Okay, I've gotten about four hours of sleep, and now I'm back. Most stores and restaurants are closed today, so I'm still at home. I'm taking advantage of the down time to do some long-overdue cleaning.

Earlier today (while waiting for a load of laundry to finish), I took a walk around town. Even though everything's closed for the holiday, there was still a lot of traffic on the roads. Many people are visiting the homes of family and friends today. Last year, I got to go along with Dr. Kawabata, a local (retired) physician, as he made the rounds. I ate a lot of traditional New Year's foods, met a lot of people, had a good time, and was dead tired by three in the afternoon. (Late night, y'know...)

One service that was up and running this morning was Postal Delivery. Every year, people send "new year's cards" to each other. These are simple postcards, sometimes decorated, with a brief "Happy New Year" message. The Post Office accepts these for delivery around the 25th of December, and they hold them all until January 1st. This year, I got five of them; three from JET friends, one from the superintendent of schools (my boss), and one, surprisingly, from the principal of one of the junior high schools in town.

No one is surprised that I don't send these. My Japanese handwriting is atrocious; even worse than my English handwriting.

The sun is shining, so I'd better put out another load of laundry.

Later,
Rob