Move back on

I got word this week that another replacement has been found and so my move to Sapporo is back on the table. My new departure date will be 1st February, providing my replacement arrives and noone else resigns in the meantime. This should see me arrive just in time for the snow festival.

Winter Wondermarshland.

Went back out to the marshland this time with Erica. The snow has come so I have now seen the place in 3 seasons in 3 months....

snow!

Kushiro is now covered in a white blanket of snow. The first fall came just over a week ago on Saturday night. There was nothing when I left work, then a few hours later I looked out the window as I was on the phone arranging to go out and everything was white.

That night me an Erica (the new flatmate) went out with Sotaro, teh translator for teh hockey team. We went to meet his friend Martin. A guy from Watford who has been living in Kushiro for 15 years now! He was out with the Finnish referee of that days hockey game, and a Japanese guy. So with Sotaro being Canadian, American Erica and me, it was quite an international group...some good chat. We went to a place called 'Western Bar' - Wild West themed with swing doors and cowbot boots...and dart boards. Martin invited us over for christmas turkey and Blackadder dvds on teh 25th but I haven't spoken to him since so guess I'll see.

The snow only lasted till the next evening then exactly one week later we had the second fall (again while arranging to go downtown) and this time it has stayed. People are having to dig their cars out. Me and Erica are planning to go out to the marshland tomorrow as I have a late start (3pm) and Erica's off. Looking forward to seeing it all white so hope the snow will hold out till then. Put our two christmas trees yesterday, a bit of tinsel and we''ll be set.

I'm off to Sapporo on the 20th for 3 days, back in Kushiro for Christmas then fly to Tokyo on the 27th. I'm hoping to go boarding in Sapporo. They've had snow there for a while. Tokyo is much milder and I'm so excited to be finally going!

Japanese house with $500,000 toilet

Des'ree has left and I now have a new flatmate, Erica. She is 25, American, and into snowboarding. So far we've got off to a great start. She arrived on Thursday and left for Sapporo this morning for training. She'll be back to start work on Saturday.

Last Monday, I got a call inviting me over to a house party. The call was from Ren and Ayumi (of Shyusens) with Aaron (Canadian teacher) in tow. The house belonged to one of the regulars at Shyusens and they were on their way over when they called. I went round with Mike about an hour later. The house was lovely. Everyone was sat round low Japanese style tables. They had takoyaki and fondue out. Tako is octopus and takoyaki is balls of batter mixture with a piece of octopus in the middle. The takoyaki maker has a tray with spherical indentations. The batter mixture is poured into the tray, then a piece of octopus into each little hole. When the batter starts to solidify, it is formed into balls by turning with a pick. The batter is really nice but not so keen on the octopus...really chewy. They also had fondue, and plenty of beer, wine and sake. The daughter of the family, studied in America and has great English. The family have a holiday home by Kushiro lake and they showed a video of them all waterskiing and relaxing in the hot tub. The night we were there was the one year anniversary of their house being built. The toilet alone is worth $500,000. When you enter the room a sensor opens the lid and turns a light on in the bowl, then flushes itself and closes the lid, and turns off the light when you leave.