My third year students graduated this Friday. To be honest, I haven’t really taught any of their classes this year because they’ve been busy prepping for exams (which I can’t really help them with). But there are a few students I became close to outside of the classroom, and I’m really going to miss them.
Saturday I spent with the girlfriend, and we drove up to Chusonji in Hiraizumi. I’d never been there, but it’s supposed to be one of the best temple complexes in northern Japan. The temple itself didn’t disappoint, though only a few of my photos came out exposed properly.
Sunday I had plans to go with Takahashi and the crew to the Sugo racetrack to do some laps on the motorbike. The weather was a bit cloudy the day before, so I was told to bring rain gear in case things turned sour. As it turned out, it didn’t rain… it snowed. Not enough to pile up or form ice, but flakes of the white crap were drifting out of the air as we unloaded the bikes from our truck and wheeled them into the pit. Thankfully, it stopped about an hour later, leaving us with a cold track. We had booked an hour of time, and the guys were eager to get out and open up the bikes, but I planned on taking it easy– my tires were at the end of their life (I had placed an order for replacements, but they hadn’t arrived yet), the track and tires were cold, and my skills were still a bit rusty from 6 months of not riding. My fears turned out to be well-founded, as three or four racers wiped out on the first lap, one smearing a nice line of mud through the chicane. After 2 warm up laps, the rest of us filed back into the pit area, and then they opened the track again after a few minutes. I didn’t want to push my tires, so again I took it easy… but it just didn’t feel right, the wind kept blowing me off my lines, and the other folks on bigger bikes were ripping past me left and right. It had disaster written all over it. So I pulled it in and turned it off for the day.
As we headed back home that afternoon, it started snowing. A lot. The snow continued to fall in large clumps and pile up over the next three days, finishing in an ugly pile of the cold stuff about 2 feet deep. Now I’m dealing with the aftermath in the form of iced over roads (they don’t salt roads out in the inaka because the runoff would harm the rice fields). I want it to be warm again so I can ride my bike!
Boo to snow..especially driving in it. Ours finally melted but it’s supposed to snow again tonight. When will it end? ACK!
Do the roads over there become a frightening mess because of folks who can’t drive in the snow or ice like they do over here?
Poor Jeff. It’s in the 80′s here now, and gorgeous. In fact, I think it’s supposed to hit 90 today or tomorrow. I’ve put away my sweaters and turned on the air conditioner.
Well, most people drive as fast in icy conditions as they do in dry summer conditions, which is to say their speed of 50kph is reasonable in the winter and retarded in the summer. I routinely blitz past them going faster than posted speed limits (but only in places where I can see the road ahead clearly, of which there are not many).