Snow Snow Snow Yuki Daro!

the first snow came like a thief in the night. Stealing Fall before all the leaves were ready to fall. Now it feels like midwinter almost. It's cold in the hallways and I forgot what its like to sweat when I walk outside. Ski season is here. I'm very excited to ski and board but was dissapointed by the wet rain-snow-sludge first-snow-ofthe-year. It wasn:t the powdery white magical fluff that I wanted. It was reality: winter is here and you wont be turning off your heater until April. It is funny to think that half my time in Japan is spent under the kotatsu and on the ski slopes. I forget what the other seasons feel like while I:m living in the others. Winter is probably the longest season here. This winter I have 2 weapons I didn:t have last winter: A kerosene heater and a car! I've already managed to spill kerosene on my kitchen floor, making the whole apartment reek...now lets just hope I can learn how to drive in the snow quickly.
Some friends and I went to Nikko and Nasu to escape the snow for the weekend and see the sights. It was absolutely beautiful and I had a wonderful time. It was so nice to get out of Yamagata for the weekend. Yesterday when we returned, we entered Yamagata ken through a tunnell. One the fukushima side of the tunnel, all the roads were clear, but on the other side of the tunnel there was tons of snow--"Welcome to Yamagata!" the GPS welcomed us.