Snowboarding in Nagano

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After then end of the tests, essays, group meetings, and everything that is routine...... Japanese students do what any other students some parts of the world would do...they go on vacation! So as I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I joined a volleyball club here at Ritsumeikan that meets once a week just to play volleyball and hang out. When I heard that there was going to be a group snowboard trip of course I did not hesitate to join! Being a true southerner from Atlanta I have never snowboarded, skied or for that matter seen huge amounts of snow in my lifetime thus far so I was a little excited and scared at the same time. The cost of the trip was 17,000 Yen ( $185 USD--that exchange rate just keeps falling 😞 ) which included bus transportation to and from Nagano, a stay in a Ryokan (traditional style Japanese Inn), gear rental, one dinner, and one breakfast. This wasn't a bad deal considering that we left February 2nd, arrived the 3rd, left on the night of the 4th and arrived back in Kyoto on the morning of the 5th. Sounds complicated I know ,but it was short, sweet, and so much fun!

The night of Feb. 2nd we boarded the night bus for the ride to Nagano. Me and my Italian friend Sylvia were the only foreigners of the group and almost the only foreigners on the slopes also...haha...The bus ride up wasn't so and I got a little sleep before we arrived at about 7AM the next morning. Right after we departed the bus we headed to the ryokan to put our things up and get ready for a day of snowboarding. Getting geared up was no problem and then it was on to get our boards. The weather wasn't so bad on that day....a little cloudy and small snowflakes were falling....later on in the day it would get colder and rainy. so getting the board was no problem however, I quickly figured out that I was no pro at the whole snowboarding thing as I stood up for the first time and tried to balance...I quickly found out that I was going way to fast and then.....well of course I fell....I fell many times that first day. Another scary thing about snowboarding would be the lifts that you have to take to get to different parts of the mountain...if you didn't already know I am extremely scared of heights and this was a difficult task to convince myself to do...but I did not fly 7,000 miles to be scared and not try new things so of course I went for it 😊 The first summit was a bit scary but it was early so I had many more parts of the mountain to explore with my friends that day. The weather didn't make it any easier because my gloves got wet and it was extremely cold. Close to lunch time, me and my friend Sylvia decided we were not getting any better at standing on our boards...so we then decided to sit on our boards and ride them down the mountain to the diner that we were going to eat lunch at. I got on my board, gripped the strap and pushed off coasting down the mountain....and then the unthinkable happened. I lost control of the snowboard and spun.....tumbling off the board I layed there in the snow for just a second too long only to see my snowboard continuing on its path down the mountain! I got up as fast as I could and tried to run after it but it was too late!

I met with Sylvia and told her what happened and then made my way down the mountain to locate my rouge snowboard...apparently two young Japanese girls around my age saw what happened and one was even kind enough to tread through knee deep snow to fetch my board before I got there. I arrived just as she located it in the nearby creek! Thankfully it had not coasted down the creek! I treaded through the snow got my board while getting snow in my shoes to help the young lady back up to the slope...I thanked them in Japanese with a proper bow to go along with and and went to met my friends for lunch...all this before 1PM!!!

The rest of the day was ok for the most part but very difficult because the weather grew gloomy and the slopes only got bigger and more difficult. Despite my lack of skill I was determined to make this trip a good one so I tried, tried, and tried again after every fall. At one point I was snowboarding for a stunning 30 seconds non-stop!!! 😊 We ended our day of snowboarding around 4PM and headed to the ryokan to change and have dinner. After dinner we all went to the onsen together to relax after a bruising day of snowboarding.

An onsen is a traditional Japanese style public bath with showers and a steaming hot relaxation pool of some sort. Now like many Americans I did not under stand the purpose of taking a shower/bath with random strangers or in some cases neighbors from around the block but I have learned that this is a big part of Japanese culture in that it is a place where people relax and socialize. I don't believe Americans do something of this sort but I know there are places in Europe where this type of culture surrounding baths is present. The water was insanely hot but I survived and it was quite relaxing to chill or boil haha...in the indoor pool....there was even an outdoor pool where you could relax and enjoy the stars...(don't worry, there was a fence in place tall enough to block things haha...) The hot water from the onsen drained all of my energy and soreness from the day and it was a great experience. After the onsen we headed back to the ryokan and had a party in the guys room. We sat around and drank juices, some beer, ate chips, cookies, and Japanese sweets. I have never seen so many Japanese people eat so much junk food! I passed out halfway through the party only to wake up after every one had left. In the ryokan you sleep on tatami mats along with a futon. Now a real futon is just a padded body length piece of thick cotton. It was different of course but I was in no mood to complain, especially since I was sleeping the traditional Japanese way! My only complaint came due to our next door neighbors who were partying way too loud! It almost seemed like they were five years old jumping on the bed or something..... 😞 I finally got back to sleep around 3AM.

2/4/2008

The next day we awoke and ate breakfast at 7:45AM in the morning. After breakfast we packed up our things and moved them to a storage room in the building. After the previous days adventure some people wanted to stay at the ryokan and relax instead of beating themselves up on the slopes. My Italian friend Sylvia decided to stay but I headed out for another day of snowboarding. Wednesday was much better because the weather was much more pleasant. The temperature was warm enough to be comfortable and make the sun exposed snow much softer versus the previous day's rock hard snow. My snowboarding abilities had improved significantly than Tuesday. So for the most part it was easy and more fun compared to the first day. At the end of the day I was able to coast down the first slope that had looked scary to me a day earlier. Snowboarding was so much fun that I am thinking of making it a yearly hobby weather I am in the United States or Japan 😊 After snowboarding me and the guys headed to the onsen again to relax our bodies after another day on the slopes. And after onsen we had a little free time to purchase souvenirs and later we hung out in the ryokan and played Uno! Even with the language barrier between myself and some of the members of the volleyball team we still managed to have lots of fun playing Uno. Later we boarded the bus at 7PM and headed back to Kyoto. On the bus ride back we stopped at a store and ate dinner and had some delicious ice cream! Our bus arrived back in Kyoto at around 5AM on 2/5/2008 and I spent much of the day resting and then I made a trip to the gym to workout with my Korean friend Ukyun. Snowboarding was such a great experience and I am so glad that I am trying new things here in Japan. Also make sure you check out the videos on this blog, I'm sure you all will enjoy! 😊

More updates to come soon and please lookout for my video blog! 😊

Cheers!

Willie J.

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Photos

Boarding the Bus to Nagano
Just before boarding the bus to Nagano.

All geared up
Just before hitting the slopes. Me, Sylvia (Italy), and Kie (Japan)

Rudolph
Some Japanese fashion I will never understand.

Day 1 of boarding
Me ready to snowboard.

Me and my friends
The guys of the group and me.

Nagano (Togari)
The ski lodge we spent our days snowboarding at.

At the bottom of the slope
The diner we ate lunch at on the first day.

Falling
Falling over a huge snowball.

We did it!
Me and my friend Babo (nickname-Japan) at the top of the mountain.

At the peak
Me and Nishin (Japan)

HELLO from NAGANO
Me at the top of the mountain again.

Gelato
Eating gelato in the snow! haha :)

Power Rangers to the rescue
Some Japanese guys dressed up as Power Rangers. haha

Minami
Some people carving Japanese Kangi "minami" into the snow. Minami means South.

The group
The group on the second day of snowboarding.

Togari
Togar again

Drinking milk after onsen.
As if onsen wasn't good enough for your body....my friends told me it is Japanese tradition to drink milk after going to onsen....I had honey flavored milk..it was really good!

Sun Verde
The Ryokan we stayed at in Togari.