After a month long hiatus, it's been difficult to get back into this blog, but I'm trying. I haven't had much free time to spend with it because I've been focusing my energies on other projects, but now it's time to continue my documentation.
This past weekend I was invited to join five coworkers for a company paid trip to the snowy Japanese Alps. There was Christian, a space invader from Planet Macheesemo, Bradley, a good ole Aussie lad, Crazy Will, a noisy hole, Luke, a bald Canadian Aikido master, and Dan, a chachi trying to mooch a free ride. Needless to say, it was an interesting experience that had it's ups and downs, but overall it was a great time.
We met around 4am at Christian's house and piled into his big Bongo Friendee van for the four hour drive into Nagano Prefecture. Most people slept (and farted) for a majority of the drive except for the the last leg when we woke up and started pumping music out of an iPod to get fired up as we pulled into the snow covered parking lot at Hakuba 47 ski resort.
Three amigos
While listening to AOA and getting dressed, we met up with three JET teachers (Tyler, Noah, and Nicole) that drove in from Aichi Prefecture as well. Before long, Christian, Bradley, and I were all bombing down the slopes and zipping between trees in knee deep powder. Sheer bliss.
Throughout the day we would bump into other people from our group, like Crazy Will who was trying to learn to snowboard. He took a few bad stacks and hurt his knee, but he kept getting up to try again and again.
Bradley chillin'
By about three thirty, my body started getting really tired; I have to get back into shape after gaining about ten pounds while vacationing in the U.S.A. I met up with Will and we decided to call it a day and have a beer at the bottom of the mountain.
That night we stayed in a backpackers lodge called Snow Beds that's located close to the Olympic ski jump used during the Nagano Olympics back in '98. For dinner we went to a cozy log cabin restaurant called Gravity Works that served tasty pizza & pasta and showed videos. We all sat around with our feet up drinking beer and watched the remake of the Italian Job.
After eating, a debate started between Christian and the other members of our group about how to spend the companies money. The debate stopped just shy of a shouting match because everyone was too confused about what the other was arguing. In the end I can't remember what got settled because I quit listening and started watching Charlize Theron in the Italian Job.
Back at the lodge, I went to bed early with my headphones on while Will, Bradley, and Luke stayed up farting and singing bad 80's pop songs from Sheena E and Ray Parker Jr. It was like some kind of bizarre slumber party for the middle aged.
The following day we went Tsugaike ski resort just down the road, but I felt like the wind had left my sails. I was just too tired from the day before and felt real heavy from all the pizza I ate at Gravity Works.
Christian, Bradley, and I still managed to put a few good runs in through a treed section off the top lift, but we all called it a day early and piled back into the van for the drive home.
The drive was uneventful except for the fact that we had three iPods and an iTrip in the back seats, so we took over Christians radio until he turned the volume down on us. Then we busted out our headphones and two splitters and continued to rock out in our own minds.
Good times.
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