Nothing much happened during the day. Just relaxing and taking it easy. This evening I played the good Samaritan and picked up a pair of ALTs at the airport and drove them home. They live and work in Iwamizawa which isn't all that far from here (30-40min drive - the airport is 30). They came in on the last flight from Tokyo at 1030, and I got home around 1am.
Driving around at night in the snow is fantastic though. It was a really wonderful night; alternating snow and clear skies. The snow over the last couple of days has been great, and Iwamizawa was amazing. A real 'winter wonderland' as James (that would be the Californian I picked up) pointed out. The drive back was equally beautiful, with the big snow flakes ending as soon as I got out of Iwamizawa and the skies being completely clear by the time I hit Yuni. I got one of the best views of Orion I've had since I was a little kid on the road near Yuni. I had to stop for a while and just enjoy the view.
A couple of things really were brought home to me when I was out driving. Winter in Hokkaido is something special. Oiwake isn't much for winter... the snow always seems to melt, but elsewhere it stays properly and it is really beautiful. Also, I find that I enjoy Hokkaido a lot and I'm very, very much looking forward to Wednesday and skiing :) I'll miss Hokkaido when we leave here, although I don't think I'll miss my working conditions :P
Anyways, time to get going - a couple of pictures from Iwamizawa first though. The first is of the intersection near the Mos Burger that is amazingly open until 1am (wow! - watery coffee though - and because of my diet I didn't actually feel remotely like eating anything). The second is just at a random intersection. I really just wanted you to see the snow... it makes me very happy - figured I could share a bit.
Take care and have a great week!
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