Snow in Utsunomiya - February 2010

This winter seems to be more cold this year in Japan. We certainly have received more snow, although still no where near the amount that Ohio has received. Last year it snowed once and it melted once it hit the ground. This year I think it has snowed maybe four times so far and it actually stuck around for a day or two each time. The girls love the snow and were excited to see our neighbor had built a yuki daruma, snowman. The girls added the broccoli eyes and carrot nose.

This is a picture of Rylee after school. It was her favorite part of the day to get off the bus and run to see if our snowman was still standing.

Our neighborhood in the morning with a fresh dusting of snow.

This is the view from our bedroom window, not the prettiest scene, but at least there are a few trees.

This is the view from our balcony looking down on our neighborhood.

Our Neighborhood, Nakakubo Utsunomiya Japan

Living in a big city is a new experience for me. I grew up in a small town of about 4,000 and then moved to Marysville, OH which wasn't all too different. Chris is used to the city life having grown up in St. Louis. I must say I have enjoyed being in Utusnomiya during our stay here in Japan. Although we don't have a yard and I can literally see into my neighbors living room our houses are so close, we are fortunate to have a lovely walking path and fish pond just minutes from our house. I jog there often and as a family we have enjoyed many bike rides in the summer evenings down the path and back.

This the entrance to one of our neighbor's front door, very pretty...very Japanese.

The fish pond, the fish are very large and fun to feed.