It’s the Christmas season again, and this time it will be our first Christmas in Nagano, in an actual house with a decent size Christmas tree. The kids are excited. So are their mommy and daddy!

We actually got all our shopping done last Wednesday, while Anri was at kindergarten. We figured it would be the only free morning to head out to Toys R Us and get all the shopping done. Sara and Noah were with us, of course, but they are too young to know what is going on.

As always, during this season, I was asked to appear as Santa at Anri’s kindergarten. If you’re a white man in Japan, they always want you to appear as Santa. Last year, Anri didn’t know it was me in the Santa suit. This year, she wised up. I came home from work later in the day and she walked right up to me, looked me in the eye and said, “Daddy, you were Santa Claus today, right?”

I asked her how she knew and she said that Santa’s voice sounded just like Daddy’s. Also, there are not that many English speakers in the area, so who else could it be. And then there is the ring on Santa’s finger — it looked just like the one Daddy wears. Smart girl. I told her to keep it a secret!

We will be opening presents on Christmas morning this year, and thinking of all our friends and family back in the US!