More elementary school art

Here are some paintings by the 6th graders of their classroom.

 Some of the perspective is rather dizzying.

The fourth graders made some hanger things.

 Big cat face.

Crayon drawings by the first graders.

 A lot of them feature happy crabs.

 Animals in a glove is also a popular motif.

Finally, here are pictures in various media by students in various grades.

 There are some really good ones here. 

Like the third down on the left side, titled "The Egg of Mystery"

 This one was my favourite. The title is "A Creepy Flower ~The Bugs' Job~"

More snow

After two days with a light dusting of snow, I thought, "Hey, this isn't too bad. I can deal with this."

Come day three, it's gotten pretty THICC

Fun fact, nobody in Japan salts the roads in the winter!

I took a video from the train. It's a winter wonderland.

Sick 'cicles, brah

The supermarket in Shibetsu was even playing Christmas music. But I've stocked up on winter gear, finally, so I should be fine. Two blankets, bubble wrap for the windows, foam strips for the sliding doors, and aluminum tape for the heater. Keeping it toasty!

White snow and black eggs

oh no it's snow

 There's that ski slope back there.

 The sun came out during the day and melted all the snow, but then it started falling again in the afternoon. It piled back up by the time I left work.

At work there was a souvenir on my desk. Black eggs from Owakudani.

Owakudani means the great boiling valley. It's also affectionately called Jigokudani, or hell valley. It's a volcanic crater formed by an eruption about 3000 years ago. The area is full of hot springs and sulfur geysers, giving the whole place a distinctive look and smell.

The famous black eggs are created by boiling in the natural spring water for about an hour. Sulfur reacts with minerals in the shells, turning them black.

It's said that eating a black egg adds 7 years to your lifespan. At sets of five eggs for ￥500, that's 35 years for about $5! But it's also said that eating more than two eggs will give you bad luck. The only thing worse than a long life is a long, unlucky life.

But...these aren't those eggs. Those eggs only have black shells, and these are peeled. They seem to have been turned black with soy sauce, brown sugar, and dye. But they're still from Owakudani. It's like making a knock-off of your own product.

Elementary school festival setup

There seems to be some kind of little festival planned at the elementary school. I saw some teachers and a bunch of kids setting things up in the gym.

Here's some pumpkin stuff.

 I think these are marble mazes.

A ball rolling game.

 These dartboards probably don't follow regulations.

 I don't know what these boxes of dried leaves and pinecones are for.

Milking station.

 Box cow.

 These are cute.

I also took pictures of some assignments - character quiz sheets.

This Mario drawing was just too good.

 This one made me double-take. I didn't teach them to write that.

This OKASHI sure is wordy. That's the spirit of OKASHI.

November Potluck

Michael hosted a potluck party at his place in Asahikawa. There was a good turnout, 14 people. It was great to see people and also to eat food that I don't get the chance to otherwise.

Like Shannon's deer chili!

According to her, it tastes extra good because she made it while wearing roller skates.

It took me a long time to think of something to bring, especially with the somewhat limited ingredient selection in my town. But I eventually had the idea to make bread and butter pudding. The bread available around here is practically dessert already.

I guess it turned out pretty well. It all got eaten and two people asked me for the recipe.

Now that I've read things online about baking in a rice cooker, I might be making more dessert type things. I even bought a measuring cup, which I had neglected to get since I didn't think I would be baking before now. (I didn't measure anything when making the bread pudding.) 

There was also pasta salad, smoked salmon, garlic noodles, taco dip, chocolate mousse, rum balls, and jelly desserts.

Seasonal specials from Mister Donut.

 Mike getting ready to chug a bottle of vodka.

Food really brings people together.

 I may not be good at socializing, but I really like social events.

When I got back to town, there was actually a thin layer of show on the cars. All the snow that fell on the roads had melted, but it's a sign of things to come. I don't know if I'm ready.