Yadda Yadda

It has been so long since I last sat down to update this thing I think I`ll put everything in point form.

1. Went back to Hakuba for more snowboarding. The weather was warm and the conditions amazing. We went with a friend from England who had never seen mountains, let alone hurtled down one on a board... We all did a lot of laughing. Amy and I got stuck on the wrong side of the mountain on the last day due to a wind storm. They were in the process of closing the chairlifts and we managed to sneak onto one of the last chairs that would take us back over the mountain. My blood pressure was off the charts at this point because Wendy was waiting on the other side of the mountain... Long story short, we nearly missed our train back to Nagoya.

2. The new apartment is working out nicely. I am enjoying the proximity to the subway station, friend`s houses and the exciting areas of Nagoya. The free TV is also nice; we actually get news... if you consider CNN to be real news. We can stay informed about selected world issues as well as the latest scandals involving Oprah. Good thing or bad thing? I have yet to decide.

3. Last weekend I went to a yaki niku restaurant with the boys from work and the Japanese staff. Yaki niku is meat, mostly beef and chicken, that comes to the table raw and you get to cook it over a small BBQ in the middle of the table. Like most Japanese food it`s a lot of fun to make! We were so busy cooking and trying not to singe each others eyebrows off that nobody seemed to notice the bills accumulating at the end of the table. By the end we had managed to BBQ ourselves out of 50 bucks each. For some reason the communal nature of the meals here make for a fun group experience, even if it is a tad expensive. I guess sitting on the floor and drinking lots of nasty Japanese beer also helps too haha.

4. Recently I signed my new contract with Nova and now we have to get the visas processed. I can`t believe we only have 6 more months here! I was happy to sign the new contract because it means that I get a small raise and 11 days off yay! Amy and I are finally starting to plan for the big trip. We have to get all the insurance, visas and money worked out.

That`s about all the `news` from this end of the planet. Last Saturday I sunk to a new low... Amy was out with friends and instead of making myself something nutritious for dinner I gave in to The Urge. That is, the urge to consume anything that remotely resembles something from home. Said urge can force consumption of food from McDonald`s/Starbucks all the way to insanely expensive Canadian cheese, very bad for the bank account! Anyway, I ended up spending about $3 on a box of Scooby Doo Kraft Dinner. I never thought happiness could come in the form of dog-shaped noodles with fake cheese sauce. It really is strange the things one will do...

In other embarrassing news, we have been watching the dreaded American Idol show. The show is now an important topic of conversation both at work and home. People you would never pick as Idol fans participate in deep conversations about favourite contestants and judges. I guess this is a product of missing the familiar and the poor selection of English shows on FOX, usually reruns of Ally McBeal and the dreaded 24. It is really amusing for me to be at work chatting with a huge rugby-playing Aussie about the pros and cons of each contestant. Not that I do or anything....