nothing to prove

snow snow snowbo

Yes, it started to snow in Niigata. A little later than back home but it was just in time to get me into the holiday spirit. To prepare for the snow Melissa and I waxed our snowboards last week. This was following a great taco rice dinner with Kate at Melissa's place. Don't ask me what is with me and tacos lately because if you ask any of my roommates from last year I rarely ate Mexican food. However, this time I did not do the organizing so I don't take responsibility for the menu. Despite the minor rant, it was delicious and I am excited to enjoying eating it again. Obviously there was some typical Aaron and Melissa wackiness but it is what I have come to expect when the two of us get together to do anything. You have to admit we are total hotness when it comes to playing with snowboarding gear.



Then last weekend I went to Shiozawa to visit my homestay again. As usual there was plenty of drinking and eating, although I have finally managed to figure out how to say no to them. Also I spent the first night there with just the mom, grandma, and younger sister. Talk about having a good Japanese weekend. I have come to realize that I am very comfortable there and hence have an easier time both using and understanding Japanese. It probably helps that the mom talks to me like a kindergartener.

Anyway the following day Asuka and Paul came up from Tokyo so we could all go snowboarding. Apparently there was a big party at the dorm so Paul had a bit of a late start to the morning. A few hours later than planned they arrived in Shiozawa to grab some lunch so we could hit the slopes. We went to this place called Gala which is ten minutes away from their house. Needless to say it was snowing the whole time and it was gorgeous. It also made me happy to be learning to snowboard here because there was plenty of fresh snow for me to fall on a multitude of times. It hurt but by the end we were attempting, emphasis on attempting, to take some of the more challenging runs. The situation was made a little more interesting because I didn't send myself gloves, goggles, scarves, or a stocking cap so I was hatless with borrowed gloves and no goggles. At least it wasn't that cold and snowboarding actually took some effort so I hot anyway. Still it is nice to know that you can still pick up new things if you want to. At the end of our time there we headed back for some dinner and then hit up the onsen. Let me tell you, there is nothing like relaxing in an onsen after snowboarding. It was amazing.


Sunday proved to be a relaxing day, which was definitely needed, that included sleeping in, eating, and watching two movies. One of the movies was a new one by Ghibli Studios called Howl's moving castle and, despite only getting subtitles, it was amazing. I can't wait to see if there is an English version out back home. Melissa was at Gala on Sunday checking out the slopes as well so I hitched a ride back with her to Sanjo while catching up on the weekends events.


All of which brings me to now where the snow has finally started to fall and stick in Sanjo. For me it signifies the official start of winter and I will probably bust out the sweaters for work now. However, after a slight miscalculation with my budget for the month has left me with $40 for the rest of the week after borrowing $100 from Melissa. Apparently I had too much fun for my own good this past month. Plus I ran out of gas for my kerosene heater so I will be a little chilly for the next week and will be glad to return to the land of central heat. At least it is forcing me to leave my apartment and go to gym.

posted by Aaron @ 5:19 AM