Skiing in Hakuba

Our first stop was the ski rental shop.

Then we hit the slopes!

I could write an eloquent post about how amazing it felt to swoosh down the steep mountain with the wind whipping my hair back. The sad truth is, however, that most of my time on the slopes I was in a state of terror. See this picture below? Here I am stuck in a foot of fluffy white snow on a virtually flat space, and I am still keeping my poles firmly planted lest I over-balance! I shed many a frustrated tear at Hakuba, let me tell you. If I could manage the short beginner's slope at my snail's pace without falling on my derriere, I considered it a good run. Meanwhile, Craig zoomed happily down the black diamonds and took lots of amazing photos from high up the mountain. Good thing I love the man!

One day Craig and I took the Hakuba gondola instead of the chair lifts to the top of the mountain.

Hakuba Luna Hotel

Craig and I enjoyed the short flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo, Japan. From our airplane window we could see the peak of Mt Fuji in the distance.

Craig booked a taxi to take us straight from Narita airport to the Hakuba snowfields, about a five-hour drive.

This is our hotel. We love how it feels like a ski lodge rather than a fancy hotel, most of the staff are Australian, it is excellent value for money, we get a free breakfast every morning, and it is only 100 meters from the ski lift.

As soon as they arrive, all guests need to remove their shoes or skiboots and put on some hotel slippers.

Our hotel room...

...with possibly the world's tiniest bathtub.

The hotel uses Japanese decorations to merge Eastern flavour with Western comfort.

With a thirty centimeter snowfall last night and -9 degree weather, we are extremely thankful for all the warm clothes lent to us by the Landes family!

This post comes to you from...

...Japan!

Two years ago I promised Craig a ski holiday in Japan, and we are finally here! More posts to follow...

Happy Chinese New Year!

Tirzah's Chinese New Year party

 

Tirzah's kindergarten class celebrated Chinese New Year with a fun party this week. These photos and video were taken by her teacher, Mrs Davis. 

  

More Chinese New Year crafts

After posting some crafts two years ago, I have been looking out for other Chinese New Year crafts to showcase on the blog. 

This is the bulletin board outside our classroom at the moment. We tore strips of black paper for the branches and glued on pink cupcake papers for the blossoms. The "torn" Chinese character reads "spring". Simple but effective...

 

With an abundance of lai see envelopes at the markets at the moment, there are many beautiful configurations that can be made by cutting and intricately folding the red packets. 

Fans...

Fish...

Flowers...

and firecrackers...

I also love these Chinese dragons created by the third grade students at ICS.

And look at this beautiful display of Chinese paper cutting!

My colleague's mother is learning how to write Chinese calligraphy in the olden style. She made these couplets for our classroom door which read Proverbs 3:5-6.

My Chinese characters chicken scratches are certainly not blog-worthy, but my colleague Tintus wrote this new year wish for "God's abundant blessings". Happy Lunar New Year to all my readers!

Wordless Wednesday (forty-six)