Winter Strikes Back

I feel the need to share that it has been snowing profusely for the last two days. It was extremely spring-like three days ago. There was basically no snow anywhere. Windows were rolled down, heaters were turned off. And now it's basically winter again. Case in point, I left my apartment this morning to find this:


Kristi's Car, March 14th
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Maybe you can't really tell, but there's about a foot of snow on the roof of my car. And I drove the thing yesterday. It's still coming down, too. It does make for awfully pretty scenery though:


Kamo, from Wakamiya Jr. High
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

I guess I was expecting this - the weather had been unseasonably warm as of late, so this is really more "normal". Still, I was hoping that winter would end a month early, since it got here a month early. Ah well, it's good to know that the worst of it is over.

The teachers are feeding me chocolate again today. But not White Day chocolate, thank goodness. March 14 is White Day here, a sort of Valentine's Day Part II celebrated in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. On Valentine's Day, women give gifts to men; on White Day, men who received chocolate on Valentine's Day return the favor and give gifts to women. According to one story, the holiday began in 1965, when a marshmallow maker started telling men they should pay back the women who gave them chocolate and other gifts with marshmallows. Originally it was called Marshmallow Day, and later it was changed to White Day. Later, chocolate companies began marketing white chocolate, too. An interesting concept, even if it was manufactured.