(Yeah...I went down this hill...)
After the onsen, we went to a ryokan to stay over night. It was a traditional style room and we had three of them to share. Each room had tatami mats, a kotatsu, and a TV. So Japanese.We had an amazing feast! It was crab nabe. It was delicious. I really ate my body weight's worth of food that night. (Pictures eventually..hopefully)
The next morning we packed and headed back to the slopes after a filling Japanese styled breakfast with furikake, rice, fruit, tsukemono (picked stuff,) and miso. By this time, I could technically ski but horribly. I was really nervous this time and started to shake a bit. I wanted to practice by myself because the day before all I did was fall and my okaasan and s-san had to help me for a long time. So I manage to get on the lift but when I got to the bunny hill it was closed off so I thought the only place I could go was up. At the time, I didn't realize that there was another bunny slope next to meet. I stupidly when on the highest point of the mountain. The view was absolutely beautiful (see pictures above) but I was really terrified. I crashed a lot and I tired to stay on the side to avoid inconveniencing people. At one point I just sat on the mountain for awhile trying to gather courage to keep going. Somehow I made it down alive. My host family was worried about me because they didn't know where I was. They were about to make an announcement for me but I came sliding down the mountain really fast without crashing. (I still need to learn how to turn.)
After that I was done for the day. I hung out in the lounge for the rest of the day and a good thing too because it also started to rain. We left at around 5pm and it was a long ride back. 4 hours later we were back in Nagao.
My okaasan remarked on how I did really well for a person who never skied before because in two days I learned the basics. Thanks okaasan. So I surviving skiing down the highest point of a mountain by myself...I feel accomplished somehow.
That night we went to an onsen. It was also my first time going to one. I really nervous because I wasn't sure what the protocol and social rules were. I basicially did what my okaasan did. I feel more relaxed because I was also with two cute little girls (from the other family.) For an onsen, males and females are sepreated but small children under 5 can enter either. You have to get completely naked. Before you enter the bath, you have to basically clean yourself first. Shampoo and the like are provided but you can bring your own. In the onsen you are supposed to have a wash cloth to clean your body. The rules I learned so far is that the wash cloth is not supposed to touch the bath water. If you hair is long it should be in a bun, tied, or wrapped in the wash cloth. You can't swim in the onsen. Besides all these rules, the onsen was really nice. There was an outdoor onsen too. The cold air and hot water...it felt so good.
After the onsen, we went to a ryokan to stay over night. It was a traditional style room and we had three of them to share. Each room had tatami mats, a kotatsu, and a TV. So Japanese.We had an amazing feast! It was crab nabe. It was delicious. I really ate my body weight's worth of food that night. (Pictures eventually..hopefully)
The next morning we packed and headed back to the slopes after a filling Japanese styled breakfast with furikake, rice, fruit, tsukemono (picked stuff,) and miso. By this time, I could technically ski but horribly. I was really nervous this time and started to shake a bit. I wanted to practice by myself because the day before all I did was fall and my okaasan and s-san had to help me for a long time. So I manage to get on the lift but when I got to the bunny hill it was closed off so I thought the only place I could go was up. At the time, I didn't realize that there was another bunny slope next to meet. I stupidly when on the highest point of the mountain. The view was absolutely beautiful (see pictures above) but I was really terrified. I crashed a lot and I tired to stay on the side to avoid inconveniencing people. At one point I just sat on the mountain for awhile trying to gather courage to keep going. Somehow I made it down alive. My host family was worried about me because they didn't know where I was. They were about to make an announcement for me but I came sliding down the mountain really fast without crashing. (I still need to learn how to turn.)
After that I was done for the day. I hung out in the lounge for the rest of the day and a good thing too because it also started to rain. We left at around 5pm and it was a long ride back. 4 hours later we were back in Nagao.
My okaasan remarked on how I did really well for a person who never skied before because in two days I learned the basics. Thanks okaasan. So I surviving skiing down the highest point of a mountain by myself...I feel accomplished somehow.
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