February Has Started and i kinda wish it would stop again

welcome to february! it's been almost a year since i moved to japan. i haven't regretted it at all. some days are easier than others, certainly, but yeah- no regrets. my japanese is still bad but it's a lot better than it used to be, my students are amazing, and the other teachers i work with are mostly awesome people.
i'm keeping my fingers crossed that i can work with some of the same schools next year. i know that i'll be in the same town, and the same school district- but the actual SCHOOLS are in doubt. some people are moving back to the US, and some people are moving elsewhere in japan, and so everything gets shuffled.
i really don't want to lose the kids i teach now.
i know that any school i pick up will be filled with students that are probably just as awesome and fun and fabulous as the ones i currently have- but losing these ones is still gonna suck.

on an unrelated note, i went over to my friend's house to help her with her kids yesterday, like i do every week, as it was starting to snow. she told me 'i was going to call you and tell you not to come, since it was getting slippery, but as soon as i mentioned it kaisei started crying and yelling for you. so... i didn't call.' it's nice to know that 4yr olds like me enough to throw fits over. my friend's twins are getting so big! they're six months old now, and definitely not identical. the younger one is HUGE. they're both adorable and sweet (and loud and heavy) and they're super freakin cute. i'll get a picture and post it at some point. also, ever since i taught them how to make apple crumble, it's been getting made with startling regularity. the recipe is apparently starting to make the rounds of the local moms. bwahahahahaha, new local specialty! i feel special.

anyway, i don't really have anything super extra important to say today except that it's cold, i drink too much tea, and i must have gone crazy at some point in the last few months because i'm going snowboarding in a week.
falling down mountains is supposed to be exhilarating. i will let you know how it goes.
-andrea