Christmas is coming,....

A couple of weeks ago a flash of light outside my window caught my attention. I looked out and my jaw dropped. I cocked my head like a dog who has heard something strange. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. But it was true. I was looking at one of those lighted waving santas next to a blinking Christmas tree. In Georgia we have a neighbor who puts up a lawn full of these things. But looking over the Japanese houses packed next to each other, the local bar sign written in kanji, the corner vending machine filled with green tree and a couple of waiting taxis and the waving santa....well, you know you ain't in suburban Kansas anymore. I knew Japan had started latching onto Christmas with gusto, but I wasn't prepared for this. In America we have Thanksgiving that works as a nice speed bump. But they don't have that here. And it just seems so odd. Driving by Christmas ornaments next door to a buddhist temple is just so strange. It's a wild and crazy country.