Dai Yorokobi. Is that how you say it? Big joy. Great joy. Maybe I made this up, but this is what I’m feeling today.

Our mail carrier delivered us a wonderful package of rice cakes from my friend Yoko in Japan. I haven’t seen her in over ten years, and yet she’s never forgotten to send me something special for Christmas.

This year we’ve exchanged email addresses — so I can thank her right away. And she’s been reading my blog — so maybe she already knows I got her package. Domo arigato gozaimasu! Totemo oishikatta desu! I can’t imagine how long it must take for her to write me in English — I sure could not write in Japanese without spending hours with a dictionary.

I don’t know if I have the right word for these — I say they’re Japanese rice cakes — senbei. But there may be another special term for them since they’re so exquisitely wrapped. (Almost like this picture, though they’re wrapped in lavender floral paper.)

Each individual package contains about 6 small rice cakes; some have nori (seaweed) wrapped around them, and others have different flavors. We all enjoyed them, and I taught my kids to say, Kore wa oishii desu, which means “this is delicious.”

Last week I received an enthustiastic email from a high school student who is head over heels in love with Japan. She’s trying to figure out how she can go there, and she’d love a pen pal to correspond with. Are any of my Nihonjin readers interested in corresponding with an American high school student? Please comment or email me. Here’s a little bit of her message to me:

My plan is to be there for a semester next year (my junior year). I know I am young and I haven’t been away from home much, but this is my dream…I hope to get a job soon and then I will spend the rest of my time studying this language and culture. Do you know of any families in Japan that are looking for a penpal?

How exciting! More dai yorokobi. There’s nothing better to do while you’re young and in high school than to get away from the stifling peer pressure and do something DIFFERENT. When I was her age, I was so caught up in petty, boring things — like what to wear on the weekends — when LIFE in the real exciting world was passing me by. I didn’t know anything existed beyond the walls of my high school. So this student is WAY ahead — and I’m thrilled that she shared her dreams with me.

Here’s something to memorize — from my Japanese Bible:

Itsumo yorokonde inasai. Taezu inori nasai. Subete no koto ni tsuite kansha shinasai.
(If my romaji spelling is wrong, it’s been a while — sorry.)

“Be joyful always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18a.

P.S. Thanks to those of you who have faithfully kept voting for me during this 10-day Weblog Awards polling. Today’s the last day you can vote.