Monday, December 24, 2007

Happy Christmas

It's Christmas eve, and with the prospect of getting up to work in the morning, the old feelings of going back to school after the holidays is nostalgically stinking the air. The past weekend was spent in a hungover haze on Saturday following the Christmas party from the night previously. Thankfully the persistent rain laid any guilty feelings of wasting a precious day off to rest so I just lay on the couch and watched movies, did a bit of work on the new Cork Bird Report to be published next year. The Christmas party was good, the food was fine and the drink flowed. I was awarded a prize and presented with a plaque as an appreciation for the work I did in the year just gone. It was a nice gesture and one I will look fondly back on. The plaque will look nice on my wall, wherever that wall be next.

Sunday was spent working on the Cork Bird Report (nearly finished my section lads!!) and today was spent lazing and doing some more work on the Cork Bird Report. I watched American Gangster tonight to chill out and it was a good movie. Tomorrow, like everyone else in Japan, will be spent at my desk in the office, making sure that at least one man makes money and keeps well on board his own private life raft as the sinking ship that is Japan's economy slips slowly under the waves, bobbing over the surface every now and then. Christmas in Japan is a non event really. Christmas carols are played in the shops, with token decorations here and there...but that is it. The "traditional" Christmas dinner is a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken (I shit you not). When you explain to some locals that we don't do that, they baulk at the idea and think that that is funny. Come St. Stephen's Day, the decorations are taken down and the music in the shops ceases to be Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole. It's a funny ol' place at this time of year. Being here at this time of year doesn't make me feel homesick, or make me feel that I'm missing out on anything. It's just another day at the office, to coin a well used phrase.

However, for those of you reveling in the western festivities and traditional gluttonous gathering...I wish you all a very very happy christmas...to JW presently navigating the Drake Passage and looking upon Bransfield's Antarctic discoveries - I think all your christmas's have come at once :)

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating mixed fruit and belgian chocolates

Carmo's Birds: not a lot if anything at all

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Scarlett Johannson

13 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy Christmas,Mark.congrats on award, which you deserve. Will miss you tomorrow.
M

December 25, 2007 8:40 AM  
Blogger m.c said...

Nice one Mark, Will miss you on xmas day but will be thinking of you.

Dad.

December 25, 2007 9:02 AM  
Blogger Stuart Price said...

I wrote a slightly drunk comment sympathizing with your KFC comments..........and I checked back to see what I'd written and now it's gone.

Anyway.............I saw loads of locals lining up to buy KFC today in Hakodate. The fools.

I also said something about the Japanese economy............something like I hope I stay above water as I have nowhere else to go.

Hope you have a nice break at New Year anyways........

December 25, 2007 11:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you and yer belgian chocolates! happy christmas fella - for what it is worth over there - and nice wan on all de updates for de cbr - anyone would think the editors read this site regularly!! talk to ya soon hopefully, no doubt you'll be orf twitching at new year?

December 26, 2007 11:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

goosander today for cork biy - tink dat's 262 ya bas! di dya hear there's 9 cattle eejits around clon?

December 28, 2007 4:58 AM  
Blogger Carmo said...

mum and dad...thanks for caring...it means a lot :)

SCE: never saw those drunken comments and wish I had!!!! hope you have a great new years in Hokkaido. 'pool lucky as on the 26th...Stevie G aka God saving the day again

Col: you are such a tart...goosander, in fairness. Cattle eegits on my Cork list ya bas. Fantastic number in the area though. Hopefully we'll catch up with you between 18-25 when I'm home...talk on skype soon

December 29, 2007 1:24 AM  
Blogger Stuart Price said...

Happy New Year.............

After last night's Man City draw looks like the title is off the agenda yet again. Can't understand why he perseveres with Kewell who is so obviously past it, and Kuyt, who is useless. Babel looks our best attacking player after Gerard and Torres but he never starts?!?

Have a good night down there in the concrete jungle, I haven't had a p*ss up on New Year Eve in a big city since 1999 in Sapporo. Now that was a big one.......

Tonight will be with the in-laws, eating fresh crab and getting very very drunk only half (or a quarter) understanding all the conversation going on around me........

Anyway have a good one.

December 31, 2007 11:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy New Year,Mark,
Hope it will be all you wish for.
M

January 01, 2008 12:47 AM  
Blogger swan_pr said...

Happy new year there Mark. All the best for this one, lotsa birds 'n stuff :)

January 01, 2008 4:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

happy new year ya langer!

January 02, 2008 5:44 AM  
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