Sydney and Marty's Big Adventure: Daily Life in Japan

Hi Everyone!!
We've been here almost a week now, and are loving every minute of it! We both love our jobs here. It is defiantly more hire than retail, but we are both getting the hang of it. When we aren't working we are usually on the hill. The snow has been great every day, and we have been told this is nothing yet!

We took our first adventure outside of our little village the other day. We needed to stock up on groceries and register for our gaijin card (foreigner's card). Once we get it we will be able to get a phone and all those good things. The bus is really expensive during the day so we decided to hitch hike to town (it is very safe and common in Japan). We got a ride with a great Aussie guy who has lived here for quite some time and offered to pick us up in an hour to go back to Hirafu. We would have loved to take him up on the offer, but we knew that grocery shopping is a good 2 hour process when you don't know what anything is. Marty and I have so much fun when we go shopping for groceries. We never know what anything is and always have to gamble on what we are getting. We found these great costumes at the local co-op. They are full sized animal costumes (bears, kangaroos, raccoons, care bears, cats dogs ect..) . I really want to get one for my birthday, and to send home for Drew. After a solid three hours in Kutchan we were finally ready to head back home. It took us awhile, but we finally got a ride back to Hirafu with a nice Japanese guy who spoke VERY little english.

Tonight while Marty was working I went to a local onsen with a bunch of people I live with. Onsens are really similar to a hot-springs, except they everyone goes naked. There are separate tubs for guys and girls, which are separated by this huge wall. After lounging in the pools for awhile we started to get pelted with snowballs from the other side of the wall (the guys side). They have these vending machines at the onsen that sells ice cold beer to cool you down while in the tub. Mom and dad you would love it!!

All in all things have been really great so far. I am really looking forward to get to know the mountain and the people around Hirafu a little better! I'll post a few more pictures below!!