Another national holiday!

I have just begun a lovely 3 day weekend, thanks to the wonder that is the Japanese National Holiday! I just can’t believe how many of the lovely lil fellas there are! Tomorrow is Foundation Day, whatever the heck that means! Well, I know what it means to me..a lovely lie-in, probably followed by a spot of shopping, lunch in town, meet some friends, and then back to the warmth (hmmm..maybe not!) of my apartment for a late-afternoon of DVD viewing! The whole period around New Year (29th Dec – 3rd Jan) was national holidays ; and then there’s also ;

10th Jan – Coming of Age Day
11th Feb – Foundation Day
20th March – Vernal Equinox
29th April – Green Day
3rd May – Constitution Day
4th May – National Holiday
5th May – Children’s Day
18th July – Marine Day
19th Sep – Respect for the Aged Day
23rd Sep – Autumnal Equinox
10th Oct – Health and Sports Day
3rd Nov – Culture Day
23rd Nov – Labour Thanksgiving Day
23rd Dec – Emperor’s Birthday

CRAZY…..but great!! It means I get a long wkend, virtually every month! And there is also the lovely little clump of them at the end of April / start of May…which is known as Golden Week. This week is great, because I am taking 2 days of my annual paid leave to join all the national hols up, and I get a 10 day break! I was hoping to go to Thailand in Golden Week this year…but my plans are a little on hold, as I have realised how expensive the flights to anywhere are that week, as every other person in Japan also has the same idea for a holiday as me! Drat! Am still waiting to hear back on a price for a China Airlines flight, but I’m not holding out much hope! Might just have to explore some more of Japan instead! Maybe save Thailand for Christmas….we’ll see!