December 28th 7pm
C seemed tired, so we put her down for bed. As soon as she seems to be sleeping, she sits up and gets sick. Maybe it was just something she ate? We take her out, change sheets and pajamas, then put her back down.
8:30pm
Repeat. Then repeat again every half an hour for the next few hours. At least J is OK…
10pm
J wakes up as we’re changing C’s stuff again. He gets sick. Running out of towels and sheets…
12:30 am
J again
The final count was J-2, C-11ish. At least it’s just them…
December 29th
Haha, you thought one of us was gonna get sick. Classic misdirect. J ended up with an on-and-off fever, and both of them got sick like once a day, which is fun when there’s no doctors open. Luckily we have technology, and you can do a virtual appointment. We never found out exactly what it was, so we’ll just call it the Bedrock bug because if anyone can catch a stone-age disease, it’s kids who go to preschool (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go watch the Flintstones Christmas Carol you uncultured swine. Millennials always go on about the Muppet version, but I think the Flintstones one deserves more recognition than it gets). We just hoped it would go away before our trip to Legoland.
December 30th 10pm
I think I ate too many peanut butter balls. My tummy feels a little… oh. Needless to say, I was out of commission for NYE and broke my 20+ year streak of always staying up (I did still set my alarm for 11:59 because I had to).
My biggest disappointment in going to bed early was missing the new Run for the Money. Japan, unlike America, provides some quality NYE tv. American NYE programs are usually just B/C-list actors who often aren’t particularly entertaining getting drunk interspersed with musicians singing songs that most people are sick of by then (if I’ve heard them at all). Japan historically had two main programs. The Red/White Song Battle Kohaku Uta Gassen and the No Laughing Game Waratteha Ikenai. Uta Gassen puts the most popular musicians of the year on two teams – female performers on the red team, male on the white team. In the case of groups, it depends on the vocalist. Then judges decide which team did better. I’ve never watched it, largely for the same reasons I complained about the American concerts. I would usually watch the No Laughing contest where five comedians would spend a day in some place (some themes were school, police station, hospital, etc.) and be put in ridiculous situations to try and make them laugh. If they laughed, masked men would run into the room and spank them with huge paddles (spank seems a weird word choice here, but it’s exactly what they did). They stopped doing it during the pandemic, and since then one of the main guys has been dealing with s.a. allegations, so I don’t see it coming back (though I think he’s still on TV).
The new go-to is Tosochu – Run for Money. Imagine Squid Game, but only tag, and less murder. I think one of the episodes is available on Netflix. Basically, 30-40 (I think) Japanese celebrities are released at a mall or theme park. Then a number of Hunters (tall guys in black suits and sunglasses) are released and chase down the celebrity “fugitives.” The longer a fugitive stays in the game, the more money they get (as long as they don’t get caught). You only get the money if you last the whole time (a few hours) or if you can get to a special location and quit. A number of challenges are introduced throughout to mix it up and keep things interesting.
The image of the hunters is so well known here that students will call me a hunter any time I wear sunglasses (for some reason, sunglasses aren’t super common here). Last fall, the 3rd year JHS students at my school (so their last year together before they all go to different high schools) had a dodgeball tournament in their gym class. When it was finished, the male teachers came out wearing suits (it was still way too hot for suits) and sunglasses. They then played their own version where they tried to tag out all the 3rd years (so about 5 teachers, 300+ students). I had just been watching, but was wearing my sunglasses, so after a bit, I jumped in to join them. I got a decent number of kids out, but I’ve never been one for running long distances. So I’d rely on the other teachers (and a number of students who were made hunters) to help trap them.
Anyway, for many people in Japan, it’s a tradition to watch the first sunrise of the year. We were awake for it, but that would have required going outside. I felt much better the next day, though we had to delay our Legoland trip by a few days (always get flexible booking). Another tradition is to go to a shrine, though we’ll probably do that in a week or so. At the shrine, people will pray and draw an omikuji, which is like a detailed fortune. Like, super detailed. I’m just gonna copy this part from Wikipedia:
- hōgaku (方角) – auspicious/inauspicious directions (see feng shui)
- negaigoto (願事) – one’s wish or desire
- machibito (待人) – a person being waited for
- usemono (失せ物) – lost article(s)
- tabidachi (旅立ち) – travel
- akinai (商い) – business dealings
- gakumon (学問) – studies or learning
- sōba (相場) – market speculation
- arasoigoto (争事) – disputes
- ren’ai (恋愛) – romantic relationships
- tenkyo (転居) – moving or changing residence
- shussan (出産) – childbirth, delivery
- byōki (病気) – illness
- endan (縁談) – marriage proposal or engagement
There’s usually 5 levels of luck. But the fortunes will be different even for the same level. Maki always gets mad because I tend to get the luckiest one more often than not [Note from the future: I got a mid-low luck this year]. You can also buy an omamori, which is like a good luck or protection charm. I will also usually get a special new year’s goshuin, or red seal. I think I talked about it a decade ago. I’ll add a picture below. Lately, those are the only ones I’m able to get since I don’t travel around like I used to.
Instead of all that, we just sat around and watched a movie together. Gathering our strength so that we could hopefully still make it to Legoland in a few days…
Will our heroes make it to Legoland? Or will they be captured by Hunters? Is Fred Flintstone a terrible father? Find out on the next episode of the Gaijin Chronicles! Dah dahh dadahhh da dahh duuhhh.
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