Snow? No snow? Snow.

Past week was... fine. Did a lot of cleaning. Mixed it up a little by switching over to "mending" at times, occasionally going all the way to "fixing." Didn't really hang out with folks. Read two books.

Until Friday. It was Mexican food night with the locals, so we gaijin got our fiesta on. Had this get together with the folks who we teach English to recreationally, the SIFA folks. People came all the way from Oma and Rokkasho for this one, so we knew it was big. Real big. And real delicious.

Saturday, headed down to Aomori city for the weekly visit to Hakkoda. Except we couldn't go again because the wind was too strong. Went shopping for new snowboarding gear instead. Bought some boots (less leaking) and new snowpants (less sagging, more freezing). Might buy new bindings. Maybe next week. Not sure.

Check back later for updates on the bindings situation.

Crashed at a cabin near Hakkoda-zan. "Cabin" is an extremely deceiving word: this place had a full kitchen, central heating, all sorts of plumbing in the bathroom, and a heated hardwood floor. Compared to my house, this "cabin" was pret-ty swanky. To make up for the unusually comfortable living situation, I slept on the couch.

The next day was windy. Very windy. I pretended to be Korean to get a discount on lift tickets. Couldn't ride the gondola, but the lift was working. Still had fun. Didn't fall as much. Snow was more packed, more like home, easier for me. Plus I had changed my stance a little to be more helpful in these conditions. True story. Went home, fell asleep, that was that.

Tonight i watch the superbowl.

I'll upload some pictures later, not that I have any good ones. Nobody likes this text-heavy stuff.