"Lucky am I to have existed in such a place." -Sven

Nice weather today. I was able to get a good picture of the ski hill. I might mention that I took this picture from the window right behind my desk at the board of education. YES, I am that close to the ski hill. YES, I can walk to the ski hill if I really want to. (There is also a bus, though.) Yesterday I went snowboarding during work because the special ed. teacher who works in the same place as the BOE decided to take two of his students up and asked me to "help". We stuck to the bunny hill, but the kids were perfectly capable skiers so the teacher and I were just having a casual ski (I was snowboarding, of course) alongside them. Conditions were great and even though it was only a short and non-challenging run, I had a lot of fun.

Today's Temperature

At 8:00am this morning it was -22.7 degrees Celsius, that's -8.86 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrrr!

Comments onegaishimasu!

Hello and Season's Greetings to all of you all over the world. This post is a request, specifically for those of you who know me, but open to anyone who just happens to visit the site. Please post comments to this post: Tell me about one tradition or event that happens in your life during this time of the year. I'm assuming you'll pick something that you enjoy, but anything is welcome.

Please remember that your comments will be posted to the internet where they are viewable by the world (in theory, although it's unlikely that my blog is visited by quite that many people). In any case, you may want to think before posting your real name. You don't need to post any name or you could post a nickname/job title/split personality/ cat's name. If you post only your first name you are probably pretty safe, especially if your name is something like Bob, John, Fred, or Alice. ;) Also, PLEASE DO NOT post things like: your home address, your phone number, your credit card numbers, your social security number, or your entire genetic sequence.


Posting is simple, just click on the "'#' comments" link with the pencil next to it. Don't be shy, and feel free to reply to somone else's comment if it interests you. I'll go first, read my comment by clicking on the same link as to post. :)

Cellos and okonomiyaki

Went to a cello concert tonight at a local kimchi resturant. Kimchi is a korean dish that is basically fermented cabbage (mmm... yummy!). Surprisingly, kimchi is quite delicious. A korean couple run the place and the wife played the cello. It was quite beautiful. Afterwards my supervisor and his wife invited me to go out to dinner so we went to a nearby okonomiyaki place. the only way I can describe this dish is that it is like an omelette, but it can have anything in it and not always egg. The owner speaks great English, so he talked to me and the food was great. Now I'm full and back home. Time to prepare for tomorrow's class. ;)

It's beginning to look a little like...

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree... This is my splendiferous three foot tall Christmas tree. But now it has a bunch of presents under it thanks to my loving family who mailed me these beautifully wrapped gifts all the way from the states. If I put a star on top the tree might tip over, but maybe I'll look for some tinsel or something somewhere to add to my beautiful tree before the magical day. By the way, in case you couldn't tell, it is a plastic tree. I find that the plastic ones need less water and still give back the same amount of love that the real ones do.

Let it snow!

Snowy night in Furano. It's been snowing like crazy around here today. It comes almost to my knees. You can't see cars except for mirrors sticking out and the tops of the wheels. Tonight I went out for yakiniku (Japanese-style barbeque) with Japanese friends. You order the meat seasoned the way you like it and then cook it at a grill in front of you. It was delicious as always. Afterwards was karaoke. Sang mostly Japanese songs, but some pretty nostalgic English songs as well: Green day, Billy Joel, even Backstreet Boys. (Trying to find ones that they knew as well.) Now I'm back. Time for sleep. If I go snowboarding tomorrow the slopes will be great. ;)

Onsen ho!

Japanese style room complete with futon at an onsen hotel. Onsen are the Japanese public baths which are often (as in this case) fed by natural hot springs. I stayed here for a weekend with my Supervisor and his wife (they were across the hall). It was really fun and relaxing. When I came I was pretty wary of the dreaded "public baths". Having visited numerous baths now, I can honestly say that I love going to the public bath. This weekend was just eating, bathing, reading, playing cards, bathing, eating, bathing... It was very relaxing. To anyone planning to visit Japan, I encourage you to give it a try at least once. Of course the first time you might be a bit freaked out and not enjoy it as much, but after you get used to it... Who knows, you might even enjoy it. ;) The floors of the room are tatami mat, which is made from woven straw. When you enter the hotel you remove your shoes (right at the entry-way) and get slippers on. In your rooms you remove your slippers, except for the bathroom which has another set of slippers.

Near Tokachi-dake

A winter wonderland. I'm pretty sure that the fields under this snow are rice fields. This is near Furano. The mountains in this picture all have names. Maybe sometime I will figure out which is which and post it with this picture. There sure is a lot of snow around here.

Snowy roads are calling

Snowy day near Furano! Gives you an idea of the driving conditions around here.

This was posted by cell phone!

Looking out the window from the Board of Education I can see the ski hill. Absolutely fresh powder!!! Maybe I'll go this weekend. ;)

Welcome

Hi all,
I've decided to move my "Commentaries and stories" page to blogger.com, since it was basically in blog format anyway. (If you don't know what a blog is, this is a blog; now you know.) It is faster and easier to just post quick messages up this way, and I can even send up messages from things like my cell phone.
Of course, the main site still works and has many pictures, etc. If you are someone who just found this page and doesn't know the main site address, it is:
http://www.geocities.jp/cwdpk992/TeacherInJapan.html
It won't be updated until after Christmas, but this blog page will.
The other great thing about doing this with blogger.com is that you can post comments to any of my posts. Please do, I love to hear your comments and will post replies.
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So, since I'm here. Today is Friday, here in Japan. I'm still here working as an Assistant Language Teacher of English at Japanese Junior highs and Elementary schools. I live here in Furano, Hokkaido, and right now it is really cold and snowy. We won't be seeing the roads again (except for one or 2 really main ones) until Spring or Summer. Christmas is coming and, though it will definitelly be a white Christmas here, it does lack in the Holiday spirit department, seeing as how no one celebrates Christmas here. On the 25th they will eat Christmas cake, and then prepare for the real party, New Years. Some families have adopted the custom of exchanging Christmas presents. Western stuff is really popular in Japan, so things are picked up quickly, if slightly modified. I mean, they got Christmas cake from us, but I'm not sure as I can say I've ever eaten Christmas cake. ;) I won't be returning to the US for Christmas, but it will be fun to have some time off work around here. Especially since I live within walking distance of a world class ski hill. I hope to be up there snowboarding for most of my winter holiday. OK, enough for today. I am going to try and transfer the previous posts from the main website over to this blog-page, so if I do it correctly, they will appear before this entry and this page will eventually be attached to the link that says "Current commentaries/stories". OK, back to work for me. :)