He finally posted it

Chris FINALLY put up this picture of a somewhat hilarious crash I had at hakkoda. Since there was a lot of powder, i didn't see this root. Then I fell.



Though chris has made claims that I was unhurt by the incident, this is a bald-faced lie. My shin, nay, no-one's shin handles a direct hit by a root very well.

I'm in Hiroshima. Traveling. It's spring break. Have been to Nikko, Tokyo, and Hiroshima, heading to Himeji, Kyoto, and a city to be named later i.e. when I figure out where else I could go, probably Hitachi.

Hakkoda weekend number....

A couple of scenic shots from a weekend trip to Hakkoda, maybe the last of the season. Unexpected heavy snowfall last week meant great powder this Sunday. Might even be able to go again next weekend, which would be awesome.

Here's a shot of the mountain i can see from my house, Kamafuse, but from the south across Mutsu bay:

Ran into this Air Force guy from Misawa who showed us a new way down the mountain, under the gondola ropes. Really nice and steep and a lot of good snow to ride down. Getting there is kind of a hassle/dangerous/awesome as the woods are somewhat thick and generally downhill. They opened up and offered this view of Aomori City, close to the bottom.


It really cleared up during the afternoon. Had pretty good views closer to the top. Found a place to stop where I wouldn't sink (it's a real problem) and took this:


When Chris posts his pictures there should be a few good ones, including a shot of a little accident I had in the forest.

Yet another weekend!

I have no pictures from this weekend, but it was exciting.

Went to the town directing south of me, Rokkasho, for their annual international fair (subtitle: "Yet another excuse for ALTs to get together and party). Basically, there were a bunch of tables with stuff "representative" of our respective nations. The French people who worked at the nuclear waste facility in town definetly won, since they served ham, cheese, and wine.

There were also german, korean, british, american, canadian, italian, and austrailians there. Sometimes just one of them, but there were a lot of different nations. Who all brought food. It was like the Noah's ark of cuisine.

Then, off to Noheji (even further south, but not out of shimokita) to hang out with a couple of spanish guys who were staying at the inn run by a friend's parents. These dudes worked on the windmills in town, and also cooked pretty decent food. Conversed in spanish, english, and japanese at the dinner table; cured the resulting headache with homemade spanish wine.

then back to rokkasho for the international fair after-party. simply put: a ruckus.

THEN hakkoda in the morning. got three magnificent runs in before wind shut down the gondola. has been snowing all week. Should be awesome this coming weekend.

I am still alive, but not exciting

Just checking in, don't have much to say. Went snowboarding last weekend. Really clear and beautiful day. Here's a pretty cool picture of Hakkoda-zan from way far off (the parking lot of our usual post-snowboarding onsen).


I should probably describe what an onsen is right now. It's essentially a public bath, typically heated by geothermic something-or-other. There's a men's and women's section, and you go through a sequence of baths at different temperatures, getting increasingly hotter before you finish up with the inhumanly cold one. That's about all there si to it. Oh, and everybody's naked. Except for the "privacy towel." It's actually quite relaxing right after snowboarding.

The funny about this onsen is that the staff is entirely younger women (30ish or below, i think). Usually there's at least one much older woman who is the caretaker of the men's section, while her apprentices mind the women (i don't know if they're actually apprenticed to her, but that would be cool). This woman typically wanders around, using all of her concentration to mop the floor. ANYWAY, at this particular onsen the floor-mopper is a youngish gal who has a strange habit.

She peeks.

No. Scratch that. She cannot control the desire to stare. She absentmindedly swipes at the floor, mouth agape, eyes darting to each new entry into the room. You can pretty much read her thoughts through that facial expression ("Oh my god! a naked man! ...oh my god! a naked man! ...oh my god! [etc]") It's kind of... disconcerting.

In a somewhat related note, I bought a exercycle:


Explanation: finally got a membership at the local video rental place and a DVD player (i didn't have TV service in any way, since i wouldn't understand it). found that I couldn't sit still that long with a clear conscience. So, now I have something to do for the hour and a half each day after school.