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Just got back form snowboarding in Nagano with some friends. We went as part of a tour package, and the whole thing cost about 20,000 yen, including rentals. Pretty reasonable as far as traveling in Japan goes.

I met my friends (one of whom shall be known as the Nameless One from here on out to protect his little secret) at around 9:45P.M. in front of the gold clock at Nagoya Station. The Nameless One e-mailed us to let us know that he was running late, so we decided to walk over to the Meitetsu building to get registered and wait for the bus. It worked out perfectly, because the bus was a little late. We were scheduled to leave at 10:00, but by the time everyone crammed their gear in and packed onto the bus, it ended up being more like 10:45 or 11:00.

You can not believe how uncomfortable the ride was. I would even dare to say that it was worse than sitting in airplane seats. The seats were way too narrow to accommodate our big, gaijin bodies and I would imagine that they were even to narrow to be enjoyed by slender Japanese people, as well. As this was an overnight bus, the sensible thing to do would be to sleep, but I knew there was no way that was ever going to happen. I did try in the beginning even though I knew it was hopeless, but I gave up in favor of listening to music and meditating with my eyes closed. I had assumed that everyone else in my crew was sleeping as well, but when questioned later, they assured me that there was no way any of them could sleep, either.

After several bathroom breaks, we finally rolled into Nagano at 6:00A.M. and were amazed at the sheer amount of snow. It was like being able to enjoy all the benefits of Alaska, without suffering through any of the extreme cold. The first stop was in front of a fancy hotel where about half of the bus’s occupants got out. We were the only ones to get off at the next stop, which should have served as a clear warning. Because it was only 6:00, it was still dark and snowing like crazy. Ryan (or Diane, as they mistakenly printed on all of our package info) pulled out a map, and we found the ryokan within a few minutes.

The outside of the ryokan was a bit weathered, but deceivingly nice looking. We dropped all of our stuff in the lobby and waited for someone to greet us. After a few minutes, a man who obviously worked there came out, gave us a brief grunt, and continued on his way. The sign on the counter said that they would be open at 7:00, so Ryan tracked the guy down and asked if we could enter the onsen until that time. Unfortunately, he told us we had to wait until we checked in (actually, he said it wasn’t open, but we found out later that it was, and came to the conclusion that we couldn’t use it until we were officially staying there). Three of us decided to wait in the lobby until they opened, and the Nameless One decided to head downstairs to scope the place out. He came back up about ten minutes later, and got us to bring our stuff down to the locker room/gear rental area. There was a friendly, old guy down there all alone, and he offered to hot wax Ryan and the Nameless One’s boards for a small fee. While he was waxing, we got suited up and checked in, as by that time it had already passed 7:00.

We threw most of our stuff in a big locker and headed out to the resort, which ended up only being about a ten minute walk from our ryokan. We decided to stop and get some breakfast at one of the lodges. My meal consisted of an anman (azuki pean paste dumpling), a disgusting, fake cheese, deep-fried `taco`, and a frozen ice cream crepe. Feeling rather nauseous, we headed out and grabbed our boards. It was only lightly snowing at this point, but the visibility was poor.

We went down a few runs to warm up a bit and found the hill to be rather short. Even so, we couldn’t complain too much because the resort is not so well known (it’s called Madarao, for anyone interested) and as a result, there where not so many people there. The snow was great, and because it kept snowing, it always felt fresh and new. At 10:00, they opened up a lift that went higher up on the mountain and we immediately hopped on it. We were some of the first up, and therefore got the pleasure of breaking it in. It was my first time snowboarding on an ungroomed run, and the feeling is entirely different. For me, it was far more fun and gratifying to plow through the snow than on groomed runs. The downside of that, though, is that I kept falling and found it nearly impossible to get back up. If you lose your momentum, its hard to get moving again.

At around 1:00 or so, we took a lunch break and headed to the main lodge (different than the one we ate breakfast at). Naturally, the food was overpriced and not very good, but it was better than nothing. I had mountain vegetable udon.

After lunch, we split up into partners because Dan (his first day snowboarding) wanted to practice some more without the pressure of us waiting for him That really wasn’t the case, though. Having come from a background of skateboarding and skiing, he was tearing it up after a few hours. Ryan and I wanted to try some jumps, but it took us a few runs before we figured out how to get down to the park. We did eventually did find it, but by that time it was getting close to the time that we were scheduled to meet the other guys. We managed to get a few runs in, and I even managed to land my last jump, though it was a very small one. We ended up leaving a little bit early, because my goggles were are fogged up and wet, and there was no way to see without them due to the wind and snow were coming down on us hard.

The lifts finished at 4:00 anyway, so we headed back to check out our room and discovered why the tour package had been so cheap. We rode the elevator down to basement level 2 and found our room, one of only two in B2. Along with the rooms was the table storage area. The first thing we noticed was the random cords hanging from the ceiling. We also found posters from the 03/04 season (shows you the upkeep on the place), an upside-down emergency exit sign, among other things. When we entered the room, we found that the entryway (genkan) was not big enough for putting your shoes AND opening the door. You had to walk up onto the platform in order to take off your shoes, and then throw them in such a way that they will be pushed behind the door when it opens as opposed to falling out and blocking it. More importantly, we noticed that there was no bathroom in the room. Later we found the shared bathroom around the corner, but it was less of a `ryokan` bathroom and more like a `train station` bathroom, which as you can imagine, was quite filthy. In the room, we had an air conditioner, a T.V., and a heater, but I guess they decided that they couldn’t trust their guests, so there were no remotes for anything. The ceiling lights had no cover over them, so they were just there bare and harsh. At least it makes them easier to change…

At 7:00, they called us up to our free (as part of the package plan) dinner. To put it nicely, it was some of the worst food I have ever eaten in my life. There are no words to describe its badness. Old fish and spaghetti with black plastic strips in it were only the beginning. We headed for the rice, our rationale being that there would be no way a Japanese person in their right mind could screw that up. Well, once again, we gave them far too much credit and as a result, we ate what can only be described as straight wax.

The seemingly only redeeming quality of the ryokan was the onsen, which was excellent. The bath was outside and was surrounded by snow. The effect was somewhat ruined by the tarps everywhere, but by that point we weren’t going to be picky about anything as superficial as looks. It FELT great, and that’s what mattered! Tired from the long day and enjoying the effects of the onsen, we went to bed relatively early.

The next morning we got up early and got in the onsen again. We made our way upstairs for the free breakfast, hoping for something edible this time. On the table, we noticed some of the same dishes that had been out the night before (the fish plate, in particular) and made sure to avoid them. When I went to get some coffee, I saw a plate full of toast next to the coffee machine and alerted the others. Everyone rushed over to get some. It ended up being our oasis that morning, because even though it wasn’t good, it was the only thing we didn’t have choke down and gag on.

We got our gear on and headed out to he slopes again for another day of boarding. After doing a few runs, they finally opened up the higher lifts again. When we got up to the top, the Nameless One showed us some of the new routes on the other side of the mountain that he had found the day before after we had split up. The snow was a bit harder, but it was a gorgeous day. In a perfect world, it would have been nice to have had the snow from the day before with that day’s weather.

From about the middle of the mountain on the opposite side, we found the lift to go up to the advanced courses. The Nameless One was adamant about going up and trying it out. As his level is pretty high, there was no doubt that he could do it fairly easily, but we were more concerned about the rest of us. The chairlift up was a one-seater with no back. It was cool because you felt like you were floating up the mountain since there was no part of the seat in your field of vision, but it was also a little unnerving for the same reason. After recording his departure, we opted for the easier course, though there was nothing easy about it. It was fun though.

We left the mountain early because we needed to get our stuff together and check out, and we also wanted to jump in the onsen one last time to get ourselves clean and warm in preparation for the bus ride home. The ride back ended up being far worse than the ride coming. They played an obnoxiously loud movie that drowned out everything. There was no way to sleep, and even if you had headphones on and were listening to music, it was loud enough to disrupt even that. We got back to Nagoya Station around 9:30 and parted ways. It was a perfect follow up to an already great holiday season and I really had a great time. I can’t wait to do it again (with any luck, sometime soon!).

Technorati Tags: Winter, Snowboarding, Nagano, Madarao, Ryokan

Winter vacation is over and now it’s back to work. I think it actually makes it harder having a long vacation because you fall into a routine of sleeping late, eating whatever yo want, and doing whatever you want when you want to do it. With shorter vacations, at least you don’t feel the impact as much because the thought of going back to work looms over you the whole time. I’m not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, of course, but…

The first half of the vacation was relatively uneventful and most of it was spent lounging around, some photo-taking, and a fair amount of sento-going. I wanted to get out of the apartment more, but partly I wanted to save money and also there was a certain amount of lack of motivation, as well. I did however end up going to the gym a good amount, so it’s not like I didn’t give any effort at all.

The second half of the vacation was pretty hectic, so in retrospect, it was probably good that I spent most of the time resting up. We went to Nami’s parents’ house on New Year’s Eve and had a big dinner. At midnight we went with Nami’s mom, her aunt, and her aunt’s two kids, to a family friend’s shrine and rang the impressively large bell there. I had never done hat before, so it was quite an experience. It was pretty chilly out, but luckily for us, they had a bonfire setup that kept us nice and toasty while we waited in line to ring the bell. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get any zenzai (azuki beans and mochi) because they were all out. I guess you had to get there early in order to get some.

The next morning we got up early and after a light breakfast, Nami’s mom helped her put on a kimono for a trip to Atsuta Jingu to throw some money and get some mamori (charms for good luck in the new year). It was incredibly crowded but unlike the other time I’ve gone, the crowd moved along relatively quickly. After we threw out money and bought a charm or two, we headed back to Nami’s parents’ house where I took some pictures of Nami before she took the kimono off. As a side note, I bought a Nikkor 85mm 1.4 back in summer, and it is one amazing lens. Expensive, but well worth it.

That evening, we went to Nami’s grandmother’s house where all of the extended family on Nami’s mom’s side was gathered. That night was when the real feast began. There was nabe, sweets, and all sorts of other tasty stuff of which I don’t know the names. We ended up cutting the evening short though, as we had planned a skiing/snowboarding trip with Nami’s aunt (without kids), Nami’s sister Mayu, and Mayu’s boyfriend, and planned to leave that night. Nami’s aunt is a professional skier who travels all over the world. She just got back form Switzerland, all expenses paid, and will be headed off to Italy soon. She lives in Nagoya, but has a second house in Nagano, and frequently goes up to practice and compete, and also for fun. From Nagoya it was about a four or five hour drive. It was amazing to see snow again, it felt like being back home. I didn’t realize how much I missed snow. in Nagoya’s it’s just cold, and you’re left wondering, “if it’s already this cold, why doesn’t it just snow already?!” Also, that day saw a load of snow dumped in the Nagano area, so that meant fresh powder for the next day. It also meant difficult driving conditions, but we had no problems getting through it. They were surprisingly fast at plowing the roads and getting rid of any obstacles.

Once we arrived we had to shovel away the snow from her driveway that had been falling since her last visit. One nice thing about driveways in Japan is that they’re so short, there was really nothing much to shovel. Her house is located on top of a mountain overlooking Nagano city, and the view was breathtaking. The house itself was also beautiful. Simple design, but very nice. All wood and tile in the entryway. I meant to take some pictures but we were always on the move, so I forgot. I especially wanted to get a picture of the trophy room, which apparently wasn’t even big enough to hold all the trophies she has collected over the years. We ended up getting there at around 1:30 a.m. and by the time we cleaned up and got ready for bed, it was already 3:00 a.m.

The next morning we got up relatively early to head over to the slopes in Niigata, which is about a 40 minute trip by car through the back roads. It was one of those things were you had to live there to understand, because there is no way you would be able to find it otherwise. The resort, Myoko Suginohara, is among the top in Japan (although, I would imagine that it doesn’t hold a dime against the resorts in Hokkaido) and boasts the longest run in the country. As I haven’t been snowboarding in five years or so, ever since I came to Japan, I was pretty rusty. After a few runs, though, I was surprised how much came back to me. I guess it’s like riding a bike; you never really forget, it just takes time to get back in your groove. The lifts end ended at 4:00 after-which you can stay and wait for the night skiing to start at 6:00. We elected to hit the onsen. As a self-proscribed sento/onsen expert, I can say that it was quite nice. I think that they used onsen water, but the stlye was more like a sento, with an open dining hall, and various other attractions. I can easily say, that after a long day boarding, there is nothing better than soaking in scalding hot water.

The second day we got up earlier and headed out. Compared to the first day, I wasn’t nearly as agile as my battered limbs wouldn’t listen to my brain signals, but that’s to be expected after such a long time not having boarded. Nevertheless, after a few hours, the soreness worked itself out and I was able to have a good time. We ended up heading home in Mayu’s boyfriends car around 3:00, as we had a long drive ahead of us (or riding in our case) and Nami had to work the next day. I made plans to go snowboarding next week (maybe Hakuba? not sure yet) so now that I got a little warmed up last week, I can’t wait to head back and really tear up the slopes (yeah, right).

Technorati Tags: Winter, Snowboarding, Niigata, Nagano, Oshougatsu, New Years

A week or so ago while my dad was visiting, we were stopped by the police. This is not an unusual occurrence. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that it happens quite regularly. The difference this time was that instead of being treated courteously and professionally, we were treated like second-class citizens right off the bat and for no other reason than walking down the street. I’ve been stopped two times around Nagoya Station and at least six times around Sango previous to this encounter. While I find these encounters to be annoying and insulting, I often grin and bear it as the officers are usually polite, and I can justify it by telling myself that they are just doing their jobs. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I can understand why they are doing it and as long as I am treated respectfully, I can deal with it for the time being. This is what happened:

We had just come back from a delicious meal at Akbar, the Indian restaurant near Nagoya Station, and a visit to the top of the Toyota Building to see the night view. We were in good spirits, and after getting off the train we stopped by the bicycle parking area to pick up our bikes. I’m still not sure whether the officer was lying in wait, or just happened to see us as he was riding by on his motorcycle, but either way, he just kind of appeared out of nowhere. It was a little jarring because we were in mid-conversation when he stopped us. He asked Nami, `Hey, are you Chinese or Korean? Show me your Alien Registration Card. ` She replied in a tone that was less-than-polite, `I’m Japanese so I don’t have one. ` Then he turned to me and pointed, `Who is this? ` to which she replied, `He’s my husband.` He looked at me and asked, `Do you have a visa? `, like it wasn’t obvious enough as I was still in a suit and on top of that Nami had just said that we were married. He then asked for my Alien Registration Card, and I pulled it out to show to him. He said, `Oh, you’re a teacher.` with a kind of snide tone. I told him, `Yes, I’m a middle school teacher.` He acted incredulous and said, `What? You’re a Chinese teacher??!` (In his defense, middle school is Chugaku in Japanese, and Chugoku is China, so it would be somewhat easy to mishear, but you would hope common sense would let you know that I’m not a Chinese teacher.) I corrected him, and he said, `Oh, you’re one of those ALTs.` I nodded. He then said, `Well, I guess I don’t have to check your bike registration since you’re a teacher. I guess you’re OK,` like he’s doing me some kind of favor. He continued, `We have to be careful around here, because a lot of foreigners live in Sango. ` I was thinking to myself, `What does that have anything to do with anything? As if foreigners are the root of all evil in Japan. ` Luckily, he didn’t check my dad’s passport, because he didn’t have it on him at the time and that could have caused us some temporary trouble. If this situation had come from an older cop, maybe I would have understood a bit more (although, I still would have been just as pissed off), but the cop was relatively young, maybe in his late 20s or early 30s. I was wondering if perhaps he was new and therefore didn’t know the codes of conduct, but even so, he was completely out of line. I thought about filing a complaint, and Nami’s mom thought I should go over there, find out who he is, and report him in front of his commanding officers. But in the end, I decided against any action, because I figured it probably wouldn’t do any good, and it could cause me more grief than anything. Next time though, I won’t hesitate to ask for his badge number before I show him my ARC. We’ll see how he likes that.

Technorati Tags: police, sango, foreigners, harassment, japan, aichi, owariasahi