and then a winter,

Last weekend many of us from our office had the opportunity to work on Sunday. The work was for an annual/seasonal ski event at our local Embetsu ski hill.

We were picked up from designated locations and shuttled to the ski hill to assume preparation for the event. The early morning, a little after sunrise, was not too forgiving. There was a lot of cold, and a lot of snow. Many chilly limbs and fingers, too!

But it was indeed a bright and clear day -probably explaining the cold.  According to plan a mess of people soon were heading up the t-bar-like lift and checking the runs, assembling gates, and tables, checkpoints, etc.

Soon families arrived, buses loaded with ski-ready students and in a matter of minutes the once empty nature-y ski hill was now buzzing with life under the clear Hokkaido skies.

Mostly according to schedule, and a little better, too, everything finished on time and I am sure that everyone was happy to be out of the cold with the event complete. Clean-up, geared up, and done-up, as quickly as the whole event started the whole buzz was disassembled and cleaned up in a matter of minutes. The busy ski hill was again sound as a the still-quiet forests on either side of the skiing space. What a Sunday come and gone just like that. 日曜日のスキー大会は寒かったですけど、良かったです。

having waited for,

Just the other day we celebrated our Yuki Matsuri, or snow festival here in Embetsu. I must say that I was not present for our local festivities. Whether for good reason I was not present, I heard there was quite the series of strong winds and snowstorms in Embetsu over the last few days. I suppose that with our town holding those winter celebrations, winter itself decided to celebrate with galing winds and wild snows. So strong were the winds that the gates to and from town were shut so as to keep highways closed and safe (or so  I heard).

During the last few days I was in Sapporo. Each year in February the annual Sapporo Yuki Matsuri takes place. Magnificent snow and ice sculptures are hashed with many teams coming from other countries to participate in their share of cutting, shaping, and chiselling snow and ice into fantastic formations.

You could say that the created ice-blocks are so worth a look that you don’t have to worry about never having seen ice sculpture at a wedding or other social event back home. If need be you can come to Sapporo to see hundreds of sculptures all in one day! Cafes made of ice, towers of frozen Hokkaido seafood in a frozen wall, dragon formations, birds, fish, all made of ice!

Today in Embetsu, however, there was a steady drip, drip, drip. Temperatures climbed above zero -but just. Snow was melting. Could this mean that Spring is really on the way? From heresay, it could be months until our heavy snows finally disappear. Maybe Spring is ‘just’ around the corner…  but just a little further away. 遠別町の雪祭り見なかったんだすけど、札幌の雪祭りもすごかった！

a division of seasons,

Here we are. Spring has come at last. Or has it? Now not to trouble any understanding of Spring but last Friday was Setsubun. The day was a celebration of a division of the seasons. Practically speaking, winter has now been set apart and soon, very soon Spring will come -after this very snowy month of February passes on..

Setsubun (節分) as it was explained to us at the kindergarten on Friday, is a special day. Practiced yearly, someone dresses up as an Oni, or demon. We then cast seeds (dry soybeans) or perhaps un-husked peanuts at that character and chant, ‘Devils out! Good luck come in!’

The purpose of this practice is to cleanse oneself of any ailments -minor, mental, bodily or otherwise, and to thus welcome a new season and a new life upon oneself. How fun!

As you can see per the picture (below, soon to follow), I had a turn of being ‘chased out’ by the students. Many students also took turns casting peanuts at each other practising last Friday’s Setsubun tradition. I found this tradition to be very educational and fun. After all was said and done, and a few games were played everyone was apportioned candy and some peanuts. We then ate, according to our age/grade that amount of peanuts -letting the ‘good luck’ in.

And tonight we are screening a very fun film at our recreation hall (a detective-sleuth film set in Hokkaido).  I am looking forward to the movie! As an avid movie-goer the movies have finally come to Embetsu if just for one night.

rolling,

I have been told continuously about how February is the coldest month. And we are close now to February. The icy, dry cold is as prevalent in the mornings as it is at night. Today’s snow gave way sternly under my boot-steps providing a dry and powdery crunch as I tread over it on the way to work. Cold. We also have a very serious snow-removal in action again today. Machines all over town. People with shovels.

Cold talk aside, with a few precautions, warm wear, or a trip to the onsen just outside town one can enjoy even the frostiest days. This month we continue the ever constant bounding of events here in town. For example, just next week we are screening a popular movie at our recreation hall and event centre. I’ve bought my ticket and am very looking forward to it.

Here and there we have a school holiday, but there are other preparations to look forward to. Tomorrow is actually the last scheduled day of class for third year highshcool students. Third years will be preparing for examinations, end of the [school]year events , and graduation -soon.

Just when things may feel bleak and whited-out in the swells of winter, there are many warming events to look forward to here and there in town, too. これからも遠別で色々なエベントがありますね！

 

(Elementary school, first grade students preparing for ski recreation hour!)

trundling

I have not failed to appreciate where I live. Embetsu is a peaceful and still place -especially on winter evenings.

I have come to appreciate the opportunity I have to be here, in Embetsu. I want to enjoy every day. And so I do. Part of my practice of taking in the sights and feel of the town is to enjoy a little trundle or walk on most evenings.

As the short arm of the clock draws toward late evening hours I suit up in coat and shawl, slip into thick boots, and so very warmly bundled stroll about the neighborhood. I walk slowly, the snow falls. I stop, I look at street lamps lighting up little tufts of snow that sail gently through the air. I watch buildings and street corners -the make of the structures and the age of the buildings so foreign, so Japanese to me. This is a nice place, Embetsu.

And so, taking some time out of each allowable day, I will continue to walk and watch, and enjoy the time I have been given here in Embetsu. 夜、静かの時間で散歩するのが好きです。

just watching,

Just yesterday I had a spur of the moment chance -I found out about the event during lunch hour- to watch a school kanji/Japanese written character (漢字) expose or writing event.

Just after noon several students from the elementary school gathered at our local community hall and event center to partake. Students, divided by their grade level, were given simple sentences, utilizing kanji according to their grade level, to write. For example, ‘A beautiful sky’, or, ‘Let us protect nature’.

But when I say write, I do not just mean, write. The art of Sho-do (書道) means that according to tradition, students kneel before sized paper, hold brushes  accordingly, and then brush using beautiful, black Sumi or ink across delicate paper. Each stroke is pulled, pressed, and lifted according to technique and emphasizes the character of the artist.

Standing by watching students brush, wait, stop to evaluate their gliding strokes, and then continue was -mesmerizing. Maybe because it’s foreign to me, but I was captivated.

Regular classes will resume following winter break next week. I am sure I will have many more fantastic events to follow -soon.

The post-New Years

Here we are, arrived in 2012! Welcome. I have just returned from a fine holiday and am ready to soak up a lot more of what this new year has to offer.

Now assuredly much as transpired/happened since the last post but I will inform you of Enbetsu happenings instead. That being said, the great fun of our year end Christmas party, or bou-nenkai (忘年会) as it might be called was rather memorable.

The lot of town hall workers and employees -we all made our way aboard bus and then shipped off to Tongarikan (とんがりかん), a locally regaled highway rest space and fine restaurant located  just over our very nearby Enbetsu river.

The evening consisted of a set menu, merry-made drinks, party games such as pictionary, and mini-golf, etc. It was an evening to remember. And as always I look forward to posting up a photo -soon to follow! 去年の忘年会とても楽しかったです！

wintery things,

We have come to a lot of snow here in Embetsu. A lot. Over the course of my time abroad I have been assured, asked even, ‘you have a lot of snow in Canada, don’t you?’

Well, yes, we do. The ski hills back home are brimming, the winter season long and often times painstakingly cold. But, no. It has been quite some time since I have seen snow quite like what I now see on a daily basis here in Embetsu.

And no, it’s not all that bad. The presence of loads of snow calls for fantastic snow removal strategies. This morning was one of those days. Huge, painted yellow trucks scraping, grinding, pulling, pushing, and loading snow away from the narrowing roadways that were once jammed full of fresh and melty snow.

Christmas? Well, that, too was a fine event. I enjoyed wintery foods, hot beverages, and warm evenings in front of my home stove. Kept warm, visited, messaged friends, and talked with family. Couldn’t have been a better Christmas. I even shared a Christmas cake with myself. Though I have to admit nothing compares to a roasty at home Christmas dinner. Next year. 今年のクリスマスはとても楽しかったんです！

o-mochi making,

Learning. Learning, learning. I wonder how I could describe this abroad experience best? One word? One sentence? That would take some thought, the answer to that question.

Regardless, there is much happening this season here in town. One noteable event is the making of rice cakes. O-mochi. This is a very special rice, the variety of which is cultivated here in Embetsu as well, which is cooked, treated with care, pounded and molded into a cake-like consistency and then apportioned for use whether for food, decoration, or seasonal festivity.

Slowly, I am learning.

Last week I had the opportunity to have a fine dinner at the superintendant’s home (for our local board of education) and the evening was wrapped up with me donning gloves, lifting hot rice, rolling hot rice, and experiencing the present-day’s style of making o-mochi. With many of the New Year’s festivities still not yet underway I will have a few more opportunities to see just how this special crop is dealt with and revered here in Japan; and here in Embetsu. お餅を作ったのはとても楽しかったです！

As comes to close

Another year is coming to a close. Why do I say this? Well, I am relatively new to the system here in Japan. In Canada our financial year revolves around April -does it not? Income-taxes and such. It’s kind of a spring-time thing.

Here in Japan we were looking at income-tax papers the other week. And this week we are looking forward to bou-nenkai (忘年会). This is an  end of the year celebration/coming together of coworkers, friends, and any other groups of the sort to be merry with food and drink and to forget the year and welcome another in a Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol sort of way. (Have you read that story? If you are looking for a warming and surprising winter read, look no further!)

This concept of bou-nenkai is interesting to me considering that winter is kind of a ‘dying’ of the earth and spring-time a re-birth of many things nature and in some ways life itself. Too philosophical? I hope not. For culturally this is a fantastic insight, I think. That is saying goodbye to one year in this way and soon welcoming another.

So with much planning yet to be had for December and some events to look forward to, photos are soon to follow. Have a merry soon-is-Christmas preparation time ! もうすぐクリスマスになってきます！