First snow and new Visa

Well we've finally got some snow here.  Not much,  maybe a couple inches but that's usually all we get here in Karuizawa anyway.  I am finding that I enjoy shoveling snow lately.  I think it is because it reminds me of being back in Canada. All this snow and Christmas hooplah is kind out making me homesick lately.  Luckily I have beer and my games to make me feel like I'm home so that's good. 

The other week my wife and I made a trip to Nagano City to renew my spousal visa.  It's hard to believe that in two weeks I will have been in Japan for a whole year. Time never went by this fast in Canada that is for sure.  Along the way we stopped at one of my favourite stores; Book-off.  It's a discount store for used manga,  books,  cds,  dvds and games.  I always seem to find some old gems that I couldn't in Canada.  
We also stopped by a temple where we went into a very dark hallway under ground and had to search for a door knob on the wall.  If you touch it means good luck for you.  It wasn't that hard to find what with the line up of tourists ahead of us,  but it was still fun to wander in the pitch blackness. 
On our walk back to the train station we also passed by the 1998 Nagano Olympic torch and a little podium they set up.  I couldn't resist posing. 

Curling tournament

Well,  the big news this week is that I decided to join the IAK  curling team this season. It's strange for me because the only previous experience I have had with curling is switching the channel and saying,  "where is the hockey game?".
But now I'm on a team of players with at least some experience,  although there are other beginners.  Thankfully I am not the only one bringing the team down.
We also missed the beginners league by a few months so we are in a competitive league this time around. Our first match was a 9-0 loss.  I feel better about it after finding out one of their players was a former junior curling champion for all of Japan in 2012.
So once I figured that out,  I decided that we needed to do some practicing.  So far we (Asuka and I) have had two practice sessions and I am getting slightly better,  though I have yet to understand how to correctly estimate how much power to use and I still haven't gotten my balance together for sliding across the ice.  I'm so wobbly still! 
Our next game is Tuesday night and I'm not sure but I think it might be against last year's Nagano championship team. 
Never enough practice.

After work yesterday the wife and I met up with her friend Emi and her boyfriend for a trip to Komoro.  We enjoyed dinner at a Chinese restaurant where I tried my very first lemon sour and some liquor from China.  It was a weird taste,  almost like a combination of tea and whisky but I found it enjoyable. 
Later that night at the train station I found my kanji reading skills have slightly improved. At the ticket purchasing computer I was able to read the two selections for Karuizawa!  Yay me!
Also, I was supposed to be practicing a few songs on guitar to play rhythm guitar with the IAK band at our upcoming Christmas party, but with work and the pension I really haven't had time,  so I think I won't be playing with them this year. 

Winter is coming

Last week I went to one of the shougakkos (elementary schools) in town to talk to the English Club about Canada.  Armed with Asuka's Canadian landscape picture book and an mp3 of our national anthem I arrived ready to talk. Needless to say I was woefully unprepared.  After participating in a brief exercise to help them practice asking directions in English,  I began to bombard them with as much unorganized information as I could throw at them.
I'm not sure which was more scary; the surprising accuracy of what I said, or how the children seemed to listen so enthusiastically,  although they maybe only understood every third or fourth word I said.

Other than that,  winter is beginning to show up here in Karuizawa. Each night after work the temperature had been hovering around zero degrees and we have even gotten some snow on top of Asamayama.  (Asama Mountain,  an active volcano.) No snow as of yet has stuck to the ground but I am sure it will soon.

It's a small world.

This past weekend,  we had ourselves some Canadian guests.  Not just from Canada but from Whistler British Columbia.  Only 30 minutes from my home town. 
       They had come to Japan as supervisors for a student exchange program with about ten students spending a week with host families and I apse just soaking up the culture of rich  resort town of x Karuizawa.
       The real surprise came when I found out that one of our guests' husband is a semi frequent customer at the store my mother works at. So they know each other somewhat well.
         Other than the Canadian connection,  Hoshinoko has just finished hosting some competitors for a rained out tennis tournament, and our lunch service has become quite popular lately.  Often we find ourselves with around ten guests a day. Though lately we have been slow due to the typhoons (hurricanes) passing close to Japan.  We don't get much effect here other than lots of rain, but it is enough to stop people from going out. 
     That's about it for me.  Until next time,  stay classy Internet.

September Doings and Goings On

September had a little bit of everything for me this year. Hoshinoko wasn't as busy as August, but to say that it was slow would not be right. We had guests from all over Japan. A few from Osaka, the usual contingent from Tokyo and even a curling team from Hokkaido. While they were here,  it meant early morning breakfasts  (see 6am) each day.  But I like to think that our breakfasts helped contribute to the fact that they went undefeated all the way to the finals. (As I type they are on the ice playing for first place.)
Come the middle of October we actual have some guests coming from Whistler! (30 minutes up the road from my home town in Canada.) Definitely looking forward to that,  as I don't often get to converse with the guests beyond; "please sit.",  "please help yourself to coffee and tea."  or "be careful the bread is hot."  Needless to say my Japanese studies have taken a back seat to work.
Though sometimes,  our guests can speak varying degrees of English,  which makes me very happy. It also makes my in-laws happy because then I can better serve our guests. 
September also marked my first experience with a typhoon. (or hurricane in North America). Though it didn't actually pass over my town,  we did get quite a lot of rain and some heavy wind gusts.  All in all,  it wasn't that bad of an experience.  Just a really wet one.

Today is also some sort of festival or bazaar just down the street from us.  People were collecting various items from other countries to sell.  I was made aware of this event by the rather loud fireworks being set off.  It sounded like mortars going off they were so close!

On a closing note,  I'd like to announce that we are now open for lunch!  Almost every day! If you're in the area,  so in for lunch between 11:30am till 2:00pm. Last order at  1:30. No reservations necessary,  but if you call ahead,  we will make sure we're ready for you.  Cheapest lunch in town at 500¥ plus tax for hamburg steak with salads,  rice and soup. Check our Facebook page to see when we're open or closed.  #shamelessplug

Until next time,  thanks for reading!  Love to hear your comments.

Picture of our wonderful guests from a week or so ago.  At first I thought they wanted me to take their picture.

Summer busy season

Wow what a busy month July was, and August is even more so. Almost the entirety of July was spent working mornings at the pension and the rest of the day at the restaurant. Now that we are officially in to summer vacation it has become impossible for me to work at the restaurant now.
Everyday brings me new guests and new interesting people to talk to. Well,  to try to talk to anyway. I have been so busy that any down time had been reserved for being too exhausted to so anything.
It is not all hard work though.  The other day I was told that guests had said I have a refreshing smile.  And once again a guest wanted to take a picture with me. This time though, I thought to ask him to send it to me.
Just today even,  two things happened that I really enjoyed.  One of our guests knew who I was because he told me that he reads my blog.  (if you're seeing this please feel free to drop me a line)  and then something completely random happened.  I noticed the license plates of two of our guests and neighbour.  I won't spill it for you so you will have to look but I will say that the one on the bottom is actually or neighbour and not a guest.  But still! What are the odds that this happens?

Pension Association BBQ

About a week ago, a few of the local pension owners got together for lunch. We all enjoyed BBQ chicken, beef, seafood and veggies, as well as alcohol. I quite enjoyed the drinks, except the suntory whisky highball. (Seriously, who mixes whisky and soda?) But I really did enjoy the Korean Liquor the pension association boss shared with me. It was called Makkori and has the consistency of slightly thick sake. It was great and went well with all the BBQ chicken, beef and peppers I ate. At one point, a guy even went to the nearby creek and caught a fish in under 5 minutes! It was literally taken from the creek to the BBQ I'm under 3 minutes and I actually ate some of it! 
It was nice meeting new people who do the same work as me and also nice catching up with some people I hadn't seen in a while. Plus, we could not have had a better location by the creek. I look forward to the next one.

Karuizawa Hotel Association outing

Today Asuka and I joined other pension owners on a tour/curling lesson. We went to a literary museum and a historical museum and then we went curling for the last half of the day.
Asuka was only able to take pictures at the first museum, the historical one called Oiwakake. (I may have spelled that wrong.) Of all the pictures I like the one with the stone sign post. This stone was made in 1675. Pretty young for a country that is over 2000 years old, but really old compared to Canada.

Curling on the other hand, while fun, was kind of lame. We only got half a sheet of ice to play on, so even just sliding forward to throw the rock was difficult. But, at least I didn't fall down.

Also, I apologize for the sideways pictures. I can figure out why they won't straighten properly.

Once a month on a Tuesday we here at Hoshinoko Pension Hotel host a meeting of the International Association of Karuizawa (IAK). This past Tuesday was our turn. While everyone was chatting and having a good time, I, and a few others were watching Japan's soccer team try to qualify for next years world cup. I don't care for soccer ( or football, depending on where you're from ) but it wasn't as bad to watch when other people are there.
But the important thing happened after the game, when Asuka volunteered me to visit a classroom and speak to a group of children about Canadian culture. Now, anyone that knows me, knows that I hate to stand up in public and speak out loud, so this is kind of a nerve racking idea for me. Besides that, my idea of Canadian culture is kraft dinner, beer and hockey. Not sure how to talk about that for an hour and a bit.
Thankfully, the lady organizing the event is going to tell me what she would like me to talk about. Also thankfully, it's not until November.

Japanese fun fact

So I learned something from my wife the other day that made me stop and think a moment. I even had to stifle a laugh for fear of making her upset with me. As it turns out, Japanese people don't have thumbs or toes.
The thumb thing I can understand, as many of us North Americans will say we have 10 fingers, where as I believe I have 8 fingers and two thumbs. ( if thumbs were fingers they would be called fingers and not thumbs. )
But what I don't understand, is how Japanese people refer to their toes. As Asuka explains it to me, the word for toes literally translates to "leg fingers". Seriously, leg fingers. I don't know what else to say except the name conjures up some pretty silly images.
So there you have it. The Japanese have 20 fingers, no thumbs and no toes. Awkward.

Japanese fun fact

So I learned something from my wife the other day that made me stop and think a moment. I even had to stifle a laugh for fear of making her upset with me. As it turns out, Japanese people don't have thumbs or toes.
The thumb thing I can understand, as many of us North Americans will say we have 10 fingers, where as I believe I have 8 fingers and two thumbs. ( if thumbs were fingers they would be called fingers and not thumbs. )
But what I don't understand, is how Japanese people refer to their toes. As Asuka explains it to me, the word for toes literally translates to "leg fingers". Seriously, leg fingers. I don't know what else to say except the name conjures up some pretty silly images.
So there you have it. The Japanese have 20 fingers, no thumbs and no toes. Awkward.

Sight seeing in my backyard

The other day we had a group of Canadian University students stay with us for a few days. It was a lot of fun having them around. Although I originally feared that their Japanese would make me look like a horrible under-achiever. Those fears were put aside when I realized they would all be speaking English anyway. We acted as some sort of tour guide to them, well, Asuka did. I tagged along and saw some sights myself.
  One place in particular we went to was Usui Pass Scenic Viewpoint. It lies on the border of both Nagano and Gunma Prefecture and offers a simply amazing view of the mountains and Annaka City. The trees here have such a lush green colour and some are lighter then others. It makes for a beautiful collage type effect. Best of all, it was free and only about a ten minute drive from the Pension Hotel.

Golden Week

Wow has it ever been busy lately. Golden Week, as Asuka explained it to me, is basically two three day weekends back to back, crammed full of festivals. So needless to say we've been running at full or near to full capacity the last few days.

The language barrier has been rearing it's head again. One thing in particular I have trouble with is telling the difference between the sound my wife makes for "no" and the word for "yes". As you can imagine, that can lead to some awkward or difficult situations.
日本語は難しいね？
(Nihongo wa muzukashii ne?)
(Japanese is difficult eh?)

But I am having a lot of fun too. Just today, after we finished serving our guests delicious steak and hamburg steak dinners, my mother in law taught me how to make apple, raisin, cinnamon bread. Yes, it tastes as good as it sounds, if not better. I can't wait to eat it for breakfast tomorrow!  If it turns out OK, I will try to make other kinds of bread in the future. We also make delicious Pigs in a Blanket and even bacon and cheese bread. So I hope I can graduate to making that.

Oh, I almost forgot my favourite part! A guest we had for dinner tonight requested to take a picture with me, himself and his girlfriend.(possibly wife) Apparently, they saw my picture on the website and wanted to see me in person. (Don't ask me why. Lol) They even went so far as to ask if I would be there when they called to book their room. That information left a big smile on my face that is still lingering as I type.

But, I should get to sleep and rest up. Tomorrow is another busy day of Golden Week. I'll leave you all with a few pictures of me with my mother in law as I try to master a new skill.

おやすみなさい。
(Oyasuminasai.)
(Good night.)

-B.

Time flies.

So much for posting once a week. Been kind of hectic getting ready for all the visitors coming for Golden Week and also for the numerous curling tournaments. We actually had a group from Canada come and stay with us for a couple days even.

Last week though, the wife and I, along with friends Garry and his wife Wei-ling traveled 30 minutes up the road to nearby Ueda Castle to view the sakura blossoms. I had never seen them before so I didn't know what to expect. I was blown away by how colourful and just how beautiful and delicate they really were.

Below are some examples of the sakura blossoms plus as promised a few pictures of me at my finest. Oh yeah, I almost forgot! We came upon a monkey preforming tricks for a crowd.

I can't wait for next year to go again.

not a real update

Greetings all, It's Bryan again. Finally got my own name and user rights to the blog so no more relying on Asuka to show me what to do. I'm sure she's happy about that.

 We've not been very busy lately (it's usually a little slower in the winter here anyway) but we've been cleaning the rooms and getting everything ready for the next batch of guests. It keeps snowing here off and on but not enough to accumulate to anything.

I'm getting a little excited about going skiing for the first time in a few days. So as long as I don't break any part of my body I will post some pictures of the mountain and maybe of me looking like a doofus. (there's usually a lot of those type)

Meanwhile, Sora is going crazy. I better stop her before she hurts herself, or me.


-　

New snow!

We got new snow!

Last week we have got quite a lot...some are still on the road around our buildings.

Today i felt a bit warmer when i went out to take some pics.

Hopefully it wont be too cold next day... :P

A

Hi everyone! This is Bryan here, (or just B,) in Karuizawa finally! It took me a while to get here from Kelowna, B.C. Canada, but at long last I have arrived here at Hoshinoko Pension Hotel with my beautiful wife Asuka (you've heard from her before) and my wonderfully patient in-laws!

I'm not sure what to write just yet, (been kind of busy getting settled in) so I think this time around I will just introduce myself to everyone.

As you can tell, my name is Bryan. I'm 29 year old and come from a small town in British Columbia Canada called Squamish. I love to play guitar, read books and watch movies. My biggest passion in life right now is hockey of course (Canadian, remember?)  I live and breath Vancouver Canucks hockey, sometimes so much it annoys my wife.

My goal with this blog is to help explain what it's like here in Karuizawa to people outside of Japan and draw as many people here as I possibly can! Asuka will still be posting here periodically but it will mostly be myself now taking care of this blog. (poor bloｇ!) Between Asuka, our cat Sora, and working for my in-laws I don't know for sure how often I can post but I hope to at least make one post a week. Maybe more if some extra interesting stuff happens.

 But for now I must rest.

Oyasuminasai!

B