Living and Reading in Japan (5)

This weekly meme has been inspired by Michelle at The True Book Addict and Lisa at Lit and Life--Life: It Goes On...but I wanted to tweak it a bit for myself since I am living in Japan for the next year (2014-2015).

We had a great holiday and have been trying to stay healthy and get back into life in January.

Books I'm Reading:

1. The Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl Sagan.
2. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente.
3. The Goddess Chronicle by Natsuo Kirino.
4. Stiff by Mary Roach
5. The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can: Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer by Gretchen Reynolds

Books Finished:

1. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
2. American Afterlife: Encounters in the Customs of Mourning by Kate Sweeney
3. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride by Cary Elwes
4. The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

Looking Forward To:

Our trip to Tokyo. We're heading up there in a few weeks for Gabe's birthday. We are going to see Disneyland and Legoland and whatever else we can get in in just a few days!

Making:

I'll be making chocolate chip cookies this week. Last week I made a beef stew that turned out pretty good. I don't cook much, especially in Japan but every now and then I get something good made!

Watching:

Gilmore Girls I'm in its 6th season. It's good but this season is tough. The Fall is from the BBC with Gillian Anderson as the lead detective. The series focuses on all the grays that a serial killer is. It's just a fascinating series. Transparent is also on my list. So good.

Movies: Amelie. Such a cute and quirky and fun movie. Loved it! I'm sad I didn't watch it earlier.

Things I Did This Week in Japan:

We enjoyed New Year's in Japan. They do it a bit differently here. It's called Oshougatsu and it lasts 3 or 4 days. Everyone goes to their local shrine to donate money, say a prayer or wish and get a fortune. It's a ritual to help bring luck into your new year. We went on January 2 in the afternoon and stood in line while it snowed. We were surrounded by vendors on every side selling chocolate covered bananas and squids on sticks. I'm glad we got to experience this at least once. Then two weeks later they have a big bonfire where everyone tosses their Oshougatsu decor and arrows into the flames. That happened during the week so we weren't able to attend.

Last weekend we hiked up to another famous shrine and the Peace Pagoda. The weather has been nice with temps in the 50s during the day. But now this weekend little Gabe has gotten sick and hubby started on nights for a few weeks so weekends are harder to get out when he's on the nights schedule.

Grateful For:

Supportive family and friends.

I'm also grateful for e-readers and e-books. I've been able to get a lot of books that way which has been a lot cheaper than ordering physical books and having them sent to me here!