Ski (in Strasbourg?!)

I have to praise this effort to build such thing in the middle of rice-producing region in Japan. This is the place where we went to our weekend ski trip in Niigata Pref, 2h by Super Express train from Tokyo. This building just reminded me Strasbourg...(Wish I could have ordered choucroute!!!)

This region is supposed to be covered by 1-2m of snow in this season but the global warming hit this place as well. In a famous Japanese novel called "Snow Country" has a very well-known sentence: "After passing through the tunnel, snow country was there." but not quite like that anymore! Like every other snow resort, they don't have enough snow this year. We could see the ground showing out and the moutain looks a bit brown from far...
But we tried to make the most of it for our precious ski weeked (because this can be one of the last chance to ski on the natural snow lol)


We went there with Denis and Hiroko. Denis and Laurent are like two little boys when they are together!!







When we waited for the lift, someone came from the opposite way...For a moment, it looked like a little kid covered by snow or something but thank God, it was a snowman with face both in front and behind. Poor snowman, he has to circle the lift lift all day long and days after days!!

Hope this little snowman can survive this unusally warm winter........