Brace yourselves people!

The winter is here. Back in the good ol' California, you could walk out of your house on any given day and assume it was spring. Sometimes a hotter spring, sometimes a colder spring, but either way, everyday is spring in California.

We are now realizing, through a very abrupt culture shock, that no such feeling exists in Japan. The gods and goddesses that look over this tiny island make for damn sure that you know what season it is. This past weekend, Ron and I had an amazing experience. More is described on top. But what I really want to describe is the crack cocaine that Mother Nature-sama in Japan is on. On Saturday I had the day off. I cleaned, talked to my dad via Skype, went to the post office to send stuff to my mother, and then made my way to Ron's work. As I walked there, I saw this gorgeous tree. The sun was directly hitting it and the colors exploded off the leaves as if it was in Photoshop. I took some photos and thought to myself "Morioka has a fantastic autumn."

When I got to Ron's work, we left with our new friends to the neighboring prefecture to hang out. (More later) The VERY NEXT DAY, we woke up to snow. We walked outside and the nature that had been bursting with color 12 hours ago was now a sheet of white. Needless to say, Ron and I almost peed in our pants. But knowing that our pants would freeze, we held it in.

Although it was a shock, thoughout the day we saw more and more beautiful things. I couldn't help but think, "Morioka has a fantastic winter." I never thought I would saw both sentences within 24 hours.