For my new years resolution I decided that I would make it my goal to ride to work everyday by bicycle as long as we were still in Japan. Since making that resolution I have not really been watching the weather forecast as my intent is to ride regardless of the weather. This week on Wednesday while I was at work a number of people asked if I came to work by bike. When I said yes they mostly laughed and said it was going to snow. When I walked out of the office I also laughed as there was about 2 inches of snow on the ground and huge snow flakes were falling. The ride home was both fun and not so fun at the same time. The snow flakes stuck to my glasses and after a short time I couldn't tell if I was even on the road or not. On two occasions I almost ran into bamboo that had fallen into the street from the weight of the snow. I had to pull my glasses down and look over the top of them in order to see the road.
This is the walk in front of our home.
The Gios was packed with snow by the time I got home. It was making all kinds of rubbing noises from all the snow. Finally I was able to make it home in one piece.
The next day I knew it would be icy and the Gios with the little road tires and clip pedals would not be so safe so I decided to take the mama-cheri to work. That is the bike we use to leave at the train station or run errands around town. The mama comes from mother and cheri is short for chariot as it is a common form of transportation for mothers in the cities of Japan. It has larger tires and standard pedals as well as a lower seat. All of those things make it a little safer and if I wrecked it I wouldn't really care. I snagged a couple of pictures from my cell phone on the way.
This is the view from the mama-cheri. The roads were pretty slippery but I faired pretty well on the bike. On the way home I was able to tear up a couple of other cyclist on standard bikes.
Now on Mondays Kate is taking the children to Utsunomiya for English tutoring. As a result the children have to be in the car and on the way shortly after school. Kate has started to make them bento boxes so they can eat on the way in the car. In Japan some of the bento boxes can get pretty elaborate, it is basically a form of food art. The children have been excited each week to see what she was able to put together for them. Kate said they are even eating all their vegetables.
The faces in Colleen's rice are made from seaweed.
This week was our second Setsubun. Setsubun technically marks the end of winter, unfortunately I think the day after Setsubun it got 10 degrees colder. I talked with a couple Japanese friends about that and they told me it was from an old calendar and that now is actually the coldest time of year. Last year I wore the Oni mask and the children threw the beans at me so this year I decided to have them wear the mask and I pelted them with the beans. "Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi." Bad things out good things in...
Liam in the mask.
And Colleen on her turn.
I am definitely ready for the cold to come to an end.
That is all for this post.. have a good week.
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