Week 21: Holy Snow

My Lovely Moe 

He Looks Like This After I Park Him Everywhere

Holy. Snow.

I have repeated these two words non-stop for the past two weeks. The first snow fall occured on Friday, December 5th. What began as an innocent sprinkle of snow, turned into apocalyptic winter wonderland in less than 24 hours. This past weekend the snow has elevated to easily three-five feet, and that number keeps increasing. The past few days I head out to my dear car Moe, and seemingly sing in my head, "Everday I'm Shovelin'..." to the tune of LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem song, specifically swapping Shufflin' to Shovelin.' In other words, the amount of snow is so ridiculous that all I can do is laugh hysterically as I shovel it off my car...and apparently come up with ludicrous songs to go with it.

Least to say, the snow brings both challenges and rewards. It is a mess to drive in, and never have I been this nervous to hop in my car before. The Japanese attempt to keeping the roads clear is via giant snow plows, and an only semi-effective sprinkler system along all the streets. Night time driving is the equivalent of a really bad video game where the goal is to disrupt the driver's vision as much as possible, and drop snow bombs along the ride, but instead this is the reality of snowy Inaka winters. In turn, each  time I leave my car, it is expected that I will return to a marshmallow looking blanket of powder piled perfectly atop it. Thereby instituting the mental struggle to simply want to go anywhere knowing that there will definitely be an arm workout waiting for you. My extendable snow brush-shovel-contraption and I have already become good friends.

From KJ Parking Lot

Yet, the snow has a beauty that is indescribable. My feeble attempt to take pictures fails to do justice to the snows enchantment. The trees look like the fake snow-covered trees that you see in Snow Globes back in the U.S. but in this case they are as real and majestic as ever. Also, when in snow country there is absolutely no excuse to avoid snow sports. To be frank:

I went skiing. For the first time in over a decade, and...

I LOVED IT.

Atop one of the runs at Joetsu Kokusai Ski Resort

My dear friend from high school, Anna, frantically messaged me pre-ski experience in slight disbelief that I was finally going. Since frankly, I was the person in high school surrounded by ski-enthusiastic friends who went every year and simultaneously attempted to drag me along with them...and never did. However, I was determined to commit this year. I did so entirely and invested in a ski pass, ski clothes, and rented my own set of skis, boots and poles. Basically, I did not give myself a choice of not liking skiing (huge sigh of relief that I enjoyed it so much!).

Ski Pass; First Day on the Slopes

This past Saturday I ventured over to the ski resort with my Mom's joking email in mind telling me, "Don't fall off the chair lift!" (yeah...that happened the first time) before the rest of the crew, and took a ski lesson in Japanese and somehow managed to only fall once during the entire lesson. I eliminated my anxiety with the chair lift after the first fall, and can say that I am a bunny slope semi-pro. The one attempt to go down a huuuuuuge run was not so pretty, and resulted in me butt scooting up a mountain to avoid tumbling the entire way down. I am ever grateful to Talia for enduring this process with me, and never complaining once. Rather, she listened to my manic laughter at how ridiculous the situation I put us in was.

Regardless, I am anxious to go  again and practice more. I am hoping between it being a good workout, it also helps make the snow enjoyable.

Pictures Taken Around My Apartment

On another note, in light of my previous blog post, I just want to say a huge virtual-Thank You. I am still overwhelmed with the number of messages I have received. It is unbelievably amazing to realize how many wonderful people I have in my life. It seems silly to say, since I have always known of my good friends and family, but it's crazy how it sometimes takes hitting rock bottom to fully wake up and realize how fortunate I am. In a  span of two weeks I have been in touch with more people around the world than I have my entire stay in Japan. I regret that it took me this long to reach out to so many people, but I hope to continue to maintain these conversations in the new year.

Yukiguni Crew at our Thanksgiving and Christmas Party 

Lastly, in lieu of the holiday spirit and snow, it has been a blast hanging out with my local Yukiguni crew. Between our Christmas party and a weekend filled with skiing, I am continually grateful for the camaraderie and sheer desire to have a good time these folks bring.

To end, I am extremely excited to head back to the States this Friday (tomorrow!). I'll be time traveling and leaving Friday night and arrive in the morning at LAX. I am anxious to get out of Japan, and take a break from all the maddness that has ensued in the past couple months. I am looking forward to recharging with friends and family (frankly 5+ months of not seeing people is TOO long). Also, after getting over the fact that I wasn't going to see another Asian country in 2014, I recently booked a ticket to Singapore as a birthday present to myself in January where I will finally be reunited with one of my best friends, and study abroad roommate: Mac as she makes her big work move to Asia!

I am wishing everyone the happiest of holidays, and a great start to 2015! I look forward to seeing what the year of the Sheep brings!