Life in Fukuoka "English"

【Christmas Advent】

The whole city of Tenjin and Hakata is sparkling with Christmas lights and festively decorated Christmas trees at shopping centers around town. Have you been to Christmas Advent yet, a Christmas event in Fukuoka, the city of lights?
What is it? Some of you may wonder what it is, but it's actually the annual "Christmas Market" event. It has has been renamed "Christmas Advent" and scaled up for its 11th year!

You probably noticed illuminations and Christmas markets getting set up from around November 6 at various venues.  And you'll see even more as the streets of Hakata, Tenjin, and Nakasu  continue to be decorated every day until Christmas. Visitors can enjoy glittering illuminations, Christmas trees, many Santa Clauses, and stage events such as live music performances.

This year, three new venues have been added and more than 100 stores will be open, selling delicious gourmet foods, authentic and cute Christmas goods, and classic hot wine and hot chocolate.

The original event mugs are so popular that they change in design every year and people have really gotten into collecting them. This year, six different mugs are available for each venue. There's even a rainy day-only mug to collect as well.

The "Christmas Advent" has been newly reborn this year, with a townscape that looks like something out of a picture book, and is sure to put you in a joyful mood! Well, I hope you will have a memorable holiday time, this year!

https://christmas-advent.jp/

【DJ's Holiday Season】

Well, the Christmas Advent sounds like it will be pretty fun to go to this year. I've gone to the the Christmas Market every year it's been held so far, so I'll be sure to go this year as well. I'll probably also keep an eye out for other events in town as I have some time off during the month of December. I want to visit a couple of onsen, as the cold weather is perfect for long soaks in a hot spring, and I want to see a couple of movies in the theaters, like the Spy Family movie which is coming out next month.

For me though, Christmas is a pretty special time. When I was in the US, the whole family, my aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and sometimes friends all got together for present exchanges and a big potluck party. There was always so much conversation and laughter and a big poker game at the end of the night. Now that I'm in Japan, it's harder to meet family, but I have friends here who are like my family and I usually hold a Christmas party at home with them. We exchange presents, have a potluck lunch or dinner and usually end up playing board games.

That's my plan again this year, so I have to figure out what presents to get people and also plan out my menu! In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I like to check out the Shintencho, the Chikagai and a few other stores in Tenjin for ideas for Christmas presents. We also get the house ready for Christmas with decorations and we put up a tree in the living room and put ornaments and lights on it in preparation for presents from Santa! As for food, well on Christmas, I like to have ham, and Costco is handy for that and for lots of other foods as well! I'm looking forward to Christmas this year!

What do you like to do for fun over the holidays?