Livin' in the Inaka

I have never liked winter. The only thing that made the long cold winters in Minnesota bearable was my love for snow activities (sledding, skating, snow forts) and central heating. Here in inaka Japan I have no indoor heat, no skates or ice rinks, and until this year no snow to play in. This makes for a very miserable time indeed. Last year I survived because of the el nino induced mild temperatures and by moving in under the kotatsu (electric coffee table) any time I wasn't spending loads of money trying to stay out of our subzero house. This year however winter has hit Toyama full force, bringing with it a generous portions of snow. I wake up now with frost on my blankets from my breath freezing on it all night. This is no way to live. On my second year with JET now, just surviving is not enough. And so to make this time of the year more endurable I have taken up snowboarding. I'm no good at it and it's probably the most painful activity I've ever partaken in, but hav

1/28 Arrival in Ubud While still in Sanur we decided to change our itinerary a bit and made calls to the two other hotels we would be staying in Bali. Good thing we did, since one of the receptionist claimed we had already reserved nights for the days we wanted to move to, rather than what we initially thought we had reserved. Although the hotel we wanted in Ubud called Nick's Homestay was booked for the days we wanted, but they said they had a 2nd branch not far from the Homestay with rooms available- Nick's Pension . Guess it didn't make much of a difference anyway because when we arrived at Nick's Pension in Ubud the guy at the desk said they had no record that we ever called... no worries though, because they happened to have rooms available in yet another chain of theirs down the back road- Nick's Hidden . So I just had to ask... "So who is this Nick?" Guy at desk: "He's my boss." ah. stupid question. As we were both carrying all our l

12/25/07 Christmas Day ... Upon on our arrival in Bali we were greeted by a tropical downpour and a charming hotel-owner with gray-blue eyes and a Swedish accent. Ten minutes later we were pulling into a tropical Garden of Eden hidden away among the remote rice fields of Sanur. We jumped out in the pouring rain and ran barefoot to the "lobby-" a red-tiled open patio with two pieces of wicker furniture and a bookcase. Our Swedish host disappeared upstairs and returned with a tray of fresh papaya juice. Sitting there looking out at the lush garden, chatting with our new acquaintances and sipping my first taste of papaya, I was trying to digest all the improbabilities of the past three days... tropical Shangri-la Now we are eating our first meal in Bali at the little family establishment next door. Like everything else here it's open to the elements. It's getting darker outside and the rain hasn't let up a bit since our arrival. This place sells snacks, convenient