White

Last weekend I went skiing in Nagano prefecture in a place called Hakuba. It was the site of some of the Winter Olympics events- the ski-jump is still there. I woke up at 4:30 AM on Sunday morning in order to get to Nagoya in time for my five hours and five minutes bus ride through the mountains to Hakuba. (Yes, I actually counted. I was that bored)

What can I say about the Nagano Highlands? The skiing was great, the snow was soft and there was an 'all you-eat' buffet at the hotel. I'm suprised I didn't sink when I went to the hotspring afterwards.

On the downside, on the top of the mountain the visibility was horrible. I couldn't see more than five metres in front of me- everything else was white. I felt akin to Shinji Ikari during Instrumentality in the last two episodes of Eva. It wasn't because I had a philosphical and personal breakthrough, but because my entire world had been deconstructed down to white paper.

Also, I overshot the ski course on one nasty turn and went over the edge and down the mountain. I stopped after a few metres and managed to climb back home, but I seriosly had the shakes for a while after that.

It was a interesting trip. It has been a warm winter over here (by Japanese standards), and the past few days have been hot. I think spring is starting, so I don't know whether I will have a chance to ski again until the end of this year

-Blake