Vacation -- The End

So we've been back for about a week now, wishing we weren't. Vacation was tremendous, and though I often try and look at this experience as a year-long vacation, going back to school is still going back to work, no matter how you slice it, even if it isn't exactly shoveling coal.

Funny story: Today at school, I was chatting with students about what they did over their winter vacation. Since this was an academic school, not surprisingly, many of them said they studied. And I believed them. Most also said they visited their grandmothers. I asked one girl, who didn't say much, whether she visited her grandmother over the break. She shook her head yes, then pointed toward the sky. I assumed she meant that her grandmother was no longer of this earth. So I asked her, "You went to temple to pray?" She said, "No," still pointing upward. "She lives with me. Upstairs."




Jonas loves all things snow. He loves to eat the snow and play in the snow, just as long as he's not wearing his gloves, and as they've noticed at daycare during these cold days of winter, he never actually gets cold himself.

And here is Tricia ....

On our way into Hakuba, we spotted a sign for Subway. Since both Jason and I are beginning to really miss American food about now, including a good ol' American sandwich, we turned immediately to follow the sign. Turns out that Subway was at the base of one of the ski mountains so we entered busy territory. Jason ran inside and bought 8 sandwiches! We easily ate all eight over the next two days.

Arriving in Hakuba, we were greeted by lots of snow and foreigners. In fact, I felt as if we left Japan for a week, because we were surrounded by so many Westerners. After many missed turns and driving over packed snow, we finally found the guesthouse that our friend Christine booked. We loved the place. The owner, Yoko, actually lived in Steamboat Springs, CO for two years (I lived in Steamboat for a year, with Jason visiting a few times) and she had three wonderful children. The place was perfect for us. Jonas loved playing with the kids and their toys.

Yoko and her sisters are running the guesthouse. It was such a comfortable place with a nice common area with plenty of hot tea to drink during the day. The place had been closed for five years and the three sisters grew up with their mother running a guesthouse when they were kids. Everybody in Yoko's family grew up skiing and she showed me pictures of the family in competitions. Her father was the national ski team coach and had certificates from the 82 Sapporo Olympics and the 98 Nagano Olmpics for his help with the events. I can't imagine growing up in such a beautiful place. Living in a ski town for a year gave me a new appreciation of snow. When you live in a place as beautiful and snowy as Hakuba or Steamboat, the snow is so much fun. It stays for the whole winter and is a much different snow than the wet, heavy stuff we get in Missouri--that comes and goes so quickly.

It was great to see friends from home and the time went by too quickly. Christine, Wellan, Val and Smitty were spending two weeks traveling around Japan, including spending some time in the town that Christine and Wellan lived in for one year during their JET year. We skied/snowboarded during the day and visited onsens at night.

There were some interesting people to meet at the guesthouse, including an Australian, a Welsh couple and two Swedes who were at the beginning of a 3 month stay in Hakuba. They had some intense skiing equipment and were planning on spending everyday on the mountain. The night before we left a guy from Norway showed up who planned on snowboarding for three months.

We were able to eat non-Japanese food at night, which was a treat for Jason and me. As we have both mentioned, we love Japanese food, but are ready for a break. We miss Mexican the most. Here we are eating at Uncle Steven's, a Mexican restaurant---

Jason, Jonas and I went back for a second meal there before we left Hakuba.

Jason and I loved the place so much that we extended our stay by another day and spent our last day sledding and playing in the snow with Yoko and her family.

For whatever reason, Yoko and I had long and in-depth conversations about children (this is Jason again). Her youngest kid, Shingo, insisted on riding on her back wherever she went. This is common in Japan with younger children, but when Shingo can walk just fine on his own, and you have two other kids to chase around, I think it really was beginning to wear on her. As she told me, "If I could go back, there are some things I would change. This is one of them."

Shingo, by the way, was hilarious. He would walk up to all foreigners, scowl at them, and say, "Baka!" and then walk away. Baka means idiot in Japanese. It probably didn't help that we all snickered every time he did this. Eventually, Tricia cracked his scowl and got him to laugh and giggle like all 2 year olds should.