First snow
So, this past weekend we finally got our first snow here in Akita. The whole thing felt quite peculiar for two reasons:
1. The first snow actually stayed on the ground, even overnight!
2. Whether it was a direct result of it starting to snow or not I wouldn’t be able to tell, but at that same moment, it had become winter.
It’s kinda difficult to explain, but going outside today and yesterday, the air just felt really different from what it has up until now. It was cold in a way that it hasn’t been before, but more than anything the air just felt a lot fresher. After a few months of air way more humid and stuffy than I’m used to (although I’m admittedly somewhat used to it by now), it felt quite refreshing. The snow doesn’t reach more than a few inches at the most at this point, but I’m pretty curious to see what the coming months have in store. I’ve heard stories of 2 metres of snow in January/February, and that sounds a bit exciting even for a hardened winter veteran like myself.
Not everyone at this school is used to being blessed/cursed with four different seasons, though, and I think more than anything it’s going to be fun for me to see what these people are going to go through in winter. Although I normally don’t think very highly of snow (it helps with the overwhelming darkness of winter, but that’s about it as far as positives go), this new weather has made me strangely sentimental. Seeing a group of people playing in the snow, presumably for the first time in their life, was surprisingly emotional and in a way made me feel like a kid again; I couldn’t wait to get out there and join them. It’s kinda weird considering I never really enjoyed going out playing in the snow… but considering how everything else is backwards in this country, I suppose it’s just natural. 