Snow

On Monday, it snowed practically all day. I was really surprised. I think it was the longest I have ever seen it snow in Japan. In Osaka, the snow didn't stick on the ground, but near my house in Nishinomiya City, the snow stuck. And when I walked home, the street was full of slush and a little icy. The road was slippery and dangerous, so I was very careful and walked with caution.

Then, on Tuesday I got an email from Mr. M. He went on a ski trip to Nozawa Hot Spring over the 3 day weekend. Do you know where Nozawa is? It is in Nagano Prefecture. Have you ever been there? If yes, what was it like?

So, since I am on the topic of snow, I will write some "snow vocabulary." Look at the below 5 sentences:

1. My brother lives in Michigan, and it snows A LOT there. Just last week the temperature was only 1 degree Fahrenheit!!! That is FREEZING!!! Can you convert that into Celsius? Anyway, since it snows so much there he bought a snow blower last year. A snow blower is a necessity in Michigan.

2. It also snows quite a bit in Philadelphia, my home town. Actually, this year they(=Philly people) were hit with a bunch of blizzards. Every time there was a blizzard when I was a child, I had to shovel the driveway. Because the driveway is big, I had to use a big snow shovel. It took hours. And after I finished, my body was sore all over. Maybe that is one reason that I have a bad back now...

3. In University, when final exam time came around, I was always snowed under with tests.

4. There are two types of snow; man-made snow and powder snow. When you go skiing and fall on man-made snow, it hurts a lot. But if you fall on powder snow, it doesn't hurt so much, because the snow is soft and fluffy.

5. When I was younger I used to go skiing often. And after a long, hard, fun day of skiing, there was nothing better than going to the ski lodge to check out the snow bunnies!! :)

I am sick about talking about Sumo, but for your English study, you should check out this article.
Osaka: What are your thoughts on the decision to cancel the Osaka sumo tournament due to the match-fixing scandal?

(from Views from the Street, The Japan Times Online) http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/fl20110215vf.html

Thanks for the beautiful photos Mr. M! And very nice snow man!!