nothing to prove

just say snow

It was time again for me to visit my homestay. Shiozawa has definitely felt like my home away from home. Every time I go there it is filled with lots of relaxing, eating, and drinking. This time around Melissa came with to partake in the festivities. I am glad she got to experience the reason why I head down there so much although they probably think I have a girlfriend now. It seems like any girl and guy that walk around together or hang out are accused of dating in Japan. However it is perfectly acceptable for two boys or girls to walk around holding hands or have their arms around one another. Ironic?


Anyway, after getting there late Friday night we were immediately feed and headed to bed at a decent hour so that we could spend a full day snowboarding the next day. We went to a place called Maiko which was a completely different experience than Gala, the ski resort we went to last time I was in Shiozawa. This place was a lot bigger and on top of that it was quite as crowded. When it was all said and done we ended up spending around 6 hours on the slopes. Needless to say my legs were so tired at the end I started to fall over for no good reason. There was no need to go to the gym after that one but we did hit up the onsen. That too was pretty empty which is the way I like it so that I can have some time to relax in peace and quiet. Afterwards we obviously came home to plenty of food and drinks. It was a really good day of snowboarding and every time I go out it is getting easier, thank god!


Twelve hours of sleep later I woke up for some breakfast and to lazily start my day. Just after lunch I took a shower right before we were bombarded with the neighbors and by neighbors I mean their cute little children. It always amazes me how amused kids can stay. We must have played with balloons for a good twenty minutes before taking a walk outside on a gorgeous day. Shiozawa got hit with a lot of snow, around four meters worth, while I was away and this is the area that is having all the avalanches. Thankfully we weren't near the mountain on our little walk but we still got to play with all the snow and icicles. Later we were invited to their house where we ate some snacks and played playstation 2 with the kids. Of course we got a little interrupted when the Mom called to have us come back for dinner. It was great to over stuff ourselves one last time before packing and catching the train to Sanjo. Of course it managed to start snowing again and our trains were slightly delay but we made it home in one piece. I can't wait to go back!

posted by Aaron @ 4:52 AM