All the roads have completely iced over, which is perhaps the reason tonight’s bus home was incapable of sustaining a straight, controlled course for more than 20 consecutive seconds, this being the case for the duration of the 45 minute busride. At one point, the bus was slidding downhill. Backwards. For 30 feet. I feel the phrase “holy $@#&” is a somewhat restrained assessment of the situation.

The temporary change of schedule I discovered upon arrival at the bus stop this morning. Needless to say I was late. At this time the roads had yet to realize their full icy potential.

A short break in the snowfall around lunchtime. Please note the shorts/tights combo paired with converse.

 So a few weeks ago I finally found some peanut butter. I’ve been living off PB&J’s ever since - you just can’t beat under 100円 a sandwich in terms of cheapness (and delectability to boot). Yesterday I restocked. And this time, it’s CHUNKY:

It’s enough to make one break out into song…

 Last night around 12:45 we finally got our first real snow. This is what I woke up to this morning:

Though it did mean I was a bit late to class, having had to walk ~20 min. to the bus stop instead of riding my bike - I have no wish to further compromise what are already negligible amounts of coordination and grace by braving iced roads par de bike.

Hell no.

My snowman! He’s an American too - Japanese 雪だるま (yuki daruma) are made of only two snowballs. Built in the middle of campus.

Finally trekked back home to the warmest, most delicious dinner waiting for me. Eel, edamame, gobu, something defying recognition (a not-so-uncommon trait of food here, though sometimes I just don’t want to know), and a big bowl of soup.

Wonderful day. And now to finish it off with a big mug of hot chocolate.

 In anticipation of tomorrow’s snow, I have compiled a list of 10 ways I’m going to enjoy actually having a white winter this year:

1. Leave a giant snowball on someone’s front step

2. Write messages in English on people’s cars

3. Sculpt various snowman scenes from Calvin and Hobbes

4. Empty a snowy branch on an unsuspecting friend

5. Reuse my Halloween costume

6. Make/play a round of Snow Bowling

7. Find a good hill

8. Build a conveniently located snow fort

9. Eat a real snow cone

10. Start a snowball fight

 Tonight I made ceviche salad for J.mama & J.papa!

Juicin’ those lemons!

Okaasan waving mustard leaves at me threateningly.

Fish, de-boned and diced.

Slicin’ that avocado!

Admirin’ that grapefruit!

The finished product! Paired with a fresh baguette from the bakery, it was absolutely delicious (if I do say so myself). We toasted the occasion - Otōsan with a beer and Okaasan and I with a whisky orange. I certainly had my doubts about the whisky/orange juice combination, but it was actually surprisingly good (Okaasan thought it was absolutely revolting and gave me her share).

Next, I think I’ll make a savory asparagus tart with puff pastry!

ポッキーの日おめでとう〜！Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to gorge myself on a various assortment of chocolaty flavors yesterday, which I intend to more than make up for today (It’s still 11/11/11 west of Santiago!). I did make my wish on 11/11/11 at 11:11, however I’m still not entirely certain which one (if any) of these clocks in my room are accurate, so I ended up wishing three times, once by the alarm clock, once by the wall clock, and once by my phone/computer. I wonder if it’s only what the clock says that matters, no matter it’s accuracy, since assigning numerics to the passing of time is a human invention and therefor clock accuracy is based off of the human consensus, not any mystical all-knowing invisible clock in the sky. Because then couldn’t you just fill your house with 1,440 clocks, each one set one minute later than the clock before it? That way, no matter what time it “really” is, there will always be a clock displaying 11:11. Or does it have to be your clock, and what is relative proximity required for a wish to be valid? Can I wish on an 11:11 clock in Bora Bora while it’s 6:11 here? Do I get both an a.m. AND p.m. wish? What if I just left a clock stopped on 11:11? Ok that last one is definitely cheating, I don’t think the all-knowing invisible clock in the sky would approve of that one.

Anyway, I’m back. I’m not going to even attempt to play catch-up right now, since it was the dread of that prospect that kept me from posting for so long, but perhaps over time I’ll slowly fill in bits and pieces. In the meantime, try counting all the times I used 1/one/once in this post.

 That’s right, Japan is a hipster. Those five-finger Vibrams everybody’s rockin’ these days? Yeah, Japan was doin’ that shit in the 1700s.

 So remember that awesome slide sculpture, the black one? Apparently it was designed by Isamu Noguchi, the same guy who did that Henry Moore looking one in front of Sapporo Tower. And guess what else he designed? That table that everyone-and-their-dog owns!

Apparently he’s a Sapporo native. Who knew.

(Leila, I instantly thought of you and your coffee table when I saw this)

 More Odori Park - Aki Matsuri goodness:

So much fun. It actually was pretty fast (you can see everyone trying to hold on). Best sculpture/slide combo EVER…

…with the possible exception of this one, which was even faster/steeper.

And with a giant sandbox at the bottom! 

 Last night’s epic party we rented out an entire bar for (named Opera) - all you can drink and eat. You can guess how that went.

On the way to Opera. It was a bit crowded with 30-40 people in there, but that always makes it more fun :]

The Gaijin photo

During a bout of especially drunken dancing, Izumi and two of her friends started sing-shouting “SEX! ON! THE BEACH!!! SEX! ON! THE BEACH!!!” with an exceptionally zealous vigor.  I thought they might not have quite understood what they were saying, but by the way Izumi was violently pelvic-thrusting, I get the feeling she knew perfectly well what the phrase meant. Laughed the entire time.

Man, I love Japan.