Yeah...

If anyone were bored enough to go back to the early days of this blog, they'd find a bunch of invective-filled posts ranting about what a strange and barbaric place I thought Japan was. If they took the time to read forward, they'd probably find that I've mellowed a bit about living in Japan. In fact, I barely talk about Japan at all on this blog these days. I've been here over 11 years now. Only a fucking moron would stay that long in a place that he hated. I don't hate Japan...

This year, after several attempts, I actually enjoyed myself during New Year's in Japan. I enjoyed a couple of days in the countryside at my in-laws. I enjoyed (and, to be honest, have always enjoyed) the obvious love my wife's family has for our daughter. I enjoyed a couple of days away from the pc (although I managed to get hockey scores from my cell phone--nhl.com is very cell phone friendly!).

I enjoyed going out on New Year's Eve with my father-in-law to put out the various offerings to the gods at the various places (work and home). Yeah, I'm an atheist, but I'm not above helping someone with a job to do (read into that whatever you like!). My own father died before I came to Japan, so I especially enjoyed that my father-in-law seemed very pleased that I accompanied him on his appointed rounds. Guys are funny like that...

I enjoyed the food, as always. And the drink. If the worst thing you can say about someone is that they don't dig Led Zeppelin or drink till dawn, well, what kind of criticism is that, really? The fact that I do like Led Zeppelin and drinking till dawn is why I'm here at home posting this now. I came home on the train this evening. My wife and daughter will come home tomorrow evening. This is an "out" given to me. In fact, I could have stayed at my in-laws and drank my face off if I'd have liked. Nobody would have blinked.

I enjoy that I've earned the respect of my wife's family. They have my deepest respect.