Most of you know that Mike and I love to ski! Before we were together, we both skied with our families and learned the skiing basics...the snow plow (or pizza as Mike says) and the parallel (or french fries as Mike says). His skiing form is obviously inspired by food. Mine of pure, sophisticated technique! By 10th grade when the annual ski week to Garmish, Germany rolled around, we confirmed our love of the sport and have done it together ever since. Skiing also holds a special spot in my heart as we got engaged while skiing on top of a mountain.
Picture of us right after we got engaged- February 16th, 2007
Skiing for us is a sport that we're both good at. Well, let's not consider my form (as that would probably demote me from being considered a "good skier") but I assure myself that I'm good because I can keep up with Mike, and that's good enough for me! I must admit I do HATE and I mean HATE all the preparation that's involved when getting ready for a ski trip. I hate the boots because my shins hurt and I hate the way my pants always bunch up right at my knees. Oh and not to mention, I add about 20 inches around my waist and legs so I look a little more soft than I'm used to. After a good day of skiing, I always question why I even bothered to take a shower because my hair is a matted wreck and mascara is usually smeared down my flushed cheeks.
While taking a shower last night, I thought about our ski trips we went on this past week. Our first trip was a 2 1/2 drive to Mt. Naeba with our friends Meredith, Trey, Mai and Ryan. Let me just preface this by saying we had a wonderful time! The trails were awesome, the snow was smooth and soft, and the weather was comfortable enough where you could even take off your jacket and still enjoy the wind rushing past your ears as you pealed down the mountain. Oh and the food court was amazing as well! After a wonderful meal of margherita pizza and some luscious momi tea, I felt as though skiing couldn't get any better.
So back out I went to do a couple more runs. By 4pm, we were back at the car on our way back to Yokota. All in all, it was a great day to ski!
Meredith, Mai and Me
Mike and I- Maybe next year's Christmas card?
Now, yesterday was a different story. Mike and I signed up through Outdoor Rec to go on a day trip to Nagano (yes that is the same Nagano where the '98 Winter Olympics were held). When the alarm went off at 2:30 am, I opened one eye and immediately decided that I no longer loved skiing and informed Mike that I would not be partaking in the days' planned event. With a little push, shove and a yank of my covers, I relented and preceded to the shower where I slept on the floor for an additional ten minutes. For the first two hours on the bus, things were uneventful and we both slept soundly. It wasn't until after we got to Nagano and started to creep up the snow covered mountain that things got a little bit interesting. You would think that a huge heavy bus would need chains on its wheels to creep up a snow slicked road, but our tour guide and bus driver informed us, that "No, we hab gleaaat beeg wheers. Dey don need chains." And then after that precise moment, our bus started to slide backward and slammed into a guard rail that was on the side of the mountain. After this, I started NOT to believe them.
We got off the bus and took pictures to document this oh so unpredictable event and see what we could do to help. Some started to dig out the bus from the back with a snowboard. Mike was standing at the front end and was handed a piece of the bus bumper and instructed to dig out the front end. Needless to say, the mountain was closed as our bus was blocking both lanes of traffic. For an hour and a half, we dug out the bus while some Japanese locals got out of their cars, smoked a few cigarettes and watched us work. Well, I actually didn't work. Which is why I snapped these pictures below!
So after that experience, I was sure that we wouldn't be skiing. However, a snowplow tractor saved the day and towed us to safety. And guess what, the story gets even more interesting. As the snow continued to come down, the conditions started to appear blizzard like. And I'm seriously not kidding. You couldn't see two feet in front of you and the wind tossed you around every which way. Not to mention that it was FAHREEEZIN outside and absolutely no amount of skin could be exposed or else you'd get frostbite. At least, I thought you could ; ) Put it this way, when we stopped for lunch and laid down our skis, they were buried in snow by the time we got back.
Moving on to lunch, the menu could be as expected since nothing was translated in English. This is where my eye for Japanese Kanji came in. I wanted the safest option...a bowl of soup with noodles. Underneath it's description are all the Japanese characters that kind of resemble this:
xbodaenfiydagh;add'.x,q'f
To order, you have to go up to a vending machine and press a button that has this exact Kanji description but to make a little more difficult, there are no pictures. It's like Russian Roulette because you can take the risk and push any button only to end up with organs stir fried in squid ink. OR you can do what I did and desperately search for the last two Kanji characters in the description and press that one. Ultimate success!
By the afternoon, the snow was unbearable and I waited out the last hour in the lobby while Mike skied a couple more times. When driving down the mountain, we were fortunate enough to make a wrong turn and get stuck in a tiny road while our tires skidded against the snow. Finally, we again dug ourselves out of that predicament and were about to drive onto the Japanese expressway when we realized that it was now closed because the snow was so bad. Ugh. If Mike had only listened to me and didn't get up so early in the morning, we would have been comfortably snuggled on our couch, sipping hot chocolate and watching a good movie. But instead we were smashed on a hot bus with bad hair and windburn. I will say this, it was an experience that I'll never forget and I'm glad to give you some interesting blog material! And yes, we eventually made it home!
WHAT?! As if your life in Japan could get any crazier! Glad you made it out okay with a good story to share. :)
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