Feb 14

FoxHound87: Hokkaido Part 2

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Joshua Small is a First Year JET currently living in Ikaruga-cho, Nara-ken and has been chronicling his experience on his blog Snorlax87.

I woke up, dawned my heat tech long underwear, and boarded the shuttle bus bound for Hanazono. I was going to ski for the first time.

I arrived at the resort and checked in with the rental counter. They pulled my reservation and started outfitting me for skis, pants, pole, and shoes. The staff at Hanazono is largely Australian. They must come to Japan seasonally on visas. They were very polite which made the whole process easy. When I walk in ski boots, I look hilarious. In ski boots, I walk heel to toe, but really exaggerated. Someone might have thought I had polio if it wasn’t for the fact that other skiers looked just as stupid.

My volunteer Hokkaido JET instructor was supposed to meet me on the mountain at 10. He didn’t arrive until about 11:30. While I was waiting, one of the other JETs was kind enough to give me some lessons in skiing. I went down the first hill (it leads to the ski lift) several times really easily. I was picking up skiing quickly. My “instructor” kept reminding me that I SHOULD have fallen by now. I hadn’t. When the Hokkaido instructor finally arrived, I was stunned. He was wearing the costume of Hokkaido’s mascot: Marimokkori, the marimo with a huge boner…

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http://snorlax87.blogspot.com/