homesick in napjan

the seasoned ALTs are right....February and March are the worst times to be an ALT. No classes, cold outside, not much to do about it. They know right when to get your for recontracting before you change your mind. Recently I have been really tempted to change my mind. Although I have friends here, its not like being home with old friends. I feel sad. Not having any classes contributes to this sadness and makes the days much longer. Its killing me just having to sit here at my desk...at least I can search on the internet for exciting things to do. I think I'm going to go to a fertility festival on March 15th near Nagoya then go work on an organic farm for a few days. Unfortunately we get so little vacation that thats all I can afford to take off. I don't get it. Graduation is March 3rd...a sunday. So I have to come to school for that and then on top of that, I have to take 2 hours of my vacation to go to a graduation party in the middle of the workday on a monday because all of the other teachers are doing it. Not only do I have to take vacation time, but I also have to pay 5000 yen (50 dollars) to go to the party. I don't get it! The other teachers seem to think my Japanese has gotten better, but thats only because my vocabulary has increased....I still have trouble making good sentences. But its good to know that some studying is paying off. There is a big snowstorm outside right now. Craziness. This weekend I will go skiing at Zao for the first time. I am excited. Gengo from Tokyo will come up to visit and I will go with 2 other teachers from school. Yay! Hokkaido was brilliant. Went skiing at Niseko mountain. Wish I could have skiied more though. The snow and ice sculputures for the snow festival were amazing. I don't have them on my computer yet, but will get them up soon. Sapporo brewery was also a highlight of the trip. I want to go back to Hokkaido in the summer for some hiking. its a nice place and beautiful.