By: Naransuvd Bazarsad
Edited by: G. Vinuri U. Perera
To some of us, Christmas is the most important holiday of the year. So, have you wondered how it will be like to celebrate it in Beppu? Those who are stuck in their countries and are currently doing online classes have little to no clue what life is like in Japan. Therefore, we asked some students about how they celebrated Christmas away from home.
A second-year student from Denmark, Karina, describes her approach to celebrating Christmas at home as mostly spending time with family. However, celebrating away from home can be a different experience. Last year, Karina celebrated her first Christmas in Japan.
”I went with a friend on a small trip to Fukuoka for two days. We had teppanyaki and also went to see the illumination at Hakata station. As it is a traditional Christmas food in Japan, we also got some fried chicken, and most importantly, exchanged Christmas presents,” says Karina.
Since Christmas is also a religious celebration for Karina, she usually goes to Church during Christmas back home. “Although there are a few churches in Beppu, it will often be hard for me to understand what will be going on, so it’s not really been on my mind to go,” she adds.
Karina also describes that a large part of celebrating Christmas are the days up to Christmas, where you can bake cookies, open advent calendars, and set up a Christmas tree. This year, for Christmas, she hopes to make a traditional Danish Christmas feast for her Japanese share-mates, as she didn’t get to do it last year.
Rai, a third-year student from Nepal also shared his experience. Since he has been in AP House for two years, he describes his Christmas before Covid as having dinner with his dorm friends on one of the floors. Last year, he celebrated Christmas by watching Beppu bay from atop the mountain and going on a walk with his friends. Now that he has moved downtown, he is planning to celebrate with his closest friends at his apartment.
“For Christmas, you could go to a fancy restaurant or attend a party, but I recommend curling up under a Kotatsu. Have a few friends over, prep the KFC, share a drink, and maybe talk about your worst Oita Kotsu experience,” adds Rai.
Sarah and Tina, who are both AP House RAs, say that they celebrate with their friends either at AP House or their friends' apartments downtown by eating a festive dinner. Last year, Tina celebrated Christmas by making dumplings and chicken with friends for dinner and watching fireworks over Beppu Bay. One thing, Tina and Sarah both agree on doing on Christmas day, is eating Japanese strawberry sponge cakes. Since winter is the strawberry season in Japan, it is very common to eat strawberry cakes during Christmas in Japan.
“In Beppu, you can enjoy visiting hot springs during holidays. I also recommend camping and barbecuing at Shidaka lake!”, says Tina.
As you can see, students can celebrate Christmas in many distinct ways in Beppu. Most importantly, we can celebrate with friends, even if we cannot see our families. For those who are still waiting to come, we hope you can celebrate it with friends here in Japan next year, and still have a fun Christmas during the pandemic.
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