Yakiniku and Onsen

We were lucky to have the Labor Day holiday in Japan on November 23rd. Yuki's parents and brother visited Shimogo for a few days, arriving on Thursday morning and leaving this morning at 9am (Sunday). I think they had a good time in what was probably their last visit to Shimogo before we move to Tokyo in late March.

On Thursday, we drove to Yurari onsen which is in a town called Tadami. I really love the onsen when the weather gets cold and I felt really refreshed after the bath - very good for your circulation. The water in Yurari onsen is a reddish colour because of the high level of iron in the water. After the bath, we relaxed in the lounge on zabuton (Japanese cushions) and played cards on the low tables. Because it was a holiday and I was not driving, I was also able to have a couple of Kirin beers. Lucky me.

Yuki's parents took us to a yakiniku restaurant on Friday evening in the next town called Tajima. Yakiniku is a Korean style BBQ of meat and vegetables, cooked over a charcoal or gas brazier. I really love eating yakiniku and so I was looking forward to the meal and a few beers. The beef was excellent and was made even better after dipping it in a spicy soy sauce mixed with chilli paste. Delicious!! On Friday, I was pretty tired after a busy week at work (despite the holiday on Thursday) and was looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the food at the yakiniku restaurant. Next week will also be busy with evening conversation classes (which I was volunteered for without anyone telling me!!), elementary school, and junior high school.

We didn't do much on Saturday. We drove to Kirara onsen for a bath and spent a lot of time in the lounge relaxing and dozing. Very pleasant. Our visits to the local onsens will become ever more frequent as the weather gets colder and the snows piles up. I am now mentally prepared for the oncoming winter assault.

Not long now until December and the end of year party season in Japan. With all the parties, snow, and skiing, I'll probably have a lot to blog about. Cheers.

Autumn Colour

I left it a bit late to take some pictures of the magnificent autumn colours which have graced the Japanese countryside over the past few weeks. However, despite the autumnal colours being past their peak, I still managed to take a couple of good shots during lunchtime at Arakai JHS. I was fortunate to get these pictures on Friday as the weather has taken a turn for the worse. Today saw the first snowfall of the season. We drove to a place called Kirara Onsen for a bath and the snow was really heavy. Soon the whole area will be covered in thick snow and that means I'll have to shovel snow every morning and night. Shovelling snow for an hour or two every day is pretty boring, but it is also pretty good exercise.

Despite all the hardships, I'm really looking forward to winter. I'm looking forward to lots of onsens, lots of skiing, sitting under our kotatsu (a Japanese style table with surrounding quilt and built in electric heater), and the amazing winter wonderland scenery.

Culture Day / Tokyo Weekend

November 3rd was a national holiday in Japan called Culture Day. This day is used to celebrate Japanese culture and encourage cultural activities. On this day, the Emperor takes the opportunity to award individuals the Order of Culture. Those who receive this award have been deemed to have made a significant contribution to Japan's art, literature or culture. The awardees also receive an annuity for life - perhaps the reason why most of the awardees seem to be in their 70s.

We decided to use the extra holiday as an excuse to visit Tokyo for a long weekend. We travelled down on Thursday night and returned to Shimogo on Sunday afternoon. The drive down to Tokyo only took about 4 hours but the return journey to Shimogo took us 6 hours as the roads were very busy with tourists viewing the autumn colours. I'll try and get some autumn photographs on the blog before it's too late.

The most important aspect of my trip to Tokyo was my planned visit to an area called Ochanomizu. This is an area which has an abundance of ski shops and musical instrument shops. I planned to buy a new ski helmet as the one I am currently borrowing is slightly small for me.

In the end I decided on a Giro helmet, although I had originally decided to buy a Boeri. The Giro helmet that I bought is technically a snowboarding helmet, but I chose that one anyway because it fitted the best and was the most comfortable. It also seems to be fairly light compared to some of the other helmets that I tried on. I'm fairly pleased with it but have just realised that I need to buy new skiing goggles as my old set have been crushed and are seriously out of shape.

I'm back at work tomorrow and have to wait until November the 23rd for the next national holiday. Tomorrow will be an easy start to the week with only one class to attend. I'll try and post a couple of autumnal photos in the near future. Cheers.