Snowboarding and a Buri Party!

Two weeks ago I learned how to snowboard! At the invitation of my landlord, I went with a group of four people. It was the first time for myself and Tricia to snowboard, so although we were very excited we had no idea what we were doing! My landlord and his friend were very good teachers though. They have been snowboarding for 10 and 6 years respectively so they are quite experienced and luckily for Tricia and I they were very patient teachers.

We spent a couple hours on the very short, easy practice slope. They taught us how to buckle ourselves into the board, and the basics of how to lean to propel yourself forward on the snow. After we could make it down the easy slope twice in a row without falling they decided we were ready to try a real slope.

We bought a four hour pass that allowed us to ride the lift as many times as we wanted and off we went to snowboard! Of course we started with the green slope, and unfortunately did not progress enough to go on a longer slope that day. However I did make lots of progress with my snowboard skills! I can board forward, backwards, and I can stop. The last skill I was working on was turning 180 degrees. I was able to turn forward from backwards successfully, but anytime I tried to turn from forward to backward I fell over. But it was lots of fun and I am excited to go more often next winter!

On Sunday evening, I invited a couple friends to my house so we could have a buri shabu shabu party! One of the teachers that I work with recommended I make buri shabu shabu, since according to him it is the most delicious way to eat buri. Buri is yellowtail, which is a great tasting but expensive winter fish. It is in season now and luckily for us my town had a really great catch of buri this winter so it has been very cheap in our grocery store lately!  Shabu shabu is a hotpot dish where you throw your vegetables in the pot of broth to simmer and pull them out to eat as they are ready. With your chopsticks you swirl the pieces of fish (or meat) into the simmering broth for just a few seconds to sear the outside and then eat! It is a delicious dinner and also a fun activity since everyone cooks together at the table.