A pretty normal New Year's Day here in Nagasaki

It's late and I should be tired because we had a full day....full as in "busy" and full as in "Oh my God, I can't eat another bite!! Hey! Is there any crab left?"....but I'm not really tired. I'm like Issei sometimes....tomorrow is a holiday so going to sleep at the regular time is just silly! {smile}.

We did a lot of walking and climbing of stairs today...but we weren't the only ones...one would have thought the cold air would have kept many inside!! But, no...the streetcar was packed and the sidewalk we were walking on was almost dangerous there were so many people.

In Japan, the first visit to the shrine (or temple) is very important and though this visit can be done on any day, most people will try to go on Jan. 1. We went to the largest shrine here in Nagasaki....it's waaaaay up on top of a hill and there are many,many, many stairs to climb. (Actually...when my mom first came to Japan, she thought I was trying to kill her because I made her climb those stairs...granted, it was in August and freakin' hot and humid, but I did have a cold beer in my backpack as incentive!!)

And then there was the

Random Act of Kindness that almost gave a woman in a wheelchair a heart attack!!

At the place right before the last set of stairs before the entrance to the shrine, we had stopped to take a family photo. As we were about to start our climb again, I noticed an older woman in a wheelchair, slowly inching her way across the way. Keep in mind that the surface of this area is all rocks...and they are not very even. At one point, she got kind of stuck and her chair wouldn't roll up and over.....the people just kept walking around her, no one bothering to stop and help. So....I walked up behind her, took hold of the handles on the back of her chair and leaned in asking (in my most polite of Japanese) if I could help her.

She thanked me and said yes.....I pushed her to a place where she could take over again and as she was turning around to thank me....she realized that I was NOT a Japanese person. If you could put into English what her reaction was, it would be something like this, "ThankyouaaaaaaAAHH!"

I smiled.

She smiled back, bowed her head, then raised her head and looked me in the eyes and said, "Your Japanese is really good."

I laughed...."Thank you very much. Happy New Year."

To which she replied, "Hoppy New yee-ah."

That was just the best.

And so now....the slide show. Enjoy.

I hope that you are having a good New Year's Day.

If you're watching football, I hope your team wins.

If you are running a race today, I hope you do good.

If you are staying at home, I hope you are warm and you are with your family or friends.

And...if you are not with anyone today...thank you for stopping by and visiting us...vicarious visits are good, too!!