Well, a Happy New Year to all. I know it's a little late, but I was quite busy over the holidays and I just recently finished reinstalling my operating system. Anyway, I had a very nice Christmas this year. Some friends from up north (Suzu to be exact) came down and stayed at mine for a couple of days.
It started snowing upon our arrival and everything was white a couple of hours later.
We had a nice little party with a small plastic Christmas tree, presents and a yummy Christmas dinner.
Little Grumpy Bear came too. Actually he's just grumpy because we forgot to buy him a present.Although we're having a pretty warm winter compared to the previous ones we had some snow between Christmas and New Year. Unfortunately it melted within a couple of days. Below is a picture of my car covered in snow.
It started snowing upon our arrival and everything was white a couple of hours later.
The following morning it took us a while to free our cars from under the snow. We actually had to pull one of the cars out of the snow with a rope.
On my way back to Kanazawa I drove past this little fellow standing at the roadside. He was advertising a dinosaur museum in the area.
The New Year in Japan is pretty much celebrated like we celebrate Christmas in Europe and the USA. Basically it's a family event where everyone prepares themselves for the New Year by eating special New Year's foods that are supposed to cleanse the body.
Before midnight everyone takes a bath to enter the New Year fresh and clean. After midnight everyone goes to a temple to pray for good fortune and health for the coming year.
So because it's a family event and most people spend New Years eve with their families there aren't any big parties or fireworks. So with nothing planned and most people I know out of the country there wasn't much else for me to do but stay at home.
On the 1st my co-worker picked me up and I celebrated the New Year with her and her family by eating more ritual foods. It was a very pleasant experience.
Before returning to work on the 7th I went on a little road trip down to Fukui prefecture, which is about a 3-4 hour drive from my place. The coast has a row of sea cliffs and oddly shaped rocks formed by the rough waves of the Sea of Japan. Most of these places didn't really have a name, or I wasn't able to decipher it so I'll just let you enjoy the pictures.
So because it's a family event and most people spend New Years eve with their families there aren't any big parties or fireworks. So with nothing planned and most people I know out of the country there wasn't much else for me to do but stay at home.
On the 1st my co-worker picked me up and I celebrated the New Year with her and her family by eating more ritual foods. It was a very pleasant experience.
Before returning to work on the 7th I went on a little road trip down to Fukui prefecture, which is about a 3-4 hour drive from my place. The coast has a row of sea cliffs and oddly shaped rocks formed by the rough waves of the Sea of Japan. Most of these places didn't really have a name, or I wasn't able to decipher it so I'll just let you enjoy the pictures.