Yokoso! Welcome!

Sunday - March 13th: Howdy and welcome to my blog! Have wanted to do this for ages. Hopefully it'll give you a little glimpse into my life here and let us stay in touch.

It's snowing like mad here...here I was, thinking that spring has finally begun, but looks like Old Man Winter is having his last gasp. It was hard not to head up to the mountain today for some boarding, but my arm is still sore. Decided to a hot spring (onsen) instead. This is definitely something I will miss when I leave Japan! It was especially beautiful in the outside bath, with the snow falling gently all around, steam rising hazily into the air and snowflakes melting into my fellow-bathers' hair. Would've taken a picture...except everyone's naked!

Here are some pictures of graduation (the school year starts in April). It was a bit emotional as these were the first kids I taught (I only teach the 1st years - or Grade 10's), but mostly I was really happy for them...it's such an exciting time in their lives, moving onto the "real" world. I can't believe how much they've changed!

There are also a couple of pics from when I went to Mr. Oe's house for Doll Festival. Mr. Oe is one of my favourite teachers I work with. He's my Japanese father! I'm also good friends with his daughter, Hiromi, who worked for the Japanese embassy in Zimbabwe! Doll's Festival is on March 3rd and it's a day for girls. About a month before, families display these dolls, which are given when a daughter is born to the family. You're supposed to take the display down as soon as the day is over, otherwise legend has it that the girls won't marry early. Mr. Oe doesn't want his daughters to leave yet, so he leaves them up for a while!

Well that's all for now. Ciao!