Happy New Year, one and all! Hopefully you rang in 2008 properly (yet safely) with friends and loved ones where ever you were. Everyone should be back to work and loving the best that Ishikawa winter has to offer - especially in their classrooms!

Be sure to keep warm and cosy as best you can. Save on your heating bills by getting out of the house whenever possible - socializing is important, especially when the cold brings out the natural tendency to hibernate where it is warm. Even if it is to go sit in your local coffee shop and converse with the locals, it will be worth your while.

If you're more the active type and are longing for outdoor recreation, many of the secondhand stores (like Second Street and Kaimasu) are packed with high quality used equipment for skiing, snowboarding, and snow-shoeing. Most of it looks as though it has been used once and the whole lot (boots, boards, suits, etc.) was brought in.

So get out there and enjoy one of Japan's four seasons, because as you know there are four, by keeping warm and active!