"Do you like snow?"

This was the question asked to me at my JET interview last year, when I told the panel I wanted to be placed in Sapporo. "It's very cold there", they said. "No problem", I said, "we love the snow!" And honestly, I haven't really minded the cold and snow that much, although I've been told that this is a very mild winter. The snow's beautiful, I think, and the pinnacle came this week with the Sapporo Snow Festival.

What can I say? The sculptures were beautiful, it was really cold, and there were lots of people there. Actually, it was the largest gathering of white folk I'd seen since Tokyo Orientation.

On Saturday they had some snowboarders out in the park doing some tricks, which was really cool to see. Note: The red stuff on the snow is not blood.

All in all, the Sapporo Snow Festival was great, and it was nice to family here to share it with us. Lots more pictures and stories to share, coming soon!

*By the way, all these photos are courtesy of my mom-in-law, who has a much nicer camera than me. Thanks Janelda!