.::* Living and Dreaming *::.

Snowboarding In Nagano Prefecture

After not being able to sleep on the overnight bus, we got to Togari Ski Resort Village, picked up our snowboard rentals from our hostel (White Village) and then hit the slopes right away. I was kind of surprised, especially since I was still half asleep and no one had told me anything about what was going on. Despite that, I picked up my feet and followed everyone else.

I wasn't the only beginner so we started out at the bottom of a hill, with the ones who knew how to snowboard showing us how to put on our boards, how to walk around with one foot attached and how to stand up. The gliding down the hill part we kind of had to figure out by feel and on my part, there was a lot of falling.

Then it was time to get on that ski lift and go to the top...and to painfully make our way down. I fell alot but by my second or third run, I made it to the bottom falling only 2 or 3 times. That doesn't include the top of the hill where the snow was melting and the mud was showing, the bend was very sharp and my turning isn't that good yet. I think that day, I only made 5 runs because my arms were getting too weak for me to lift myself up after everytime I fell. I thought I could rest and hit the slopes the next day...but that's a different story.

We had lunch at the ski slope, but for dinner we were fed at the hostel. That was nice. There was also a hot spring at the hostel...and yup, another public bath! I got shafted and got only cold water at my shower so I got clean as fast as I could and got out. We finished the night by a drinking party and games. We played Uno, some Japanese game called nuki, and a silent game. I think we ended the night pretty early, 10 or 11, but we were all pretty pooped out.

My sleep was horrible. I tried to roll over on my futon and discovered that I was too stiff to move an inch. Not only that, my throat was hurting more and more. By the time I woke up, I was a mess. I had no voice and I had trouble moving. I couldn't even lift my arms up above my head. So, instead of having another go at it on the slopes, I spent the day reading and taking a walk around town. We had breakfast at the hostel...maybe it was a bed and breakfast...and then lunch at the slopes again. There was snow coming down in clumps so although it was good for snowboarding, it was not so good for seeing where you were going.

We left in the afternoon and got back to Nagoya by night. Since we got back earlier than expected, we all went for some ramen. That was a good thing because I don't think I would have had the energy left to cook!

posted by ~diana~ @ 8:22 PM