Dye Hard

Living in Japan I want our family to soak up all of the many cultural differences. However, when it comes to our American holidays, I am a die hard and can't help but do everything within my power to make our own traditions happen. My grandma always told me "where there's a will, there's a way" and I always replied "well, I got a lot of will!!!"First, I needed Easter baskets. The Japanese do not celebrate Easter; not the religions Christian Easter, nor the commercial Easter Bunny Easter. I used my creativity and bought buckets at the dollar store (hyaku-en) and then just decorated the handles with ribbons.Next, April Cook and I made plans for a hunt to take place on the Friday before Easter. I created an "e-vite" invitation and sent it to all our local friends. The funniest thing was that after people got the invitation requesting each person to bring filled plastic eggs, many asked, "what are plastic eggs???" I did not know this tradition was so foreign...ha! I had to send another email with more details, including where to find the plastic eggs (at the international market).Everything went really well including the weather... the rain held off until we were finished. My friend Hiromi helped to hide the eggs. I always rope her into my crazy ideas and she always ends up saving me from a mess. She is truly a lifesaver to me. I love this photo of her!


All in all it was a huge success that many requested we do again next year, including my own kids! Happy Easter everyone.