A few days ago I woke up and the world was white, a quick peek out of my window revealed that everything was covered in a blanket of snow. It finally snowed in Tokyo! For the entire duration of my exchange I have been wondering about this ‘phenomenon’. Well, perhaps it is not that to those who live here, but for somebody like me, who lives in a city where it never snows, it was a really new and exciting experience.

School was half cancelled so I made use of my extra time and went outside in the dark. It was really beautiful to watch the world come to life in this snow globe, and the sun made the snow sparkle even more. The snow fell in blankets of untouched snowy plain, at least until you got to the main road, where it was riddled with footprints. Heaven forbid snow should prevent anyone from going to work.

Ironically, it did., My whole train line was down, and with a three hour wait 夏帆、浩子 and I retreated back to the house to do some homework and eat sweets. After several attempts made by 義人 to enter the train station {there was a line outside about 300 people long} we gave up and waited for further news. There was a very small earthquake, and I learned that whilst most foreigners think it is best to get under a table during an earthquake, most Japanese just tweet {not through experience of course, the earthquake was rather small}.

Finally, at 11:30, there was a huge announcement, heard from inside our house. We were able to enter the train station and waited for a further 40 minutes before boarding and incredibly packed train. Both train and people were covered in snow, packed in so tightly you could barely breathe. And all that I could think about was how lucky it is that I am here now, because this would surely never happen in Melbourne.

We arrived at school 4 and a half hours late.

-H