Warm Biz

With every Yin, there is a Yang. When I first got here, I found out about Cool Biz, the incredibly hot trend of keeping your office cooled to a balmy 83 degrees in order to reduce energy consumption and help keep emissions under control. But did you know there is a winter equivalent? Well, there […]

Otaru Snow Light Path Festival 2018

About an hour north of Saporro is Otaru, which has its own winter-inspired festival during the Sapporo Snow Festival. Known for its restored canal along the sea, Otaru decorates the canal and a special street in the city with lanterns made of snow and ice. With a good pair of snow boots and a warm […]

Sapporo Snow Festival 2018: Susukino

In my last snow festival post, I focused on the insane amount of snow and ice present along Odori Park in the heart of Sapporo. Just a few blocks away there was a display of ice sculptures in Susukino. Since there was so much going on, I decided to separate the two out and dedicate […]

Sapporo Snow Festival 2018: Odori Park

Every year, the city of Sapporo hosts a large snow festival across the main streets in its city. You can see monumental snow sculptures and ice sculptures across two key areas in the city: Odori Park and Susukino respectively. I was lucky enough to visit both on a recent trip to Hokkaido and here is […]

Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park

When you tell people you are visiting Nagano, they will ask you if you’re going to ski or snowboard. After you tell them you aren’t, there is a small chance they will ask if you are going to see the snow monkey park. Every time you see snow monkeys hanging out in hot springs set […]

More Japanese Sweet Potato Treats

I discovered that the sweet potato season runs mainly in the fall and winter and more seasonal goods appear in stores, vending machines, and restaurants. In my quest to find the most delicious sweet potato treats, I venture forth from summer sweet potato treats into the harsh cold of autumn and winter!

My First Skiing Experience: Arizona Snowbowl

Having grown up in sunny South Florida, there weren’t too many opportunities to go skiing in the winter (barring water skiing, that is). I wasn’t able to see snow until I ventured to China in my mid-twenties and I have yet to make a snowman. With that context in mind, I ventured up to Arizona […]

Spring Blizzard

Snow so white that it glows blue under the gray-lit skies of something not quite night but certainly not the day nor twilight crushes underfoot as heavy sighs lament the hostile whims of their ancestral home. Composed 04/24/14 Author’s Note: Freak snow storms are common in winter here in Mongolia. I was told, apparently, these […]

Apartment Life in Winter

While nowhere near as challenging as living in a ger during the most frigid of months, apartment living can be a bit problematic, especially if you’re not in one of the larger cities in Mongolia. Infrastructure problems can be challenging. Let’s see if any of you apartment dwellers out there outside of Mongolia face similar […]

Ger Life in Winter

I can finally write about the quintessential Mongolian experience: Ger life in the winter (My apologies to other volunteers who know this life all too well reading this post; been there, done that, right?). The traditional Mongolian dwelling– a felt circle tent known as a ger– is designed to be lived in by more than […]