I'm getting very afraid. The mercury's starting to fall. Last winter was my first winter with snow. That was in Kaminoyama which is on the northern half of Honshu. It was very cold for this long time California boy. Oh sure, the first few days of snow were wonderful. At first, you see the snow fall from the sky, and immediately melt when it hit the ground. It was beautiful seeing the snow falling from the sky. I remember thinking, "So this is what it's like to have seasons." The temperature would hover around 30 degrees... which was definitely cold, but nothing 2 sweaters, a scarf, gloves, and a heavy jacket couldn't solve. As an added plus, I learned how to put on a scarf! For all the fellow lifetime Californians, no, you don't just put the middle of the scarf over your mouth and just swing the ends of the scarf around and around your head! Yep, that's what I thought before I was enlightened.
But then winter really hit. All the native people kept saying how that year was unexplainably "warm" and that the snow didn't come down hard. I don't know, but I consider having to shovel snow every other day, a lot of snow! As for the temperature... well, let's put it this way.
I homestayed at the pastor's house that winter. I lived on the 2nd floor, but had a separate fridge and pantry area down on the 1st floor. Naturally, if I was hungry and wanted a bite to eat, I'd go downstairs, grab the food, and cook it up in the kitchen. Well, one winter day, I felt like having some pasta. So, I go downstairs, grab the frozen pasta sauce from the freezer and bring it to the kitchen to thaw. After nuking it for a little bit, I go back to the pantry area to grab the pasta and olive oil. As I'm walking back to the kitchen, I notice that olive oil bottle feels pretty cold. When I put the glass container down on a table I notice that my oil is solid! No, it didn't just emulsify as oils might when the temperature drops a little. I opened the bottle, stuck a finger down the opening, and found that the oil really was solid... and ice cold! I had olive ice. It froze. I've never seen oil freeze until that point. Keep in mind that this is indoors! No I didn't put it in the freezer. It was simply on a shelf, in a room. I don' beeleef.
Now, the people of Kaminoyama all said that Hokkaido (the place I'm at now) is a lot colder than Kaminoyama. And I heard the same thing when I came here 6 months ago... but with a twist.
Upon my arrival in Hokkaido, with almost tears in my eyes, I asked the locals "Is it really true that Hokkaido is a lot colder than Tohoku (northern Honshu)?" To which I got a smirk and this reply: "Yes, that's true... but it doesn't nearly snow as much, so you don't have to worry too much." What kind of consolation is that? At least I can play with the snow. I can't play with sub-zero temperatures. Well, it looks like it's about time to start putting on that third and fourth sweater.