February 1-7, 2010
Well I can assure of one thing, there is no shortage of snow!! On Tuesday we got 31 inches of snow... and then on Wednesday got 12 more inches!!! We were expected to get 22 inches on Wednesday though so 12 was not so bad. It's quite a winter wonderland :)
This is a road near our house that gets plowed 2-3 times per day.
This is the entry way to our apartment. 
The road the elementary students walk to school.
The Ocean :) 
Our neighbors yard.
With so much fresh powder, Eric and Genevieve hit the ski trails on Tuesday night and I had a fabulous night of intense studying. (It really was fabulous!) The best part of Tuesday for me was dinner! I knew Eric and Genevieve would need lots of Energy for night Skiing and we had just received a package from Eric's parents with some goodies in it so it was the perfect night to have her over for dinner. A while back my Mom had sent Navajo Fry Bread mix, so tonight we had Navajo Tacos! I wish we could have had a huge dinner with all of our friends because they were oh so good, but the mix only makes a little bit. Today I found a recipe to make the dough, so maybe sometime we can have the whole gang over :) We had Navajo Tacos, home made chips and salsa and mexican-ish rice, it was super delicious and made home feel not so far away :) I wish today was a little bit more like the movie (Groundhog Day) because I would be happy to re-live it!
February 3rd is the day of Risshun! Most people refer to it as Setsubun, in fact that's the only name I knew for it until now but setsubun refers to the day before any new season in Japan and Risshun is specifically for today only. You may wonder why today is the start of a new season, and that is because it is in accordance with the lunar calendar. Anyway, Setsubun is kind of a silly holiday. It's much like the New Year so it's time to cleanse! Out with the old (bad spirits/monsters) and in with the new (good luck)! So Tonight we celebrated Setsubun in the traditional way... We put on Setsubun masks and threw peanuts at each other to scare away the monsters and bad spirits!! Then the part to bring you good luck, is you pick up the nuts and eat one for every year of your life, plus one for good luck for the next year... so we each at 24 peanuts. Traditionally roasted soy nuts were used, but now peanuts are most common. Also, you're actually only supposed to throw them at the male who is the head of the house hold or the male who was born in the corresponding Chinease Zodiac year, but I would feel to bad only chucking them at Eric so we threw them back and forth!
While tossing them back and forth you shout: 鬼は外! 福は内 which is "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" Which roughly means "Out with the old and in with the new", the literal translation is "Demons out, Luck in!"
When I was explaining this to my Mom today she asked... "Why?" and I said that in Japan they love to celebrate, so all of their traditions become holidays, which gives reason for a festival!
** In looking up information on Japanese Festivals I learned that there is going to be a Japanese Festival in PHOENIX this month!! If you are interested in seeing a little bit of the culture I experience every day here is the info:
Heritage and Science Park (Downtown Phoenix) 115 N. Sixth St., Phoenix, AZ 85004 Sat/Sun Feb 27th and 28th 10:30 am - 5 pm FREE ADMISSION http://azmatsuri.org/
This week had a fantastic ending with a trip to Sapporo for the world famous Yuki Matsuri festival. I have posted a separate blog about the trip because I have lots of photos to share!
This is a road near our house that gets plowed 2-3 times per day.
This is the entry way to our apartment. 
The road the elementary students walk to school.
The Ocean :) 
Our neighbors yard.With so much fresh powder, Eric and Genevieve hit the ski trails on Tuesday night and I had a fabulous night of intense studying. (It really was fabulous!) The best part of Tuesday for me was dinner! I knew Eric and Genevieve would need lots of Energy for night Skiing and we had just received a package from Eric's parents with some goodies in it so it was the perfect night to have her over for dinner. A while back my Mom had sent Navajo Fry Bread mix, so tonight we had Navajo Tacos! I wish we could have had a huge dinner with all of our friends because they were oh so good, but the mix only makes a little bit. Today I found a recipe to make the dough, so maybe sometime we can have the whole gang over :) We had Navajo Tacos, home made chips and salsa and mexican-ish rice, it was super delicious and made home feel not so far away :) I wish today was a little bit more like the movie (Groundhog Day) because I would be happy to re-live it!
February 3rd is the day of Risshun! Most people refer to it as Setsubun, in fact that's the only name I knew for it until now but setsubun refers to the day before any new season in Japan and Risshun is specifically for today only. You may wonder why today is the start of a new season, and that is because it is in accordance with the lunar calendar. Anyway, Setsubun is kind of a silly holiday. It's much like the New Year so it's time to cleanse! Out with the old (bad spirits/monsters) and in with the new (good luck)! So Tonight we celebrated Setsubun in the traditional way... We put on Setsubun masks and threw peanuts at each other to scare away the monsters and bad spirits!! Then the part to bring you good luck, is you pick up the nuts and eat one for every year of your life, plus one for good luck for the next year... so we each at 24 peanuts. Traditionally roasted soy nuts were used, but now peanuts are most common. Also, you're actually only supposed to throw them at the male who is the head of the house hold or the male who was born in the corresponding Chinease Zodiac year, but I would feel to bad only chucking them at Eric so we threw them back and forth!
While tossing them back and forth you shout: 鬼は外! 福は内 which is "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" Which roughly means "Out with the old and in with the new", the literal translation is "Demons out, Luck in!"
When I was explaining this to my Mom today she asked... "Why?" and I said that in Japan they love to celebrate, so all of their traditions become holidays, which gives reason for a festival!** In looking up information on Japanese Festivals I learned that there is going to be a Japanese Festival in PHOENIX this month!! If you are interested in seeing a little bit of the culture I experience every day here is the info:
Heritage and Science Park (Downtown Phoenix) 115 N. Sixth St., Phoenix, AZ 85004 Sat/Sun Feb 27th and 28th 10:30 am - 5 pm FREE ADMISSION http://azmatsuri.org/
This week had a fantastic ending with a trip to Sapporo for the world famous Yuki Matsuri festival. I have posted a separate blog about the trip because I have lots of photos to share!
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