in America, I thought I would just answer some recent queries from friends and family regarding how I will be spending that day here in Japan.  Not to worry . . . even though I do miss my friends  and family in the states, and I would love to be with them during the holidays, the only part of the Thanksgiving feast that I will miss is the pumpkin pie.  I'm not a big turkey fan, and I really don't like big gatherings.  Like I said, I miss the nostalgia of it - thanksgivings gone by, the "good old days."   I'll be okay without it, at least this year.  what will I do?  Well, since my husband is not American, and he actually doesn't like Thanksgiving much (he'd rather eat soba or sushi any day), I will be doing what I do every other day:  I will get up, eat my menial breakfast of cereal or toast and coffee, clean my room, get dressed, and since tomorrow is a work day, I will take the train to Shimizu for my two hours of English teaching.  It'll be like I'm in a foreign country, or something...

Let me take this opportunity to tell everyone out there that people in Japan don't eat Turkey.  Really!    I think that the first time Masahiko ate turkey was when he had his first Thanksgiving dinner with my family in Washington (and as I recall, he didn't like it too much).  Japanese people eat chicken, and they eat lots and lots of fish and seafood, and they eat beef and pork.  But I don't think a turkey has ever set foot in Japan (lucky for them! - I mean the turkeys!)  Of course, if I'm wrong, please correct me.  But as far as I know, there are no turkey sandwiches at the convenience stores here (there are ham, tuna, egg, and teriyaki chicken), no turkey sausage, no turkey lunch meat, and definitely no frozen Turkeys in the meat section.   I'm not quite sure Japanese people would know what to do if you put turkey with gravy and stuffing in front of them . . . or cranberry sauce, or most of what Americans traditionally put on their plates once a year.  In fact, I remember the year that we invited a few Japanese girls from the college in Washington to our Thanksgiving feast (at my aunt and uncle's house).  They were quite confused by most of the food - although I remember that one of them did take a liking to stuffing.   

And also remember, that as important as Thanksgiving is for many (and for me, its important as a chance to be with family), it is only an American holiday.  No one anywhere else celebrates it.  That is why if you are in a foreign country, it will not be too likely that you can find a restaurant that serves turkey and stuffing with cranberry sauce.  Japanese people are not too good at cooking any food that is not Japanese.  they try to do their variations of "American" food (i.e. hamburgers, pizza, pasta, tacos), but they are usually quite disastrous.  Unless a Japanese person has studied cooking abroad (as in Italy or France), they really should stick to what they do best.

Japanese have adopted many of our American holidays, most prominently Christmas and Valentine's Day.  (Christmas will have to be a topic for another day . . . there is just too much I have to say about the Japanese fascination with Christmas - in this, a country wherein only about 1 or 2 percent of the people are Christian - enough said for now)...  but even though they "do" Christmas, and have their own variation of Valentine's Day (in this country, girls are supposed to give Valentines to boys, not the other way around), they do not know anything of our Thanksgiving tradition.  And what would I teach them?  Are we still celebrating Thanksgiving for the original reason that the day was adopted long ago?  Or is it just a chance to get together with family and friends and eat?  sounds like a good enough reason to me!