Happy First Day of February!

Another cold winter month down, and the shortest month of the year to go. :) I had a really good week & weekend, so I must say that January ended well.

The bulletin board I did at Misaki Jr. High on Thursday for "Dana's Corner."
(Those pictures probably look familiar.)

On Friday evening, I had a dance performance with my team for a private office party. The party people were in really good spirits, so it was a fun audience. Later that night, I joined the other English teachers for three hours of "let's sing a bunch of oldies songs" karaoke, which is always a good time. (In fact, right now as I write this, I'm listening to some of the songs we sang to remember how they're supposed to sound, haha.)

Saturday was a relaxing day of just taking it easy. I met up with a couple of Japanese friends for dinner, and afterwards tried watching a scary movie, but I fell asleep.

I wasn't sure if I would go skiing or not since snowboarding was so frustrating for me last weekend. But I tried skiing for the first time yesterday, and I'm so happy to report that I quickly got the hang of it! In fact, I rode the lift and went down the mountain 12 times in four hours!! As my dad would say, last weekend the bear ate me, but this weekend, I ate the bear. :)

This time, I went to a place that is much better for beginners, as well as cheaper and closer to Kuji. I had the help of my friend Akinori, who is excellent at skiing.

Before hitting the slopes, I posed with Akinori and his adorable two-year-old daughter, Erika, who spent the morning sledding with "Momma." (taking the picture) My goodness, I look tall!

I really enjoyed spending time with this nice (English-speaking!) family and playing with Erika. On the ride back to Kuji, I taught her some English, including a really important little phrase that everyone should know...

"Go Colts!!" :)