snow update!

i like taking pictures of the snow progress, and it’s now at its biggest and baddest! in fact, there are several parts of japan that are now having record snowfalls such as nagoya and fukui kens. the temperatures during the day are now getting as low as –1 degrees celsius, below freezing, in joetsu city. with the broken kerosene heater in my apartment, it ain’t too much fun.

in any case, everyone in japan has been taken by surprise and swept off their feet, and now are trying to scurry back to recovery by clearing rooftops, roads, and driveways. there have been deaths reported of people falling off of roofs and being buried in the snow and of car accidents. you would actually be surprised at how few car accidents there are however. the japanese, or at least the ones used to a little snowfall are pretty damn skilled at driving in huge masses of it. i’m relieved in times like these that i live in a place that’s adept and ready for dealing with these situations. besides the train being late everyday (NOT fun sitting in the literally freezing cold waiting sometimes for on upwards of an hour for the damned train to come) and traffic being backed up, life continues as we know it here in little ole’ joetsu. so here are some pictures. i believe we’re up to about 3 ½ meters – or over 10 feet. good thing snowboarding is nearby to take away my wintry blues.







2 weeks ago:


last week


see? there is some good behind all the wood blockades put around the trees in japan


that's the second-story windows you see on that building


aaahhhhh, snowboarding. it's damn cold out there; it looks sunny, but don't let that fool you. the top of the slopes will get you icy in no time flat


the sun is actually unusual. most times it's gray and blizzardy