NOT About the New Year (Seriously)

So many posts about the New Year and crap, am I right? I’m not going to waste your time with that. Go ahead, read. I won’t stop you. I know you’re dying to hear about what I’ve been up to.

Thankfully, we were able to slow down and enjoy some quiet time for the holidays. Martha and I have been engaged in various, non-work activities since the 23rd of December. I will now detail a few of those activities for you. That’s right! You’re welcome.

1. On the 21st of December, we picked up a friend’s ferret. You see, our friend Jessie was coming to visit and we wanted to have some transportation (other than a motorcycle) that would be suitable for traveling around to various destinations in Miyazaki Prefecture. Our friend here in Miyazaki who was traveling home for the holidays offered to let us use her car, but we also had to babysit Choey, her pet ferret. Thus, we had a ferret for ten days.

I have never owned a ferret.

I could say a lot about owning a ferret, but suffice it to say that they are basically smellier versions of cats. Much smellier. Oh, and every time I tried to “play” with him, I completely failed and ended up running around the house, chasing him, and tackling him with a towel so that I could maneuver him back into his cage.

This method never worked, which was a surprise to no one. I have to throw a lot of thanks to Martha for dealing with said ferret, as I apparently am not cut out for giant rodent relations.

2. On the 23rd of December, we picked up our friend Jessie! Yay! She is from Akita. Remember that illustration of Japan as a banana? Jessie lives very near the top of the banana, and we live close to the bottom.

As it had previously snowed what appeared to be 34 feet in one night (I am estimating from pictures that she showed us), she was happy to visit us in the sunny south!

3. We visited various things with Jessie. During her time here, we happened to meet up with the family of another friend who is from Wales and her entire family who were visiting for the holidays. They were lovely people. We all went up and hiked to the top of a “mountain”  (don’t get me started on these hills that they call mountains) a couple of hours away from Miyazaki. We climbed to the top and had an amazing view! It was really fun.

No, I didn’t draw the family or Jessie in that picture. Sue me. I don’t get paid for this, you know. Gosh.

4. Dear reader, I know that I sort of posted about Christmas, but I wanted to mention here exactly what we did. We ate cake, opened presents, and went to KFC for some golden brown, oil-soaked holiday cheer.

Jessie is a vegetarian, so she had french fries!

Only the best for our Christmas table!

5. Sadly, the revelry could not last forever. Jessie had to go home. That gets a number all by itself, because it was really good to see her.

6. Martha and I spent the remaining time celebrating the new year (See, I lied to you. I AM going to talk about the new year. I just wanted to let you know that sometimes people will let you down. You’re welcome. That is free advice.). We did this various ways: visiting the local shrine, buying “happy bags”(discount clothing grab bags), and going for a drive into the mountains where we discovered some amazing scenery.

Oh yeah, and this year being the Year of the Dragon, we decided to fight a dragon to ring it in! Also, the local townspeople were being attacked. Yes, we’re just that great at helping people in need. Here is an actual action shot from the day:

Of course, Martha DID tease the dragon a bit. That MAY have been why it attacked the local village.

Still, we’re awesome.

Happy New Year everyone!

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