It's already the night of the first day of 2008 here. Hope you have all rung in the new year happily. We've been enjoying our time off just relaxing at home and hanging out with new friends in the area. For New Year's Eve, we met up with other foreign teachers and Japanese friends at a local bar owned by this really cool guy named Shin. He has an amazing collection of records, rock, jazz, reggae, you name it. So we always have a good time there. We actually saw some snowflakes whipping around and it's been chilly the last couple days. It's been in the single digits in Celsius. It doesn't snow down in our town but in the mountains, you can see snow patches gathering. Standing outside, we could see the stars, snowflakes, and in the distance, you could hear people ringing the bells at temples around town.
Speaking of chilly, we are maintaining warmth in the house but for Christmas, Scott got a traditional Japanese housecoat from Santa. It's like wearing a big warm comforter as a coat. Now there's a genuine smile!
Tomorrow we're off on a little trip to Mt. Aso in Kumamoto. It's just across the water and through some mountain roads that are supposed to be beautiful. We're hoping to make it through with our tiny car and sans snow chains! Mt. Aso is the biggest active volcanic mountain in Japan and one of the largest in the world. Sometimes they close the roads nearest the volcano if it's too windy because the gases can be dangerous to breathe! Should be an adventure. We're also staying in a cabin-like place that they call a "Pension" here. Hopefully the pictures from their web site are accurate and it's cozy.
Well, happy new year to all! Wish you the best for 2008!
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