Ski ga suki! Part 3

The view from our motel. In Japan, it's called a "pension." It's a European thing. It snowed all night so I was anticipating seeing the mountain.

This is the fabulous Teapot Pension and Resutoran.

Here is a picture of Toshi Sensei- the man that brought me down the mountain!

We got to actually sleep in a private room after our first day skiing. It was nice. Well, it was nicer than the community room. There was a bed and a t.v., and a window. For some reason, the word for motel is pension. I'm too lazy or I'd look it up in a French dictionary. It was decorated in the style of Loving, Oklahoma. For those of you familiar with that decor, think of Grandma and Grandpa's "Blue Room." The sinks were outside in the hall and the bathrooms were either downstairs (western style) or down the hall (hole in the floor style). Oh, and a side note: while many Japanese toilet seats are heated, those on the first floor of the Teapot Pension are not. They are cold. They are up-in-the-mountains-middle-of-winter-ceramic cold.

The first day, Noriko was my gentle (not) guide to zen and the art of skiing. I practiced on an almost flat surface and then headed for the beginner's slope. She immediately demanded more of me (things like turning and stopping) and I did my best to refuse. I fell a couple of times and for the most part, things went ok. I actually felt that one day of skiing was enough and thought about how nice it would be to hang out in the community room the following day.

The next day, Noriko announced I was going to Ski School. I begged and pleaded and stomped (while wearing skis) and hid- but she was relentless. She said something about trusting her and blah blah. She dragged me to the office where I met up with Toshi-san. He spoke the kind of English one would speak if it had been 15 years since you went to school in Maryland. They actually called him in from his day off his real job (professor at a pharmacy school) because of his English prowess.

He dragged me to the beginner slope and shortly announced, "You already know how to ski!"

He dragged me to the next level up in difficulty slope, gave me a piece of chocolate and said "Let's go!"

He dragged me to the "adult" ski lift and we headed to the top of what he called the "champion course" slope. He gave me another piece of chocolate and said, "Let's go!" At this point I used one of my favorite Japanese grammar constructions and told him that I looked like a dog being given treats. He laughed and said "no. no. It makes peace for you!" He gave me one more piece of advice before he headed to a point midway down, "Make caution around you!" I replied, "Let's go!"

To say I never fell would be a complete lie. I fell so many times that it was actually kind of fun to speed up to a point of no control and then just fall down and slide, spinning on my back for several feet.

Toshi-Sensei gave me some pointers and commented, that probably my legs are getting tired. I agreed and said that after today and the day before my legs were tired. He suggested we ride the gondola. I said, "For rest?" He looked at me and said,"No! For ski!"

The gondola was the enclose cable car that was the ski lift to the very top of the mountain. I gave in we rode to the summit. There were about four switchbacks from the top to a fork in the trails. I fell down each one. Finally it forked and one way was easier. I fell down about half of that part and finally we made it to the medium difficulty trail. I actually zoomed right along that one. At the bottom, my wise teacher told me, "See! Now that you made it all the way down from the top, this one was no problem!"

I had to admit it. I went kicking and screaming the entire way, but now that I had made it through the fire it was easier and more importantly, fun! Toshi invited us into the instructor's lounge for coffee. From the startled look on the other instructors' faces I could tell that this was not the norm. It looked a lot like the dining room with the kids except it was smaller, noisier and full of cigarette smoke. I will never forget Toshi-sensei. Noriko translated for me, "I feel like I was in plane crash at the top of the mountain and they sent you in to rescue me. Domo Arigatou Gozaimasu."