The holidays have now officially begun with Thanksgiving. Actually, the day's over here. Somehow, without friends and family to surround myself with during these times, it just doesn't feel the same. Often, it's the family gatherings and parties with friends that we enjoy so much during these times. I guess the positive way to look at my situation now is that those same "family gatherings and parties with friends" won't distract me from the real meaning behind this season... the birth of Jesus Christ. There's no denying that I'll have yet another "different" Christmas, but that doesn't mean that it'll automatically be any less joyful.
To further lift my spirits, just yesterday I got two packages! One of em was from my home church's womens' missions group. It was of course a big coffee can filled with homemade baked goods. I started getting them for the holidays when I was going to college. But now that I'm in Japan, I'm even more happy that I got it because I can't get some of the ingredients that were used to make the baked goodies! I'm sure every bite will just remind me of home.
The other package was from Lauren in Nagoya. She is awesome. Inside the box was a bunch of Thanksgivingy stuff and just general food stuffs. Corn bread mix, gravy mix, cranberry sauce, barbeque sauce, and even some baked goodies just to name a few! I'm sure some of you guys from back home are just laughing from reading that list because you all can get the stuff for cheap at your local Safeway or Ralphs, depending on where you live. But consider living in a city where the "supermarkets" carry nothing but the strangest foods, 7 different kinds of corn flakes, and every fish known to man. Ok ok... slight exaggeration. But I swear... Cap'n Crunch, Mother's Animal Cookies, and Nutter Butters never tasted so good.
Going back to the story... I remember after tearing the packaging tape away and opening the top of the box saying only two phrases, "Aww yeah," and "Oh shoot!" as I digged through the contents. It was a happy moment.