The Japanese have sprinkler systems for their streets and sidewalks (I'm not kidding). When I first saw it I thought (rather irrationally) that it was because the streets aren't use to being dry and so the 3 days a year it doesn't rain they have to water the streets so they don't dry up (I may have been bitter about the rain at that point). Then I thought, slightly more rationally, that perhaps that is how they clean the streets. But no, I found out that when it snows they leave the sprinklers on all night so that the streets don't ice up. Ha ha ha. Ridiculous. The idea of preventing ice by adding more water seems rather silly, but it seems to work, and the Japanese have enough water that they can afford to waste it.

It finally snowed the other day, and it was beautiful. The down side is that I have to walk when it snows and leave my bike at home. John tried riding my bike in the snow and said it was like mountain biking (and trust me, my bike is not meant for mountain biking).

I have finally figured out all of my plans for the holidays. On December 29 I am going to Nagoya to stay with my host family. My host mother is going to teach me how to make the traditional New Year's meal. Apparently it takes 3 days to make. Then on the 31st we are going to a Japanese inn in Shizuoka prefecture (near Mt.Fuiji). This inn is apparently very nice because the royal family stays there sometimes. On January 2nd I am going to Tokyo for a few nights to meet up with friends. The night of the 5th we aren't getting a hotel room though because we plan on staying out all night. Then on the 6th I am going back to Shizuoka (a town called Numazu) to stay with another friend for a few days. I'm very excited because I will get to see so many things during the break (although my breakl is almost 2 weeks long, so I have plenty of time).