Update

Oh gosh, I'm getting worse and worse at this blogging thing. Sorry for the wait! I really should write these things more often.

Winter break and Holiday season has come and gone here, and was a lot of fun. Admittedly, spending christmas away from my family in Canada for the first time was a little lonely, especially since Christmas isn't actually a holiday here so both my host parents worked. Still, I got some great gifts and had an early christmas party with my host mom's family.

Aiko (my host cousin), me, and my host mom, Hiroko

From left to right: Kenta (my host cousin), me, My host mom Hiroko, Aiko (my host cousin) and Yuuko (my host mom's sister and Aiko and Kenta's mom) 

I also had Christmas dinner with Yuuko and her family, we had okonomiyaki, an Osakan dish made by frying cabbage, meat, and other vegetables in a batter to make a sort of pancake. Hardly a tradition Christmas dinner, but delicious all the same. 

Christmas, however, was more or less overshadowed by the coming of New Years (called Oshogatsu in Japan). New Years day I was introduced to osechi ryori, special dishes only eaten on new years, it included lobster, a lot of other seafood, pickled vegetables, and may other things, much of which I couldn't name. We also had ozoni, a soup with mochi (rice pounded into a paste and moulded into the desired shape), which was one of my favourite dishes so far. 

Holding some mochi (seriously one of my new favourite foods) with the new years dishes on display

After breakfast, we went to the nearest temple for the Japanese tradition of asking for good luck for the year and drawing a fortune. Though it was chilly, it was still a great experience and I really enjoyed it. 

My host dad Hideo and I in front of the temple

Next, we headed off to my host mom's parent's house where we met up with Yuuko's family again. Aiko and I got dressed up in kimonos, courtesy of my host mom's mother, Yasuko, who let us wear them and helped us get dressed. Yuuko was also nice enough to do our hair, it was a super cool experience, and I was very glad to get wear one.

Sitting next to some Japanese flower arrangement and art in the Kimono

From the back, so you can see how the obi (waist sash thing) is tied

Aiko and I in Kimono

We changed out of them, had dinner, made cotton candy and played some games before going home to finish New Years, making it a wonderful day for everyone.

Since then, school has started again, and I've gotten to try skiing in Japan a few times, a couple times with my host family, and a couple times more with school. Skiing in Japan is mostly similar to in Canada, but for the most part the ski hills have been smaller and the runs a little more open. Also at a couple of the ski hills I could see the ocean from the chairlift, an experience you definitely don't get in Canada. Yesterday I went snowboarding with another exchange student and some people from her rotary club, which was a lot of fun, though today I'm crazy sore. I've also done a bit of cross country skiing here, fun, though I'm rather out of practice.

We've also had to say goodbye to Thomas, a student from Australia, although we're welcoming to new students, Joshua and Tyler, hailing from the same country. I haven't gotten to meet them yet, but very much looking forward to it. Sorry again for the ridiculously slow update and hope all of your are doing well. Until next time!