Nabe - A Good Thing!

It's always easy to come up with things to moan about when you live in a foreign country, but despite the fact that having stayed here for so long indicates that it is not such a bad place to be, when asked to get concrete about the good points, my mind often goes blank, and I can't come up with anything intelligent. Well here is one good quintessentially Japanese thing: nabe hotpots!
Nothing is quite so convivial as sharing food from the same piping hot casserole, cooking as you go, on a bitter cold day. I can't believe it, but this is the first time we have had nabe this winter. We'll have to make up for that before Spring comes.

信じられないけど、昨日今年の冬初めてのお鍋を食べた！皆大好きだから、春になる前にいっぱい食べないといけない！

Have to be careful of the hot tofu though!
お豆腐が熱くなるね！

How NOT to eat udon noodles!
うどんの食べ方が悪い！