The kids in the church pageant.
Denny and Savannah were both shepherds. 
Denny talking with one of his girlfriends. 
Neighborhood Christmas party - This is Tenga kun. He showed up in this hat and I quickly figured out that it would stick straight up on its own. 
This was the spread. We had paella, cheesy potatoes, yaki soba, thai noodles, California rolls, jello salad, pasta, beef, cheese, veggies, and more. We ate a lot and had a few BEvERages to wash it down with. 
Elin getting the present exchange situated. 
The boys figuring out which present to choose. 
Savannah and her new bunny slippers. 
Yumi chan received a Hello Kitty stationary box. She loved it. 
Elin the master party planner in action. 
Finally!!!! It wasn't me that the kids attacked. Takazawa san took one for the team this night. 
On Sunday afternoon, we took the Santa Train from Mooka to Motegi. The train is a steam engine that runs every weekend. The Santa Train is one weekend a year where they dress it up in Christmas decorations. I saw this train-wash and thought it was neat so I took a picture.
Denny on the train. We were fortunate enough to get a seat so we had to stand for most of the trip to Motegi. Denny managed to sweet-talk his way into a seat... well, let's be honest, he made room for himself. He and Savannah shared time on the seat. Eventually, three guys got off at their stop and we took their seats. 
SANTA!!! ... ... Whaaa? ... Huh? I don't think that was actually Santa. I think that might have been one of Santa's helpers. 
A painting at one of the stations along the way. 
Yeah, we couldn't get a seat, but the snowman was quick enough to get one. Look at him all smug about getting a seat. 
Picture of the first engine. They ran two engines today for some reason. We were told that this is very rare to run both of them. So, there were a LOT of people along the way to take pictures. 
Coal bin on the lead engine. I thought the coal would smell a lot more, but for the most part, I didn't smell it much. I was surprised. 
The train on the way to the turn-table. We had arrived in Motegi and luckily were told that they were going to turn the train around. We waited around to see it happen. Check out the video below. 
Steam engine on the turn-table.
Another one of Santa's helpers, I think. This man was one of Santa's engineers. He spoke very good English. He said that Santa sent him to the University of Michigan to learn Mechanical Engineering. He works in Santa's diesel engine design facility. 
Fruit and Liquor... now how can you go wrong with this place? you want a rum and coke with lime... you got it. You want strawberry daiquiri... no problem. 
Is this, or is this not the barbershop? (movie quote, who knows it?) We passed this sign and I thought this dude was hilarious. I had my hair cut a few weeks ago so unfortunately, I wasn't able to frequent the 'cut-shop'. 
We passed this shrine on the way to lunch. We visited it later. Pictures below...
Picture of some interesting leaves and berries. 
I have to disagree... my brand is Levi's, Wrangler or Lee... Never heard of BIG JOHN, but I thought it was funny. Jeans for work'n sports. Sports? Jeans? 
We found a ramen restaurant after walking a few blocks. The place was almost empty when we arrived, but quickly filled up by the time we received our food... just in time. Notice the kerosene heater in the middle of the room. We are also using kerosene heaters for most of our day time heat and then use our electric 'aircons' for heat in the bedrooms at night. THERE IS NO CENTRAL HEATING HERE!!! When I get up for work and leave the bedroom, I can see my breath. Basically, it is the same temperature in the house as outside. We have a heated toilet seat - life saver... The shower room is also not heated so you have to strip down and get the hot water running as quick as possible to get warm. Needless to say, it is about the most uncomfortable minute of the day. 
Elin and I ordered what we thought was tantanmen which is a spicy ramen noodle dish. We know we asked correctly, but we received what we think was shio ramen (salt). Not sure. It was good, just not what we expected. 
Denny and Savannah usually get shouyuu (show yoo) ramen which is soy sauce based. 
The family outside the restaurant near the river. 
Denny and Savannah at the river. 
Denny with a mouthful of candy. The Burger family sent us a Christmas package which included candy. Denny received Lemonheads which he loves. Savannah received Brach's chocolate, cherry chews. As packages have arrived, the kids have been opening them. They love getting mail so it is hard to try to keep it from them.
The family on a bridge. I loved the carp casting and had to get a picture of it. 
I saw these "berries" and had to take a picture. I am not sure I have ever seen anything like this before. If anyone knows what they are, I am interested to hear about them. I hope they are not just weeds...
Dragon water dispenser at the shrine. 
Statue at the shrine. 
The actual shrine. 
Uhhh, no offense, but you need to work on you Christmas tree a little. 
Savannah and Denny in front of a plastic statue of Doraemon. He is a robot cat from the future. His comic books are very popular and have been around for about 40 years. I think mice ate his ears off and he is afraid of them because of that. Doraemon was one of my kanji reading homework assignments. 
When we returned from lunch, they had the whole train turned around. 
Elin on the train back to Mooka. Yeah!!! We were fortunate enough to get seats. Chaeck out Their travel mate below in the movie section. 
Denny and I sat together. I tried to get his picture, but he insisted on a close-up... Denny being Denny. He is a crack-up sometimes. 
Santa's helper came around with different hats to take pictures. Denny chose the Santa hat. I tied to get it to stick up, but it would not so I flipped it forward on him. 
Savannah chose the reindeer headband. 
One of the games that they played was a card game. Each child received a card and Santa's helper chose from another deck. When there was a match, the child that matched received a gift. Denny matched on the 7 of hearts... lucky seven. He received a train ruler. The muffin was a gift that all the kids received. 
Denny wanted to take a picture... I thought he did a good job. His subject was a wonderful choice and the composition is top notch. Church pagent.
Kids playing a game at church. The object is to have the least paper in your circle at the end of the time allowance.
Candy, candy, candy. Luckily, the kids shared this candy at our Christmas party later on Saturday.
Takako Mitani san showing off her brand new hot pants... well, that's what I call them.
Santa Train coming into Mooka station.
Mad dash for seats... as I mentioned, we were a little too late to get them. I think I also got some footage of the steam engine.
Movie from the inside of the train. You can see all of the people along the way trying to get pictures of the train. We thought it was because of the Christmas implications, but as I mentioned, later found out that the dual engine set-up was rare.
Letting off some steam. I took this one after we pulled into Motegi station.
The first engine on the turn-table.
This is probably the happiest person in the world. Elin and Savannah sat with him on the way home. He waved to EVERY person from Motegi to Mooka. Excitable little guy isn't he? After spending an hour with him, we thought he should have his own television show. This was a really nice day. It really got us into the Christmas spirit and we are all looking forward to spending some time together. The kids are off school as I am off work so it will be a nice vacation for all of us.
Merry Christmas in case I don't get to update before Saturday.
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