The month of January was full of fun. We went to our first Sumo tournament with our friends Rie and John. Our seats were great and it was interesting to learn all that we did about the matches that we were watching. There were lots of English pamphlets. I think that it has become a touristy event. Many of my Japanese friends have told me that they haven't ever gone to see a match. However, most of my gaijin com padre's have told me that if they haven't, they'd really like to. The matches themselves lasted only a short time, but the ceremonial things they did prior to fighting were really interesting. 
They threw salt into the ring to chase out bad spririts, the slapped their bellies and thighs, they squatted into fighting stance a certain way, and they walked into their corners to drink the holy water in the same manner. Everything was done in a very cerimonial way. The tournaments last 15 days, and we went to one of those 15 days. For each day of the tournament, there are matches from morning to night. We were only their for the mid level and high level sumo-san's. It was a fascinating experience. I hope that Jeremy and I have another chance at going.
Also in January, was Jeremy's birthday. On his actual Birthday, we went to an asian style Applebees-of-sorts restaurant called, The Monsoon Cafe. They have great food there and it's huge. Jeremy found his favorite beer, chang beer, and we had quite a few. What he wasn't expecting, was the whole restaurant to look at him and sing him Happy Birthday, while this giant dish of fruit got sat in front of him with candles poking out the top. It was a spendy Birthday surprise, but well worth the look on his face :o)Then, to celebrate with our friends, we went out for karaoke. It was also our friend, Vicky's Birthday, so we celebrated together. It was fun. One of Vicky's young students gave her these Happy Birthday cake sunglasses, so they were passed around all night.
After karaoke, we went to an Irish pub called, Eurohouse, where we proceeded to drink the night and morning away. Here we are taking Tequila shots. It was also fun.
We also went to an ice bar with Lisa in hopes to find another cool place to hang out like the one we found in Hokkaido. Unfortunately, this place was no where near as cool, and was SOOO expensive!!! I wouldn't recomend wasting your money or time...
It was soooo tiny in there... but they did give us warm cloaks to wear. And a funky dog keychain.
