Snow Monkeys

So the monkeys (my bothers) and one of their friends (an old co-worker of mine) came over to visit me... they were hella annoying. They left my house on Tuesday, missed the snow (too bad for them) and are going back home today.

Well enough about those monkeys. Lets talk about SNOW MONKEYS!
One thing that Edmund had to do while here was go see the snow monkeys. So i took them to Nagano to the Jigokudani- Yaenkoen, the Monkey park, where they have the so called snow monkeys. They are basically monkeys that know how to enjoy an onsen during winter and that's what makes them soo cute.

So we took a bus from Nagano Station to the road that leads up to the entrance of the monkey park. This was a little cheaper than taking a train and then a bus to the same location and it was just a few minutes longer.

From our drop off point we got our map from the gas station attendee and walked toward the entrance...thats when the monkeys attacked. The monkey boys decided to have a snowball fight (rolls eyes) on our way to the park. Luckily there was no one around to see them.

After hiking longer than 30 min (i was busy taking pictures and they- Edmund and Roman- were busy trying to make snow fall from the trees) we finally made it to the onsen that is next to the park. We climbed the long trail of stairs (at this point some of the monkeys were coming out of the forest, Edmund got some footage of that) and we were at the entrance.
(Note:it usually takes about 20-30 min to hike to the park)

Once through, you can see these monkeys everywhere. On the fence, playing by the river, chasing each other, walking down the path. I even walked down the path to the monkey onsen with one right next to me.

There were several monkeys in the onsen which you can see a live feed of at http://www.jigokudani-yaenkoen.co.jp/english/top/english.html

Roman fell on some monkey poo. Edmund was being stupid and stared one monkey in the eyes, it tried to attack him, but backed away as soon as Edmund did. Ian took tons of photos and shot some film of them and so did I.

On our way out, i bought a book and postcards about the monkeys. The guys where already out front waiting for me (since they didn't pay attention to when i said i was going into the shop or they did and they ignored me). As soon as they saw me they started walking down without me. Ian was carrying my backpack so i had no time to put my stuff inside since he was already halfway down.

Instead of leaving Edmund decided to see what the building (the onsen) near the park. Some monkeys (and the other monkeys visiting me) decided to follow him too.

I waited.

Ian finally came out with a monkey following. They were walking right next to each other. So I decided to get closer to take a picture. As soon as the monkey saw me, it started running towards me. I thought he was just going to run by like the others in the park.

No, not this monkey ass!
This one decides to try to attack me...ok not really but he kept trying to take my bag of the things i just bought from me. Fucking little thing kept coming at the damn bag.
By that point I was yelling at the thing (the way i usually do with my cat and dog).
If finally stopped, one of the park rangers was at the stairs trying to scare it away by shooting something with his sling shot.

After this, Edmund and Roman finally came out and we all started heading down to the bus stop. The snowball fight started again. The only difference was that there were people there, staring at them. One Japanese lady was laughing at them (only children have snowball fights). Roman tried to declare truce w/Ian so they can ambush Edmund together...it didn't happened.
Luckily for me, Edmund only tried to pelt me w/a snowball twice before he stopped after i gave them all a warning about how they were my guest.

The monkeys are annoying...except for the ones in the onsen.

Hatsu yuki!

The last two weeks of January and the first two weeks of February are known as Daikan= the coldest time in winter.

So in celebration of this the Japanese usually have parties but up here in the south-western part of Gunma, nature decided to celebrate by bringing us SNOW! (started around 845 am)

This is my -hatsu yuki- first snow fall (i've been in snow i just never seen it fall). You can actually see individual SNOWFLAKES! (if you're just standing and they land on you)

(1030 am) I just came back from having a snowball fight with my 1-2 graders and some 6th graders ^_^ it was fun, even though one kid in particular hit me at the side of my face...twice. It's a good thing that he's only a 2nd grader and he can't throw that hard (it's not so fun when people- Edmund- try to pelt you in the face).
Next time I should use gloves meant for snow when i have a snowball fight. My fingertips are red!... especially my thumb and it hurts a bit.
(note: i was wearing "convertible" or "hobo" gloves...the kind that look like mittens but you can remove the top and have exposed fingertips. the ones I'm wearing now doesn't have a cover for the thumbs either)

Now that recess is over, my coat is a bit wet as well as my scarf, gloves, and hair (so much for taking a shower this morning) but i get to sit in the warm staff room so they can all dry. And drinking coffee helps to warm me and my hands up nicely ^^
The only bad thing is that i'll need my jacket when i go to my next class (there isn't heating for the whole school but each class has a heater)

Sorry it has taken me so long to post. As many know, i went home for Christmas. Had fun, ate a lot of food that's hard to find in Japan or that's not a Japafied version of the food. And i spent most of my time either shopping or watching movies that i really wanted to see and won't come out in Japan for a few months or so (some even as long as 6-8 months) plus it's like $15-18 to go to the movies here. I had 2 Christmas's and went to three parties (by the way, i did all of this in 10 days).

After I came back i was busy getting Hideki fixed, getting other errands done, and planning for the next school term for Chogakko (elementary school).

Soon after Edmund, Ian and Roman (Edmund's friend, my old co-worker) arrived in Japan and I've been spending exhausting weekends with them(they- Edmund and Roman- were hella loud and annoying) and showing them around a few places i know.

Next post... SNOW MONKEYS!

p.s. I'm going to make a snowman with my 3rd graders ^_^