response 575 of 588:

Dec 9 15:01 UTC 2003

Two cups of expensive orange juice.  Jim is convinced that I lost 2 pounds
due to drinking water, which has no calories.  I would only have to drink
about 35 cups (maybe only 20) of orange juice to gain a pound.  Apart from
the added expense (water is free), it can't hurt and maybe will make my cold
go away faster.  The cheap orange juice tastes bitter because they squeeze
the skins with it and the oil from them gets into the juice.  

response 577 of 588:

Dec 23 04:09 UTC 2003

Well, I've just starting making the kalua pig, turkey starts in another hour
and reenforcements with sashimi, ebi chilli, veggies, salads and all kine
snacks, munchies and desserts apparently land any time now.  Oops, almost
forgot the cranberry and spuds.

Yep, it's the annual Christmas dinner, Japanese Lu'au stylee at the Howard's!
Held, as tradition demands, on the 23rd which is the nearest national holiday
to Christmas we have handy in these parts.

response 579 of 588:

Dec 23 16:08 UTC 2003

        Raisin Bran Crunch this morning, however a tad of the eggnog
was mixed in with the milk to give it a richer taste.
        Picked up a Fox's Pasty in Dearborn last night for dinner
as I was in the area.

response 581 of 588:

Dec 23 17:42 UTC 2003

Do they really put in an ox's tail in oxtail soup?

response 583 of 588:

Dec 23 19:07 UTC 2003

From the tail?

response 585 of 588:

Dec 23 19:30 UTC 2003

Ew

response 587 of 588:

Dec 24 01:59 UTC 2003

Re#578: The holiday is to celebrate Emperor Akihito's birthday (Tenno
no tanjobi no hi).

According to our friends at the CIA:
    http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ja.html#People,

Japanese that "observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including
Christian 0.7%)".  But don't let statistics like that distract you.
Christmas is alive and well, if not transplanted entirely unscathed into
the Japanese milieu.

Keep in mind that the Japanese I've probably met personally are a small
slice of 127 million at large across the archipelago and most of those are
cityfolk living in Tokyo or Kyoto.  Having said that, my own experience
is that folks quite enjoy the Christmas spirit, at least in terms of
the lights, traditional music and the occasional Santa running around.
For many younger folks, Christmas is more like valentines day and they see
it as an occasion to go out on a "hot-o date-o" in some romantic locale.

Some of the stores treat it more like a sporting event with posters
touting "Christmas 2003!" (for our American readers, imagine this
being said by a Japanese announcer with a voice like the fellow who used
to do the "World of Wheels! Wheels!  Wheels!" adverts for the super car
shows).  

Personally, we find that if you are not too fussed about the details and
willing to celebrate approximately around the 25th rather than necessarily
on the exact date it's quite easy to get into the holiday spirit.  The
25th may not a business holiday but the emperors birthday just before is.
Wait a few days and you may avail yourself of new years, a national three
day event in indurance drinking.  And if you are on social terms with
your neighbors as we are, it's never a challenge to scare up a crowd to
share in some seasonal cheer...or as the case may be, "kompai!" :-)