Like last year, I have to work on Christmas and my birthday… but the 23rd is a national holiday here, so I managed to get a 3 day weekend. Yay! Hitomi and I celebrated Christmas on Tuesday, since she had the day off as well.

Yesterday, when I came home from work though, I found a surprise! There were lit candles, cake, and sushi on my table. Then Hitomi jumped out and surprised me. Earlier in the month she secretly made a copy of my apartment key and had been planning this for a while. So we had a really good birthday dinner and dessert, and I got presents from Hitomi, and her mom and grandmother (who gave me a hand-made hanten, which is like a warm Japanese winter vest). So nice!

There’s only a few days until we go to the US. I’m excited, and I don’t think it’s sunk in for Hitomi yet, as she’s quite busy with her work too. We both still have to pack too! Oy! Really busy…

Oh yeah, and Merry Christmas everybody!