SNOW!!!

We have SO MUCH SNOW! Snow fell all Sunday night and most of yesterday, and it was blizzarding this morning. Everything is COVERED in snow. It’s kind of awesome, besides the fact that I’m snowbound and without access to a grocery store. I went shopping on Saturday, but I forgot to get much in the way of food (like meat or veggies) so I’m pretty sure I will be surviving on vegetarian curry, fried rice and cereal until it clears. XD

It is gorgeous outside, though! It has stopped snowing for a while, so the sun is out. And we got our class canceled for an hour this morning while it was still blizzarding. So, today has been a short day! This afternoon we went out to build snowmen, but were stymied by the bulldozers (all they have to clear the snow!) so we instead decided to just play around by the lake. :D And now I'm back inside with a cup of Mexican hot cocoa and my Engrish sweatshirt, warming back up and thinking that life's pretty great at the moment. :)

Not much else has happened today! We have been given the opportunity to participate in internships - they're a 3-hour commitment one day a week. I'd like to go teach English at the elementary school - there are also some waiter and clerk jobs and a translator job at City Hall. We interview for those tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes. :)

Today I’m doing something a little different with my post. I figured that, after a while, posting every 2 days would get redundant. After all, weekends are exciting but my classes aren’t really. I mean, I learned Japanese today! But I also learned it every day last week as well. Nothing too interesting has happened yet. So, I’ve decided to start some Top 5 lists. Basically, the lists are of random things I’ve noticed about Japan but haven’t really been able to include in posts yet. So, I get to share random pictures and you get to learn more about Japan. Sounds good?

I figured I’d start my lists off positively with 5 Innovations That Make Life In Japan Great. There’s also one on innovations I wish Japan would pick up on, but why be a negative nancy to start with? Here are some of the random perks of living in Japan. :D

Specific Water Heaters

See this little console? It’s really cool, and hooked up to our shower. Basically, you set it to the temperature you want (I like 41 degrees Celsius, personally), turn the hot water faucet all the way on, and in 2 minutes you get the perfect temperature of water. You can also use it to boil water to make tea/hot cocoa/instant meals right in your tap. No more twiddling the dial! Also, as an added bonus you never have to worry about the water spontaneously cooling down because the heater maintains the temperature you set.

Microwave convection ovens

This is the coolest microwave ever! As you can see, it doesn’t have any number buttons – everything is just an option. Do you want toast? Just press the toast button (#4!), and your bread will come out nice and toasted on top. Want to warm up some milk to make hot cocoa? Press the hot beverage button! Want to bake a cake? Press the cake button(#8)! (And while I haven’t tried it yet I’m going to maintain that it works. I’ll get back to you on that!) Just warming up food is a little trickier because the buttons are more difficult to find, but you can do that, too. Just set the power level and time like you would at home (by pressing the minute button at the bottom). Awesome. :D

Lappi Machines

Lappi Machines are in just about every vending machine store ever. They look sort of like a miniature Redbox kiosk or an old arcade game. But they are so much more useful! You can buy all sorts of things with a Lappi machine. I’ve used it to get concert tickets, but you can use it to pay for online purchases, buy merchandise, get train tickets or tickets, make copies, and even pay bills! You can also order concert/event tickets online and pick them up at your closest convenience store. It’s super-cool.

Train Timetables

The subway system in Japan is, of course, legendary. Everyone knows about how you can get anywhere you want in Japan by subway. And it’s mostly true! In large towns like Tokyo, it is entirely possible to get anywhere you need to go by train. In Kyoto the train and bus system combined can get you anywhere. Even smaller towns like Hikone have a train station (and Hikone has 2!). What is really remarkable about it is the train schedule. Pick a day, any day, within the next three months. You can know the departure and arrival times of every train in Japan. And, if you book a trip for some random day in March, you can depend on those times still being accurate. It’s pretty cool. Hyperdia is my new hero – it’s a search engine for traveling Japan by train. I’ve looked up a lot of different routes to get to new places, and it’s a must-have resource if you ever intend to travel in Japan. Timetables rock.

Rice Cookers

This one is also a little less exciting than the others. After all, they have rice cookers in America also! But I’m still a huge fan of rice cookers. They’re versatile enough that you can use them like crock pots (and though I haven’t tried any recipes, they sound intriguing). Also, you don’t have to wait to need rice to start cooking it. You can start your cooker at, say, breakfast and have fluffy, perfect rice available for you for lunch and dinner (and perhaps even the next day, if you push it!). My roommate says it’s also great for making stews. And it’s so tiny! Very portable, very safe for use (as opposed to the fish fryer and open burners we have to deal with otherwise), and so easy. I understand why the Japanese eat rice all the time!

I hope this was enlightening. :) Have a wonderful week, and hopefully by the next time you hear from me, I will have been able to leave campus(and will maybe have an internship!).