Matsumoto and Hakuba

Winter trip
Originally uploaded by KumamotoMark.

From December 25 to Jan 1, I travelled to Nagano Prefecture. I flew into Matsumoto Ciy (on a sweet propeller plane) then trained it up to the village of Hakuba where the olympics were held in 1998. For 5 days, I snowboarded at 3 different resorts: Hakuba 47/Goryu, Happo and Tsugaike. It was pretty cloudy most of the time (if not dumping snow) so I wasn't able to get any shots from the slopes. Plus I was too busy tearin' it up. Nevertheless, here is a selection of shots from the trip. A few shots of the aforementioned aircraft, Matsumoto Castle and downtown area, and a snow sculpture of some kind...

I will return to St. Louis, MO in 4 days. Jf and Michiyo's wedding is the 15th. I am looking forward to it and also helping Michiyo's family feel comfortable in the Midwest. Sort of a real life test for my Japanese/translation skills. Then from around the 21st, I will spend another week snowboarding, this time in Colorado, graciously hosted by the former Kyokushi ALT and legend, Professor Quintana. Promises to be a busy few weeks.