It was a pleasant surprise to wake up to huge flakes of snow coming down--the first time I have seen so much snow at our home in Hachioji! I laughed at the people carrying umbrellas out in the snow when I drove Akihiro to the station, but later, when I went out, I, too needed an umbrella--it was wet snow and rain! Anyway, I had a wonderful walk--the green manicured bushes with little snow caps are so pretty! Here's one of my neighbor's gardens
And here is the park near our home...
And the neighbor's adorable pansies...
Yesterday I had an interesting experience... The doorbell rang and I ran to answer it. There was a young man at the base of the stairs and he was just staring at me. Finally he said something about futons. I didn't get it and asked him to speak slower. He just kept staring at me. I told him my husband was Japanese and that I would call him and he could explain it to him. Then he repeated it again slower. No, I don't have any old futons that I had called to have picked up. Whew, off the hook. Then he said "Blue eyes--first time!" Apparently he had never seen blue eyes before! Ah, the joys of being a foreigner!
A few other pics to catch you up on...
Here was our New Year's Day food!
During the New Year's holiday we visited Akihiro's grandma's house and he took me to see his elementary school and was amazed that it was still almost the same! He showed me how he walked home and this little itty bitty path he took--and it looks well travelled! Only big enough for my hips to fit through!
Saw this bike rack and thought it was interesting--you do what you have to when you have limited space!
When we were in Hokkaido--the north island--we saw this group of Chinese tourists all lined up in this bicycle train. I think there were at least 20 little carts hooked together!
