This year’s winter has been pretty rough thus far. The north of Japan has been virtually slammed with feet upon feet of the white stuff, and as a country not entirely well-suited for snow and unequipped with salt to throw on asphalt or snow-blowers/snow trucks, it often locks down the less high-tech parts of the nation. Naturally, Nagoya was no exception, despite the claims of my Japanese teachers that it never snows in Nagoya.

We were hit with about 5-6 inches at Nanzan and hardly a centimeter up at Kasugai, where I live, but there you have it. It was lovely to see, being as I am sucker for snow, but considering how ill-prepared Nagoya is for significant snow accumulation, it was rough going with no cleared roads, salted sidewalks, or anything. After a day, it all became ice and slush, which was potentially even worse.

Despite all that, it brought me back to the rougher days at PSU, and I was thankful for the reminder of how lovely snow looks. Speaking of snow…

Partially as a birthday present and just a general family trip, a few days ago, I got to tag along with my host family to a small ski resort about 2 hours from where we live. They even let me borrow ski clothes and helped me rent my skiis as well. I was fairly excited about this particular excursion, as I have never skiied before in my life and figured it would be an interesting learning experience.

I managed to only properly fall 3 times, which I suppose could’ve been worse, and I had a blast, even if I was exhausted by the end, only dared to try the kiddy slope, and learned only the very basics of skiing thanks to my host father and watching other people. I’d certainly like to try again, though. Perhaps even snowboarding, though I think I would lack to guts and coordination for that sort of thing. Here’s to new experiences!

Location: Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan