Last Friday was a holiday here so I went off for a 3-day weekend to the mountains with Marie and Kenichi and Hiroko and about 5 others to go stay at a spa/ski resort where one of the guys on our soccer team works as a ski instructor for 6 months of the year. It was great. We left at 5am Friday morning and took two cars. We got there between 9 and 10 am, threw our bags in the room, and rested a little. Next, we got our ski clothes on and prepared for the mountain. We first had a quick lunch and got to the mountain and were on the first lift up the mountain around 12-1pm. We skiied until 2:30pm that day, took a rest at a restaurant on the mountain, and then went back out for another two hours. During that second half, a couple of the guys switched gear so the snowboarders tried short skis and the skiiers tried snowboarding. I just did short skis that whole day. Around 4pm, Nomoto-san (who works there as a ski instructor) finished work and we had an hour to ski with him.
That night we all did the usual onsen (hot spring) thing and got dinner, drank, talked, and dipped in hot springs. The next morning for skiing, I decided to learn snowboarding. During the morning for the first 3 hours, various people gave me tips and moves to ractioce (basiucally learning the correct ways to balance and move your body). I practiced these for the morning on a slightly steep but very wide and uncrowded portion of the mountain, then we got lunch, and practiced more until about 3pm. I fell down so much and body hurt and so many muscles I had never used before were in such pain. Then, I took a long avery slow, but very thin and winding path down to the bottom of the mountain. I did have to worry as much about falling as I did about turning since it was thin and twisty and crowded. It was very difficult. Lastly, I ended up on a very wide and easy and uncrowded and not steep hill. I tried putting together everything I had learned all day and was actually able to turn and steer (albeit slow) and was so excited. I was ready to go back up and try it again and the lift was closed since it was getting dark. I can't wait to go again and will try to go soon so I don't forget everyhing I learned.
That night, we went out to eat, did more of the same of drinking and dipping in hot springs. The next morning, we checked out, went to a spa, relaxed, and got on the road. On the way home, we drove by Mount Asama, a huge active volcano (but has gone off in decades I think). There was smoke billowing out of the top. We stopped and you can see many pictures of it.
