Niigata...

...chieko and i took an overnight trip to niigata, where her parents live and farm...this was the first time i've been to their house that it hasn't been an extremely stressful experience...the first time i went there was to ask for her parents' blessings concerning our marriage...that also happened to be the first time i had ever met them!! slightly insane..
...the second (and most recent) time we visited her parents was in july, which was the anniversary of chieko's grandmother's death (is there an easier way to say that?)...this in and of itself wasn't so bad, but the event meant that about 50 relatives were also there, so there was a lot of meeting and greeting in broken japanese/english and generally little in terms of down time or relaxation...
...but this weekend we had nothing to do except eat and sit around the kotatsu, so it was nice...there were some awkward moments, namely whenever chieko abandons me to hang out with her dad, but i get the feeling those are awkward in any culture...
...this is a shrine to chieko's grandmother and grandfather...the drill is to kneel in front, light two insence sticks, ring a bell, say a prayer...



...here's a mound of fresh produce that soon found its way into our trunk, and will soon find its way into the stomachs of our friends and coworkers, who at this our of the unknowing recipients of a large portion of this food (daikon, chinese cabbage, regular cabbage, colliflower) since it is way more than we can eat...



...niigata, and especially the area where chieko is from, is notorious for getting simply pummeled with snow in the winter, so i thought it was interesting to look at the houses as we were driving around...they are all built with what are essentiall above ground foundations that keep the bulk of the house out of the snow during the winter...i'll try and post a similar picture later this winter to show that it really does snow THAT much...