Winter in Tarui

A few people have been bugging me about my blog…including myself.  They’ve been asking me why I haven’t written in it in a long time and when I’ll post something new. 

You see, I returned to Canada for the winter holidays and when I finally returned to Japan (more on that later…perhaps another blog), I just kept putting it off, telling myself that I’ll get to it one day.  In addition to that, I have been extremely busy at work.  I knew that January to the end of March was going to be busy. 

I have Japanese classes Tuesday and Thursday nights in a different town/city (sometimes on Sunday morning if I miss Tuesday night), I teach an adult English course Wednesday nights, I have just started working every Saturday afternoon to organize and prepare a home stay trip for some Japanese students I am currently teaching, and on top of it all, I am attempting to follow through on one of my New Year’s Resolutions, which is to exercise at least four times a week.  (And that doesn’t even get into my day job, which I just found out there will be more planning involved in the next couple weeks due to the fact that I will be teaching in all of Tarui’s Elementary schools for a couple of weeks…finally!  Yay!  I'm so excited to see the little ones!!) 

I apologize, because I’m sure that you all have busy lives and you all can relate to what I’m talking about.  It’s not pleasant to hear about work or to hear excuses, but this is supposed to be a blog about my experience in Japan and right now I am swamped with work!  But I’m still enjoying it and I’ll get through the difficult parts…now only if I had enough time for this blog…

I can’t believe it’s already February and I haven’t posted anything for OVER a month!  I do apologize.  But now, I’m wondering what I should even talk about.  It’s funny, I’ve posted many messages and usually I sit down at my computer and the ideas just come to me, but here I am, sitting at my computer with writer’s block, writing about what people don’t want to read about; stress at work.

Looking up from my desk out the window, I have been inspired.  I finally know what I am going to write about.  Nothing deep.  Nothing profound.  I’m going to talk about the weather in Tarui.

Yup, that’s right.  I’m going to talk about one of the most casual, over-used but easy topic discussed by strangers and acquaintances alike; the weather.  Why?

Well, finally, within the past two weeks, it has snowed in Tarui.  Winter is finally here!  (I know, I know my fellow Canadians.  It’s the end of January.  It should be in the middle of the winter season.  And it is…) 

Now it’s been cold in Tarui since about December.  The wind chills you to the bone and is so strong that I sometimes get off my bike to walk it over the bridge even though there’s a railing (nothing more embarrassing and slightly painful than being blown into lampposts and walls…I do not want to be blown off of a bridge as well!)  As I have mentioned, Mount Ibuki has a freezing cold wind that gusts over it and down towards the town below.  Tarui.  My town.  And I believe our neighboring town, Sekigahara, too.  The winter weather has dipped between 0 and 5 degrees Celsius in December...but that has changed.  It is getting colder.

Now I know what you are thinking, especially if you are from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba or any other place that can easily have minus thirty to forty degree weather depending on the wind chill.  The thing is, when I am in Calgary and it’s minus thirty, my house is nice and toasty warm.  The school I work in is warm.  My car is warm.  Japan is different.  Much different.

First, my house is not insulated and does not have a furnace.  I have to use a portable heater and the heating system my AC unit provides.  Other than that, I use a lot of blankets and sweaters.  I wake up to see the thermometer in my kitchen reading 2 to 3 degrees.  I wash up at night and see my breath as I’m washing my face.  

Second, the schools in Japan have huge windows in every room and the staff and students insist on keeping them open…even during the winter season.  

Finally, my only means of transportation is riding my bike, walking, or taking the train. 

Also, in Calgary, it is quite dry.  In Tarui, it is quite humid and from what I am experiencing, this kind of cold, humid weather makes it difficult for a person to warm up or to get wet clothes to dry.

Boy, this has been a fantastic post so far, hasn’t it?  I talk about my work and my stress in the beginning section, and now I am complaining about the cold weather.  Talk about having the winter blues!!  So now let me get to the good stuff.  Let me talk about the beauty of winter in Japan.

Yes, I’ve just complained in the last few paragraphs, but Tarui is absolutely beautiful in the wintertime!  The snowflakes are huge and beautiful!  I swear I saw some snowflakes that were as big as my fist at one point (it’s too bad my camera didn’t capture this properly).  It’s terribly romantic and it’s not so cold that you can’t walk around outside and worry about frostbite…or survival for that matter.  Yes, you can get cold, especially from that wind.  But the gorgeous, snowy scenic views in Tarui are a welcoming distraction as I walk to work.  (I walk because I don’t want my bike to rust or freeze in the snow.)

The snow can appear from nowhere!  My first experience with the snow in January was to wake up and find that the ground was covered in about a foot (30cm) of snow!  I walked to work wondering why the locals were using umbrellas (normally I don’t see that in Calgary), and five minutes during my walk I understood why.  Literally hundreds of oversized snowflakes that were falling down got stuck onto my jacket.  I looked like a live snowwoman!  Every two minutes I was swiping off another layer of snow from my jacket or my hat.

Besides a couple of these snow days, the snowflakes tend to hit the pavement and melt (you have to be careful walking or biking in the mornings because there is a definite sheet of black ice on the pavement).  But the snow doesn’t seem to last very long…on the pavement, anyways.  The surrounding mountains are beautiful!  It looks like the trees have been gently dusted with icing sugar.  Some of the rooftops are still covered with snow as well.  It is cold.  But it is quite breathtaking.  Perhaps I will have to go to Kyoto and get a couple of winter shots of the old temples.

Let me show you some pictures I snapped as I was walking to work.  If you look closely at the first two pictures, you will see a crane sitting in the Ai River, surrounded by snow.  These birds are huge and magnificent when fly.

This is Mount Ibuki.  I took this picture when I returned to Japan in the beginning of January.

This was the view from my apartment window.

No, that's not my bike.  I saw this bike as I was walking to work.

This is a picture of a Japanese snowman.  The poor thing, it’s half melted!  Notice that there are only two snowballs for it’s body instead of three. 

One way to keep warm in class is to have a heat pack.  The students shake these packs, and then they omit heat.  They hold these packs during class time and it warms up their hands.  (I often wondered if I am allowed to wear my winter gloves in class…I guess this is supposed to be the alternative).

The Junior High Schools have a field where they have PE and play soccer and other after school curricular activities.  The field is usually dusty, but it turned muddy from the snow.  Later, it looked like the above picture.

There’s one final thing I’d like to add about the weather.  When it’s this cold, I return from work and I don’t really have a desire to go out again (unless I have class, of course).  But because of this, I have been cooking more often and trying new warm/homey Japanese foods.  I should have taken more photos, but for now, here are some pictures of a couple new creations of mine.  (Keep in mind that my husband is the chef in the house so these recipes are extremely simple and basic…but yummy!)

Thanks for reading this post.  Stay warm during this winter season, but please enjoy the beauty of it all.  Winter’s only here once a year (thank heavens) so enjoy it!

PS, I was going to post this message yesterday but I didn’t get around to it.  So guess what happened again?  It snowed overnight.   A lot.  In fact, it’s so cold that the hot water valve wasn’t working in my shower this morning (it’s working tonight, thank goodness!  Especially now that I am exercising every second day!)  It snowed so much that it’s past my knee.  Wow!  I had to walk on the roads to get to work!  Here are a couple more photos just from today.  Crazy!

This is just outside of my door.  It was just up above my knee.

Snow on a palm tree.  Crazy!

By the way, I was sick in Japan a couple of weeks ago.  And you know what that means?!?  I was wearing an ultra cool mask to school!  As my other English friend says; It’s time to go to work as Subzero!  (Not only is that a Mortal Kombat reference, but being called “Subzero” seems rather appropriate considering the winter weather we’re having.)  Please keep in mind that I was really sick in the following picture so I may not look my best (the staff and students kept commenting on how pale I looked all day so I think I'm a little self-conscious about this photo.  I'm posting it anyways!)

At first, I was very self-conscious wearing it.  But then, I liked that fact that I could sneeze onto my arm and know that the mask was catching my germs.  Also, it was nice to have something that kind of “hid” my face when I was sick…which is exactly how I feel when I’m sick.  Sometimes I think, “Don’t look at me!  I’m gross and disgusting!  And pale!”  And the mask literally hides my face and my cold, and I feel better and more confident.  (I must be turning Japanese to feel this way because in August I swore I wouldn’t be caught in public wearing a medical mask and here I am, defending it!) 

Anyways, happy winter, everyone!  Until next time…