happy new year!

it's 2013! wow...i can't believe it. 2013 is the year of the snake and heisei 25 in japan. the past few years i've been in japan, a majority of the stores were closed on january 1, with a handful opening on the second and more opening on the third. perhaps taking a page from america, a lot of stores opened up on january 1! convenience stores (conbini) and gyu-don places are always open. and don quijote, i guess. this year, zara was open! uniqlo was open (and having sales)! and of course cafes like starbucks were open to give the citizens their coffee fix. i feel sorry for the people that had to work on new year's day. but, i am glad that there were out there! of course, the big new year's day thing in japan is the nengajo (new year's cards). they arrive the morning of january 1, and you get to see how many people love you. i got a card, one lonely card, from someone who i really don't remember...but i am grateful! thank you, random person!