Busy Weekend part ii: Meiho
I was a little apprehensive about my snowboarding trip with one of the physics professors from my school. He spoke less English than anyone I'd done something outside of school with, and I really didn't know what we would talk about in the car for two hours.
We managed, covering all the expected terrain. Favourite Japanese foods? Japanese foods I don't like? Where have I travelled in Japan? Where do I want to travel? What did I take in school? And so on. In return, I peppered him with questions regarding where he's lived (born in Gifu) and taught (around Gifu prefecture) and for how long (23 years). Every once in awhile he'd crane his neck to look up at the surrounding mountains and mutter "chotto".
"Chotto" is one of those handy Japanese skeleton-key words. Literally, it means "a little", so you get the expected combinations. Chotto muzakashii (a little difficult) Chotto yasui (a little cold) But it can also be used to express doubt, hesitation, or reluctance. I scanned the surrounding hills and agreed with him. chotto... I don't see any snow...
We passed highway signs with digital readouts that informed us that it was twelve degrees Celcius outside. It would be colder on the mountain, but not much colder. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to drive two hours to a closed ski resort. The website the night before had claimed a base of 160cm, but there wasn't a speck of snow on these hills. I felt a little bad for my companion, who would be culture-bound to show no frustration; only slight disappointment at what was, effectively, my plan to go snowboarding this weekend.
It was a nice drive. I'd actually been most of the way before Meiho turned out to be just about 20km past Gujo Hachiman, the destination of one of my first road trips with Julie in Japan, taken by neighbours of mine in my old building last fall. Beautiful town. I've recently been told that it's a "little Takayama". We still haven't made it up there but it's a must. (when we found out we were to be posted in Gifu, I wanted Takayama. Julie, on the other hand, doesn't like the cold, so she was happy ending up on the southern plain)
It was also a long drive. The speed limit was 50kph. The whole way. We passed some beautiful cedar-covered mountains, responsible for much of the terrible hayfever problem in Japan, I am told. And we went through some really neat, lengthy tunnels.
Finally, only moments after we spotted the first specks of snow on some surrounding mountain tops -- and I'm talking specks -- and likewise saw bits of snow in deep troughs beside the road, we caught our first view of Meiho.
It was pretty crowded, too. People getting their last bit of downhill in of the season, I think. We parked a good distance away and made our way up to the rental shop to start. I needed some equipment. Alas, I probably wasn't saving a dime coming up by car, since the lift ticket and round trip bus go for about $80 and include a rental discount. The lift ticket and rental cost me $80 by themselves. I was given some papers to fill out by a Japanese girl with the expected boarder aesthetic. She spoke pretty good English, which was fortunate for me, since the only thing I was able to make out in Japanese was "regular or goofy". About fifteen minutes later, I had my equipment and lift ticket, and up we went.
Man, was it warm. Little streams ran beneath most of the lift runs. It was mostly bare rock under most of them, too. All around was snow, and we passed two monster snow machines which must have been working overtime to produce that 160cm.
Left: my chaperone. Super-nice guy. Not much English, though. We bond over mutual dislike for raw ika. Right: It was too damn warm for a touque. I risked ice cuts the first few runs down until I pulled it on.
A bit rusty, to be sure. I took a few falls while I practiced carving. The snow was pretty slushy, which didn't help, but I think I only had one jarring tailbone fall, while slowly pulling into a lift line, yet.
The day didn't have the kind of atmosphere I loved in BC, and I kept trying to figure out why. A good bit of it, I think, had to do with my companion's decision to not leave me alone. He'd either received instructions to that effect or had decided on his own to keep an eye on me. Of course it's possible that it's simply the Japanese way to be communal in all things. Either way, I couldn't get a single run to myself.
The Japanese mostly ignored me, which was nice. Occasionally I'd get smiles and even waves, but few were brave enough to chat: a couple of girls building a snowman just off the lift at the top peak, and another girl that screamed and wiped out when I vaguely headed in her direction. (there was plenty of room!) And I nodded to one boarder in the lunch area who calmly nodded back to me, then turned to her friend and did an excited little dance. All in all, pretty low-key. Lunch was four pieces of fried chicken, five french fries, and a Coke. One thing I have a bit of trouble with is the indirectness of Japanese communication. I couldn't get my companion to tell me whether he wanted to head out again just yet or not. Eventually he hinted that he'd like another 15 minutes of rest, so we did. People were beat. There were heads on tables all around us.
We did another couple of hours on the hills and called it a day at 3. It was actually getting pretty cool by then, and I'd left my warmer layers in the car. Equipment also had to be returned at 4:30 and I really didn't want to be caught in a traffic jam where the fastest vehicles up front can only go 50, so I was happy to go. I was also pretty beat. Not in the shape I was last time I did this.
The drive home took forever, and we didn't have a lot to talk about. It was a good weekend, and the company was good, but next time I go snowboarding I definitely think I'll take the bus, where everyone involved can sleep the whole way if they like. The highway readouts told us that it had reached 20 degrees Celcius. This might be the last weekend for Meiho -- far, far earlier than usual.
We managed, covering all the expected terrain. Favourite Japanese foods? Japanese foods I don't like? Where have I travelled in Japan? Where do I want to travel? What did I take in school? And so on. In return, I peppered him with questions regarding where he's lived (born in Gifu) and taught (around Gifu prefecture) and for how long (23 years). Every once in awhile he'd crane his neck to look up at the surrounding mountains and mutter "chotto".
"Chotto" is one of those handy Japanese skeleton-key words. Literally, it means "a little", so you get the expected combinations. Chotto muzakashii (a little difficult) Chotto yasui (a little cold) But it can also be used to express doubt, hesitation, or reluctance. I scanned the surrounding hills and agreed with him. chotto... I don't see any snow...
We passed highway signs with digital readouts that informed us that it was twelve degrees Celcius outside. It would be colder on the mountain, but not much colder. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to drive two hours to a closed ski resort. The website the night before had claimed a base of 160cm, but there wasn't a speck of snow on these hills. I felt a little bad for my companion, who would be culture-bound to show no frustration; only slight disappointment at what was, effectively, my plan to go snowboarding this weekend.
It was a nice drive. I'd actually been most of the way before Meiho turned out to be just about 20km past Gujo Hachiman, the destination of one of my first road trips with Julie in Japan, taken by neighbours of mine in my old building last fall. Beautiful town. I've recently been told that it's a "little Takayama". We still haven't made it up there but it's a must. (when we found out we were to be posted in Gifu, I wanted Takayama. Julie, on the other hand, doesn't like the cold, so she was happy ending up on the southern plain)
It was also a long drive. The speed limit was 50kph. The whole way. We passed some beautiful cedar-covered mountains, responsible for much of the terrible hayfever problem in Japan, I am told. And we went through some really neat, lengthy tunnels.
Finally, only moments after we spotted the first specks of snow on some surrounding mountain tops -- and I'm talking specks -- and likewise saw bits of snow in deep troughs beside the road, we caught our first view of Meiho.
It was pretty crowded, too. People getting their last bit of downhill in of the season, I think. We parked a good distance away and made our way up to the rental shop to start. I needed some equipment. Alas, I probably wasn't saving a dime coming up by car, since the lift ticket and round trip bus go for about $80 and include a rental discount. The lift ticket and rental cost me $80 by themselves. I was given some papers to fill out by a Japanese girl with the expected boarder aesthetic. She spoke pretty good English, which was fortunate for me, since the only thing I was able to make out in Japanese was "regular or goofy". About fifteen minutes later, I had my equipment and lift ticket, and up we went.
Man, was it warm. Little streams ran beneath most of the lift runs. It was mostly bare rock under most of them, too. All around was snow, and we passed two monster snow machines which must have been working overtime to produce that 160cm.
Left: my chaperone. Super-nice guy. Not much English, though. We bond over mutual dislike for raw ika. Right: It was too damn warm for a touque. I risked ice cuts the first few runs down until I pulled it on.
A bit rusty, to be sure. I took a few falls while I practiced carving. The snow was pretty slushy, which didn't help, but I think I only had one jarring tailbone fall, while slowly pulling into a lift line, yet.
The day didn't have the kind of atmosphere I loved in BC, and I kept trying to figure out why. A good bit of it, I think, had to do with my companion's decision to not leave me alone. He'd either received instructions to that effect or had decided on his own to keep an eye on me. Of course it's possible that it's simply the Japanese way to be communal in all things. Either way, I couldn't get a single run to myself.
The Japanese mostly ignored me, which was nice. Occasionally I'd get smiles and even waves, but few were brave enough to chat: a couple of girls building a snowman just off the lift at the top peak, and another girl that screamed and wiped out when I vaguely headed in her direction. (there was plenty of room!) And I nodded to one boarder in the lunch area who calmly nodded back to me, then turned to her friend and did an excited little dance. All in all, pretty low-key. Lunch was four pieces of fried chicken, five french fries, and a Coke. One thing I have a bit of trouble with is the indirectness of Japanese communication. I couldn't get my companion to tell me whether he wanted to head out again just yet or not. Eventually he hinted that he'd like another 15 minutes of rest, so we did. People were beat. There were heads on tables all around us.
We did another couple of hours on the hills and called it a day at 3. It was actually getting pretty cool by then, and I'd left my warmer layers in the car. Equipment also had to be returned at 4:30 and I really didn't want to be caught in a traffic jam where the fastest vehicles up front can only go 50, so I was happy to go. I was also pretty beat. Not in the shape I was last time I did this.
The drive home took forever, and we didn't have a lot to talk about. It was a good weekend, and the company was good, but next time I go snowboarding I definitely think I'll take the bus, where everyone involved can sleep the whole way if they like. The highway readouts told us that it had reached 20 degrees Celcius. This might be the last weekend for Meiho -- far, far earlier than usual.
posted by Freemount at 5:35 a.m.
1 Comments:
I'm jealous. I want to see mountains! Even snow-covered ones will do.
...That being said, I had a good day shopping while you were boarding, and I'm glad you had a good time.
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