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Hello and a Happy 2008 to you all. I’m back from an extended holiday in Oita in Kyushu. We were supposed to stay in a cottage in the middle of nowhere but got caught in a snowstorm with balding city tyres on our car and called out JAF (the Japanese Automobile Federation) to put chains on our tyres to save us.

Instead of that, we stayed at an onsen hotel. The hot spring water was excellent and we had a great time in the snow.

On New Years Eve we went to a local shrine at midnight where we ate zenzai which is a kind of Japanese sweet dish. After that I helped make mochi by pounding rice with a large hammer. The speed kept on increasing and as I was a little drunk by then it got very difficult to do. Here is a video of people making mochi. Wait until the end where it gets really dangerous.

It was great to do all of that. I had wanted to go to a shrine on New Year’s Eve every year I’ve been here but was never able to until now. I’m happy I could do it on my last chance.