First Real Snow

On Monday I woke up and it had begun to snow. It wasn’t very much and it was mostly on the tops of the mountains.


By the end of the day it had warmed up and it was about the same as that. Thankfully, since I wasn’t prepared for snow. I wore my Converse-knock offs and my fleece that day.

Yesterday, I woke up to white out conditions. I was surprised at how dark it was. I took a really terrible photo of it with my phone, but early morning it looked like this.

Today it warmed up and melted, and snowed and warmed up and melted. This morning though, there was a beautiful combination of season all in one scene.



Today, I was also caught off guard, though I shouldn't have been, when I went to leave school and realized I didn't have the window scraper in the car. I drove home with a mostly clear windshield and immediately put it in the car. 

School festival

On Saturday one of my small schools had it’s school festival. The school only has 9 students, but they are some of my most fun kids because when I go I get to spend the day there and get to know the students the best because of it.

Most things during the festival were done on stage so they dimmed the lights. Here’s the reflection of those who were on stage. Around the edges are all the slippers that everyone wore inside, but were expected not to wear on the roll-out tatami mats that had been laid out for sitting on.



My kids did Yosoki. It’s a kind of Japanese dance. I blogged about the festival in Sapporo here. It’s one of my favorite parts of Japanese culture because it’s so much fun.





This little guy couldn’t seem to stay in his seat and I can’t exactly blame him. He’s only 3 or 4.



More shoes. I like this part of Japanese culture . . . except when I’ve forgotten something inside and have to change my shoes to be able to go back inside.



A past teacher showed up, Y-sensei. She taught at this school last year, but got moved after she passed her teacher exams. It was fun to see her and catch up on all the things that have happened since April – the end of the school year.



I also got to have a good chat with a bunch of the seniors in town, because we (Y-sensei and I) sat with them for lunch. They were a lot of fun, especially one that reminds me of my Uncle Tony (or rather Mom’s).
It was a really fun experience, though I spent a lot of the day coughing.

An apple!

I came to school the other day to find this on my desk:



I feel like a real teacher, though teachers in Japan don’t usually get apples. I think it was omiyage (a souvenir) from another teacher’s recent trip. But it was a fun find on my desk and had such pretty colors!

Wakkanai

Last month, I went to Wakkanai on a business trip – to a team teaching conference. I went a bit early and spent the weekend with a good friend – which is what the majority of these photos are.
E has a new nephew arriving soon, so she was modeling some of the things she was considering sending over for the new baby.



E also decided she was 10 years old and had to jump instead of using the stairs. I couldn’t resist catching it on film (or, um, digital sensor).



I was amazed when we came around the corner in Wakkanai and found the sea of solar panels, I couldn’t seem to capture them in a way that made them stand out, but to the right of the road and back is where they’re at.



We took two separate pictures thinking later we could photoshop the two together . . . but I’ve since realized I have no idea how to go about doing it.

After a quick around that building, we headed outside to play on the playground. E was curious about this slide and decided to go down it.



When I said “go” she stayed there for a few seconds before I said, I’ve just taken ten photos of you in that position, you have to go!



After playing on the slides, we headed for the main playground. We found this teeter totter, we each stood on one bar and took turns jumping and coming down to get the other person to fly a bit. It was good fun and good for our abs too, I’m sure.



Then we found the big spider web-y thing and climbed in it. E went way up high in it.



I didn’t get so high, but I did have a lot of fun photographing E from new angles.



The playground as a whole, though you can’t actually see the big slides from here.



We decided to go on a short hike, but we weren’t sure which trail to follow – the one up to the look out or this one to a mystery location.



Here' comes E!



E’s queen of Wakkanai shot . . . she takes this job quite seriously.



Guess being a dancer is a part of the job description?



Course that means we need to take some jump shots, right?



Then we went to see the swans, since they had gone north for the summer.



But they had been fenced off because of past bird flu issues. I thought the light on the fence was really pretty.



That same light was also really pretty on E.



We were a bit cold, so we went in search of warmth, and where better than a coffee shop? I got a Vienna tea. Which basically meant they put whip cream on top. It made the slightly bitter straight black tea sweet and nice.



E is great at being cute with her coffee.



Me, not so much.



We had a really fun day of freedom before the conference the next day. A couple of hours after this, we headed to the station to pick up those who were also staying at E’s place that night. We proceeded to have a really fun night of dinner, games and fun.

Today’s drugs of choice

I have a nasty cold. I don’t really feel like blogging, but to keep in spirit with my NaNoWriMo friends, who are writing 50,000 word novels this month, I decided to blog everyday.
So today, I’ll introduce you to today’s drugs:


From left to right:

• Tea – pretty much my favorite anytime
• Mystery Japanese cold meds – take them three times a day, with meals. Or in my case once when you’ve forgotten yours at home. Likely, I’ll take them again tomorrow in the morning and at lunch time.
• Nyquil knock off – got it from a neighboring ALT who was leaving. It’s been great for sleeping through the cough that started two nights ago. Took the last two doses over the last two nights, so a new bottle tonight.
• Honey – great for stopping coughs and feels good on a sore throat.
• Ginger tea – tastes NASTY, but makes my clogged up sinuses so happy.
• And a special guest Kleenex – wouldn’t want to have a runny nose without them around.

Not pictured:

• Vicks’ vapor rub – the only way to be able to sleep if you have congestion.

Well, there you have it. Those are my best friends today. Are there any other cold remedies that might help this nastiness go away faster?

Happy Pocky Day

Apparently 11/11/11 is national pocky day in Japan. All those ones in a row and apparently Japanese people think of pocky.



They look like a bunch of 1s in a row here, right?



Enjoy 11/11/11!

Pumpkin, peanut butter and oats, oh my!

Every year at this time I start seeing delicious recipes pop up for all kinds of delicious looking recipes that call for canned pumpkin, that can of stuff that says “Libbys” clearly across it. 

The problem is, that in Japan, it is hard to get canned pumpkin and it’s expensive. Why spend so much on it when I could probably make it, but have I ever tried? Nope.

Last year, I made a few pumpkin soups by throwing the pumpkin in the rice cooker until it was soft and then putting it in the soup.

This year, as I was reading Tokyo Terrace, a food blog I enjoy, I spotted a recipe for pumpkin puree. Of course, I had to try it, but what would I put it in? Then, I found Pumpkin Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars on Pinterest, and of course there was no question I had to try them.

On Sunday night, I decided that I wanted to make this snack. When I thought about how to do the pumpkin, I saw no reason to use the slightly scary microwave/oven/toaster contraption I have sitting in my kitchen. Instead, I used my favorite Japanese kitchen appliance – my rice cooker! I put the pumpkin in and pressed start . . . or so I thought.

When I went to look shortly after, I was surprised at how little it had cooked and then I realized I hadn’t pushed start, but stop. I pushed start and went about doing other things until it was ready. The pumpkin was so hot when came out, I had to stick it in the fridge for a little while so I wouldn't burn my fingers while I peeled the skin off.

Once I had the skin off, I stuck it in my tiny food processor, adding small amounts of water, and whirled away until it had a texture I was happy with.

After pulling the pumpkin out, I stuck it in a container to be measured out with the ingredients for the next master piece – the Pumpkin Peanut Butter Oatmeal bars. Her recipe mentioned that none of the measurements were exact, so I didn't measure most of the ingredients either, but just put them in as I was happy with them.

I started with the peanut butter, oats, vanilla and sugars. At that point, they smelled a lot like peanut butter Captain Crunch. Of course I stole a small taste and they tasted just like it. I continued and added in the pumpkin and spices – the whole thing smelled of peanut butter and delicious-ness.

Then I put them in the oven and baked them for the prescribed amount of time. When they came out, it was hard not to cut into them, but the recipe said specifically to let them cool before cutting them so they would set.

I wasn’t very successful with this, because I wanted them put away before I went to bed, so I wouldn’t be tempted by them for breakfast. Since they were still a tad warm, they crumbled a little, but they were so delicious.



They turned out very delicious and I recommend both recipes to anyone with a little pumpkin, peanut butter and oats to spare.

At the end of this, I still have about a cup of puree left and another whole kabocha. Do you have any favorite pumpkin recipes? Share them in the comments!