Our first Christmas together

Christmas Eve 2008: Jeff and I spent a romantic evening in Takamatsu at the Ana Hotel overlooking Takamatsu harbor. We had spent the day in a crazy daze in our attempt to travel here from Kurashiki. We were given instructions by Mr. Uchiyama, the gentlemen in charge of our self guided tour, on how to travel to Takamatsu by train. I had the instructions written out on a small piece of paper with a mindset to arrive without trouble. Our perfect plan was derailed, however, when the train stopped not in a town, but at a tiny station platform between two smaller towns. A young conductor dressed to the tee in his blue chinned hat attempted to inform of us of why we needed to exit the train. This was one of the few times in Japan where Jeff and I actually felt the sting of the language barrier. We had no idea what he was trying to tell us and he had no idea how to convey his message to us in any way other than his own. It took us a few minutes to be persuaded but we finally grabbed our things and unloaded ourselves onto the platform. The wind chilled me to the bone as I stood huddled amidst the large mass of people who had exited the train with my large backpack leaned against my feet. Jeff smoked a cigarette out on the end of the platform where the smoker's boundary resides. Our train, the Marineliner a glorious double decker of a luxury train, disappeared into the distance. We were absolutely dumbfounded. Where were we? Where is our train going? And how the hell are we going to get to Takamatsu? A small, subway-looking train car pulled up the the platform something like thirty minutes later. Everyone piled in. Every one. Recall the double decker detail of our previous ammenities and you can get the picture. I found my way into the luggage rack located behind a row of seats. I have never felt so crowded in my life - not in the stinky subways of Italy or even the busiest in Tokyo. I recall the yammering noise of shrill yapping coming from a huddled group of young Japanese school girls. It was defeaning. The train swayed along and finally stopped at Uno station, the end of the line. Jeff told me later that he was reading the train map on the wall, attempting to figure out our location in the instance that we were completely screwed. He saw us heading for the end of the line and wondered. We all piled out of the small cars and onto another platform - this one leading to a large ferry boat on a dock where trucks were being loaded. We were given a ticket and directed towards the boat where we waited. We had no idea where we were. What choice did we have? We got in line for the boat. Jeff questioned the ticket taker and those surrounding us, asking, "Takamatsu?" We received the general consensus that this was where we were headed so we boarded the boat and away we went. We surely arrived in Takamatsu after a beautiful ferry ride across the inland sea, one that I was not able to enjoy fully as I was pregnant and my stomach was also quite sensitive to the motions of the sea. We were informed later by Mr. Uchiyama that due to a strong weather system moving through the area, the wind speeds were so high that the Seto Inland Sea Bridge had been closed which explained our ferry detour. He also informed us that this was actually a very special detour as many Japanese never get to see the inland sea from a ferry and it is truly beautiful sight to see. Our ferry arrived in Takamatsu harbor and I recognized our hotel from the picture we were given on our itenerary. With our wonderful luck, it was located just down the street from the ferry port and we were able to walk there. The strong winds from the incoming storm blew ferociously along the sea front, it was like walking through a tornado to get to the hotel - I actually felt like I might blow away. I'm surprised some of the other people didn't. We settled into our hotel and readied ourselves for dinner. We had two vouchers to a Christmas dinner buffet at the hotel that we were both looking forward to. Feeling quite sick, I was definitely looking forward to a Christmas meal - even if it was a bit Japanese, I knew they would have to have something familiar that I could survive on. Sure enough, the most delectable crab legs Jeff and I have ever experienced. We ate heaps of them. And no, we didn't look like fat Americans because everyone else in that hotel was eating mounds of them too. The people in the kitchen had some special contraption that allowed them to cut a perfect rectangle ouf of every single leg that allowed you to dig into each one with a tiny fork and excavate every bit of meat. It was glorious. And the crab legs weren't it, everything was phenomenal. We sat by a wall of windows as the snow flurries floated through the black sea sky outside. The candle lights and dim glow reflected in the glass as we dined, living like kings.
Christmas 2009: Jeff and I are engaged, we have a four month old son and we are so blessed and happy with our lives together. We will spend our first Christmas together as a family in our home town at his grandfather's nursing home. While I understand completely and I have no complaints about doing this, we are spending our Christmas in a nursing home. How depressing is that? We will cook all the food and gather up all of the presents and bundle up the baby and drive over to Papa's nursing home so that we can all have Christmas together. I feel like a selfish person, but it's just not quite how I imagine us celebrating Christmas together. Let's hear it once more for 2009!