Yay yay yay for omiyage (if read correctly that should rhyme)

The Japanese have many traditions and customs, obviously I haven't learned about all of them, but I am starting to become familiar with some and so far my favorite one is the giving and receiving of omiyage. "These are customary gifts typically given by someone upon returning from a trip to be given to family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, business associates, teachers, classmates and any other person socially related to the returning vacationer" (Wikipedia). Perhaps I should rephrase... I enjoy receiving omiyage. So far in the past week I have received from my manager a lovely pencil case from South Korea, from my co-worker a huge colorful scarf from India that matches the picture frames in my apartment perfectly, and from two of my students an assortment of tea and face scrubs also from South Korea. There is also a large assortment of food in our school lobby that students and co-workers have brought from all over the world (people travel a lot during the New Year's season here). I do not currently have enough money to travel, but when I do I will also be expected to bring omiyage home for everyone at my school. That's the part that I am not so thrilled about. The Wikipedia definition is not an exageration, people seriously bring stuff back for EVERYONE here, and if you don't you're considered to be extremely rude and unthoughtful. It's not that I don't enjoy giving gifts to my friends, I actually really enjoy doing so, but having to spend money on every single person I've ever met in Japan seems like it might get a little pricey. Well, I plan on doing most of my traveling after my contract has expired anyway, so I probably won't be returning to Japan once I've gone on any major trips. It's also normal to bring back food or candy for the majority of the students, so if I go on any smaller trips while I am still here, I don't have to put too much thought into what I get. The only people I need to put a little more effort in with my gift giving decisions are my co-workers and since there are only three of them I think I can handle it.

Speaking of co-workers, today was my manager's last day. I forget whether I mentioned in any of my previous posts the fact that she is quitting. I'm kind of sad about it because she is very sweet and really knows what she's doing since she's been with the company for two years. I'm also nervous about having to adjust to a new manager who might not speak English and might not really know what he or she is doing (most likely she). I don't think it will be too bad though because I have my other two co-workers to go to for help, some people aren't so lucky. A friend of mine works at a school where it's just him and one other person who functions as both the manager and JET (Japanese English Teacher). I don't think I'd like that very much at all, it just seems so lonely.

Well, I'm suddenly quite sleepy and since tomorrow is Saturday I have to be at work earlier than normal (it starts and ends 2 hours early so it's still the same amount of time). I have been staying up way too late for no particular reason as of late, it's a habit I carried over from home and I don't think I'm going to kick it any time soon. So it goes... enjoy your weekends and leave me comments, because I still get really excited whenever I get any.