So what exactly do they have in Costcos in Japan?

My friend Emori-san took me to Costco today. Costco is one of the inevitable answers I always hear when I ask my friends or neighbors, "Where can I find X or Y?" The other answer is "Joyful Honda." Both stores are located close to each other, but about 10 km away from me, and impractical to visit by bicycle. Can you imagine me trying to peddle 100 rolls of toilet paper home on my little bike? I'd look like the old Charmin commercials the US used to have, with kids stuffing them into their pants so they don't get hurt when they fall down ice skating.

At first glance it would seem impractical for Japan to have Costcos. After all, we've all heard horror stories of tiny living spaces and small cars. And there are no basements to tidily hoard things in, unlike so many places in the US. But the Japanese have figured something out that few in America have: get the neighborhood in on it.

It's genius, right? Three or four people from the same neighborhood will go to Costco, buy what they need, and then come home and divvy up the goods. Inexpensive, efficient, and another reason to maintain neighborhood harmony. I call it a win for everyone.

So, here's the trip in a photographic nutshell:

Our parking spot, if you can believe it!

The view once you walk through the doors.

This is magic steak that would still taste tender,
even if you overcooked it.

My husband's lunch. I kid, but only a little.

Midway down is a full sized pool table.

There? On the right? Squid ink pasta sauce.

There was more. Of course. So much more. Fresh bread, tons of alcohol (literally, I'm pretty sure), clothing, toys, tents, lots and lots of chocolate, and quite a few American treats like Snickers and Dum Dum suckers that were fun to see. But the item I was most excited to find was:

An essential pantry item in the US.
Not so much in Japan.

Yup, you got it. Humble distilled white vinegar. Thanks to a litany of Facebook posters sharing the simple hacks that revolve around this liquid, I felt a little bit lost when I couldn't find it at our local store. Now, look out laundry, and windows, and deviled eggs! My secret weapon is back in my tool belt!

What happened to December?

So, I had the best of intentions for December. I really did. I was going to post, right after we bought the Christmas presents that needed to cross international borders. And then I was going to post after we finally got them shipped. And then I was going to post during my son and husband's holiday, but my husband and daughter got sick and then stayed sick. For. The. Whole. Holiday.

Like I said, I had the best of intentions. So, here's the gist of December from our POV.

We made our own tree out of construction paper hands. It's taped to our door. The lights cost us about $25.

My daughter with the beginning of our tree

All done! Kinda. The origami nativity ornaments
will hopefully be completed next year.

Origami shepherd (jawa-esque, right?), sheep, star,
and everything is always better with glittery pompoms.

The buck-toothed camel really adds a nice touch.

So, the tree was finished just in time for no one to care, honestly. We opened presents on the Japanese Emperor's birthday (two days before Christmas) because my husband needed to work on Christmas. The kids had an entire day of gorging themselves on the newness, delivered by the postman on behalf of our generous relatives in America, before my daughter came down with a severe cold that included delightful episodes of fever and barfing. Barfing, on our bed. And let me remind you that, while we have a washing machine with a capacity that can accommodate our bed cover, we don't have a dryer. That's called "outside," except when it's raining. Like it did, every day that my daughter threw up. And then my husband got sick. And then my son woke up with pinkeye and I had to have a neighbor drive me to the eye doctor with him on what was probably the last clinic day before the entire country went on vacation for a week.

Fast forward through that awfulness (how I envy you right now), and everybody is healthy now and life is pretty much back to normal. And the tree is still up. So maybe "normal" is overselling it a bit...