Home for the winter
Impromptu pasta dinner with Marie at Izzy’s apartment, in prep of a surprise
2025/01/14
After two long flights from Tokyo to Montreal, I finally met my dad at the arrivals gate. I felt greasy and frizzy from the trip, but my slimy feelings were replaced by the glee of seeing a fresh layer of snow outside the parking lot. I was glad to be home again, and to live my first Canadian winter in a while.
I have returned to my family home in Montreal twice since my move to Tokyo, but only during the summer. I loathe icy sidewalks and cold gusts of wind hitting my prone face, and I inevitably feel so lazy and heavy that anything fun sounds like a burden. But I looked forward to it, this time, and thoroughly enjoyed my stay.
Christmas with my extended family is an annual celebration of multiple days, many family dinners, and countless presents. We are loosely Christian on my dad’s side, but it really is more about keeping traditions alive than faith. The four of us (my dad, my mom, my brother, and I) drove two hours in a packed car to my aunt Jojo’s house.
Mt Royal
Papa showing off some moves
What a joy it is to be at Jojo’s! I was immediately greeted by Izzy, my beloved cousin, and by aunt Jojo and uncle Chris, and then a procession of hugs and kisses through aunt Coco and her boyfriend, my cousins Mark, Carl, and Anthony, and their partners. It’s a wide home, elegant but familial, clean but busy, with trinkets and knick knacks sprinkled here and there.
It took us two hours and a half to open up the presents under the Christmas tree. Halfway through we decided that Kanta Claus (my brother was appointed distributor) should just pass the gifts one after the other instead of one person at a time.
Friends for a decade!!
On the menu: one hefty turkey, warak enab (stuffed grape leaves), star-of-the-show cranberry sauce, soup, more soup, an abundance of salads and roasted veg, lamb and mango chutney pita pockets, scalloped potatoes, vol au vents, a selection of local cheeses purchased near the US border by my brother, and so on and so on. Also, a box of take out California rolls (the ones where they put spicy mayo and tempura, I have to specify).
After four days of eating and burping, Christmas was over. Back in the city with my friends, we didn’t do much except scrub the kitchen tiles with Pink Stuff and an old toothbrush (my cousin), talk relentlessly about our New Year’s resolutions, and walk around Plateau. At home, my mom worked on a puzzle and I crocheted while my dad wandered around us like a restless dog. In the evenings, he and my brother joined me for my yoga stretching sessions (my religion).
Impatient for dinner
Kanta Claus in his glory
New Year's Eve was fun. It was a groovy night, with my best friends. Nobody bothered us, it was just us dancing and walking out for smoke breaks in our little outfits in minus weather.
I met my brother’s new boyfriend, a quiet little guy who could never hurt a fly, in contrast to my loud, barking brother whose opinions fly out like hurried mice out of a dumpster. We are similar in that way.
Pre-drink glee
Pitiful…
What is usually the busiest time of year was restful and warming for me. The snow was like a tide that rose and dipped, but usually it was a nice duvet of a white so bright it was blinding outside. I enjoyed days of soft weather, with little wind. The highlights of my tranquil holiday were watching the birds gather at the birdfeeder in my mom’s yard (most birds are regulars, so they have nicknames), reading passages of Mary Oliver with my dad, and intricate blends of herbal teas (in consequence, I get woken up by my bladder at least once every night). I was grateful to be able to hang out with my family, who, of course, is just as talkative as I am, and to reminisce on my childhood that my home is so evocative of. I have such a loving, perfect family, and I wasn’t always understanding of them, but now, my heart soaks them up like bread cleaning up a bowl of soup.
Digestive stroll
I hope this year continues the way it started. My best friend Imane preaches, “peace of mind!”, and I can’t deny how satisfactory simplicity is. I feel odd thinking about how eager, experimental, and outgoing I used to be, and that perhaps I should go back to those ways, but there’s no need to change. In an attempt to break up with my image, I want to embrace my worldly desires as just fleeting itches, and work toward concrete goals. This isn’t my most riveting blog, but I am talking myself out of trying to make everything my magnum opus - everything is temporary anyways, might as well savor and document the time being.
Thank you for reading, and a special thank you to those who purchased my 2025 calendar - your support goes a long way (you can get it here). I’m looking forward to writing more this year, and talking to you all.
Mimi
