In the afternoon I went over to Mr. Komuri’s house in Akashi to have a New Year’s soba party. He met me at the station and told me that unfortunately his sister and her family had fallen ill and couldn’t attend, so it was just me, him, and his son.
It was my first time meeting his son, who is a third year high school student at Akashi Nishi high school, the school right next to my apartment where Jane works. He was pretty good at English, and we had some good conversations.
Once again we brought out the soba noodle making materials, and this time it went really well. The soba was delicious. We also made gyoza (pot stickers) and cooked them right there on the table. By the time it was time to leave I was full – Mr. Komori kept trying to give me beer, and I didn’t want to turn him down.
After leaving him to prepare to entertain another set of New Year’s guests, I went to Akashi station and met up with Kuniko. She and I drove to Portopia Island, a man-made island where I had my mid-year conference. It’s just south of Sannomiya, and there is a theme park there. Theme parks are popular places to go for New Year’s Eve, especially with people in our age group.
We got there early and walked around a bit. It was interesting to see a Japanese theme park – it wasn’t owned by some American company like Universal Studios Japan or Disneyland. That being said, there was a distinctive European feel to it – and the whole place seemed like it was designed like somebody’s vision of an eastern European country.
One thing that was tough to deal with was the wind. It was pretty cold, and the wind was blowing hard enough to really chill out any exposed body parts. We kept our hands and faces buried in our jackets as we walked around, and during the rides it was particularly cold. Occasionally we would stop in the arcade to warm up. There were really interesting games there, including a horse race game where you actually ride a mechanical horse.
Finally just before midnight we gathered in front of a stage. They had an acapella group performing just before midnight, and one of the members is a friend of a friend of Kuniko’s. Sometime in January we are planning on going to see them in concert, and this was a free preview. They were pretty good, but Kuniko said that didn’t sound so great this time around.
Finally the moment of truth came, and they did a one minute countdown. At the stroke of midnight they let loose with 30 minutes worth of fireworks. It was great – fireworks in Japan are a little different than what I’m used to. Some of them seem a little more dangerous.
Freezing from head to toe we went back to the car to take off, and thanks to a good parking spot we got out of there quickly.
We came back to my place to spend the night, and tomorrow we’re going over to spend time with Kuniko’s family on New Year’s Day. It should be fun!
