ski trip!

Although it's been ridiculously warm in Japan this year (almost no snow in "snow country," prefectures being forced to cancel their Snow Festivals and daily news reports about the panic over pre-mature flower blossoming), I've had no reason to complain. Spending my life on a bike or in my uninsulated apartment has given me a special appreciation for mild winters.... but the opportunity to go skiing aroused my first pangs of concern--had global warming ruined my ski season??
Thankfully, not. In fact, it was one of the best ski trips I can remember... no wind, temperatures in the 30ºs, sunny, with fresh snow. The worst part was that my hands were hot and I had to go through the trouble of taking my mittens off every time we got on the lift or I would have sweat to death... tragic stuff, right? To make my story even sadder, my ski pass was free! (and the lovely people at the rental shop let me switch to skis when it was revealed that snowboarding was simply NOT going to work out for me)
...try to resist. (^-^)

In other news, I'll be running in my city's "marathon" this weekend. Much like my junior high school's marathon, it's not a marathon at all, but rather a series of long distance runs (2, 3, 4, 5, 10 or 20km). It's a huge city-wide event and almost all of the athletic teams from elementary school through high school participate, not to mention the nursery schools and people from all of the local businesses... 5,795 participants this year! I'll be one of 46 women (there are 346 men) running the 10k on Sunday morning. As you might imagine, I'm terrified, especially since all my talk of warm weather is certain to jinx me and I'll find myself running uphill, against the wind, in the snow... wish me luck!!