[To all the pyromaniacs]

sorry zwelgy-- didnt mean to impersonate you, but you were logged in on my comp and i didnt realize it!

[Skirts]

but theres a diff btwn being stupid by wearing just-below-the-ass skirt in the cold so everyone can see your legs and having a little fun in a skirt. personally, i think they come in handy during the summer raves when the loos become disgusting. they offer a little privacy for the woods pee.

[turkey seeks a home]

roast lamb? no way. a proper christmas dinner is identical to Thanksgiving- turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie. the only thing missing is collards- but i think i've found some nozawa greens prepared in a similar way.

[where would you go for 5 days?]

i would do nozawa. actually i am doing nozawa during xmas and new years. you can get a 6 day anytime pass for about 22,000yen. with all that boarding, you can relax in some of the many onsens in the village.

[brrrrrrr]

i7m north of nagano city, and its been snowing off and on all day, actually all week for that matter.

[OK, if we want nightlife, where do we go?]

don't know if it's the best out there, but club universe at hakuba is pretty big. It was built for the Olympic athletes. There's also the snow'd in bar right down the street from snowbeds.

[Lessons in Japanese]

I took a half day lesson at hakuba happo-one last year. there were a few of us gaijins that day and luckily, one japanese girl who used to live in LA, so she translated most things for us. But it was pretty easy to follow the actions of the instructor and others in the class. if you can speak basic japanese, i think you'll be ok.

[cheap weekend?]

I heard a rumour that some resorts in Nagano (hakuba, nozawa) are cheap this weekend- ie 1000 yen for a day pass. Does anybody know if this is true? I thought i read it on the forum, but can't find it now...

[POLL - For you drivers - driving license]

if you are from the UK, Australia, or New Zealand it's no problem to change your country's license over to a Japanese one- I think you just need to take an eyetest and pay for paperwork. But if you are from the US or Canada, you have to take the really difficult behind the wheel test. they encourage you to shell out 6000yen/hour for lessons in order to pass the test. heard of people spending many man and failing the test over and over. i was lucky and took it during a period where a lot of JETs were changing over their licenses and i passed on my first go without any lessons.