I quickly turned it off, knowing it would go off again in a quarter of an hour, and again in a half an hour, and again in three quarters of an hour. But before it had a chance to go off a second time, it let out a sound like a plane flying over head - that meant I was receiving an e-mail.
Michel checking to see if I was up yet.
I replied with an "Ugh! Yes" text and got an "Ugh!" back as a reply. We AEON teachers are not used to getting up at such hours; our school day doesn't begin until 1:00pm. But today, we were going skiing and I had to get my butt out of bed and jump in the shower to meet the cab over at Michel's that would take us to the east side of the train station to meet Ray, his daughter, and our bus to Daikura. I had been telling my students all week about my ski plans and purposely dropped that I hadn't been downhill skiing in over 20 years just so I could see the look of surprise on their faces. Yet, as I put on the ski/snow-boarding suit Stacy loaned me (thanks, Stacy), and later picked up the short skis at Michel's to hand them to the driver, I think I surprised myself more than I had my students. "I'm really going skiing. and not just skiing at Afton Alps or Lutzen back in Minnesota (for those who've never traveled to my great state (or never watched or read "Little House on the Prairie") Minnesota is flat, with the exception of a few hills), but skiing in the mountains. Big, steep mountains." But Michel assured me there were beginner slopes at all elevations and that I would be fine.
The taxi arrived early and dropped us off at the gyoza statue on the east side of the station. We waited in the cold for about 20-25 minutes until the bus arrived. We loaded up our gear and soon were joined by Ray and his daughter Rina. Ray is one of our outstanding former discussion students who still meets us for drinks at the local pub outside of our office on Wednesday nights (NOVA teachers, I understand, are not allowed to fraternize with students). We all spread out in the back of the bus when Ray turned around and handed us each a beer - a beer before 9! Michel and I were happily surprised by this refreshment and after a quick "kampai," we opened our cans and were on our way:
The bus filled up at our second stop, but then proceeded to stop every half hour or so - so passengers could go to the toilet. Now, I have a VERY small bladder and normally would be thankful for this, but it seemed excessive even to me. Besides, it was cutting into our ski time. As we got closer the snow got heavier and heavier. The ski resort was beautiful and full of skiers, snow-boarders, and ski-boarders all enjoying themselves. As I was borrowing Michel's short skis (thanks again, Michel) I didn't need poles - only boots. I quickly got these and we all got ready and were off. This was my first time using a ski lift in my life (I'd only used a tow rope before), and after a little help from Michel and the lift attendant, I figured out how to get on and off the lift with a minimum of embarrassment (Michel will probably tell a different story, but so be it). One of the nice things about the lifts here is that they come equipped with a plexiglass hood that comes down once you start off and keeps the wind and snow away:
Here I am at the top of the hill with Michel and Rina:
There were many types of ski outfits sported on the hill, but Rina's was the brightest which made it easy for us all to keep an eye on her. This was her second time skiing as well so she and I were the beginners. We all had distinct styles of skiing. Michel and Ray were obviously the most expert of our team - Michel gave me many helpful pointers on executing a controlled, curving descent down the hill. His own style showed he knew what he was talking about. Ray had long, straight skis and looked quite European with his controlled, classic way of getting down the hill. Rina snowplowed and worked on her turns. It was fun to watch her ski down to where we were and then hear her cry - half fear/half delight - grow loud and then soft again as she swiftly passed us, unable to stop. My own style was a work in progress. I was having a bit of trouble bending my knees as I turned and this contributed to my initial lack of control in my descent. By the end of the day (except for the time on the intermediate slope when I literally tumbled my way down the final run), I felt much more confident and could even execute a pretty good hockey player type stop (tho' here again, I must have looked a bit ridiculous as every time I turned to the side I either a) lost my nerve and did 2 or 3 stops to finally stop, or b) executed the stop well, but did not put my weight into it enough and lamely drifted off to the side like a discarded candy wrapper blown by the wind). Anyway, Here I am with Ray and Rina:
And here we are after a nice lunch, back up on the slopes. The weather cleared enough for us to see the endless mountains and take in the true natural beauty of this country, far, far away from rust and concrete:
(If you click on the pictures, you should be able to see an enlarged version and can get a better scope of the beauty of these mountains):
All in all, it was a perfect day for skiing and a great refresher course for me. Hopefully, I'll be able to make it out to the slopes one more time before the end of my contract at the end of April. Thanks to Ray for taking these amazing pictures of our day on the slopes.Today, I am researching teaching opportunities in Vermont, Colorado, and other mountainous regions of the good old U.S. of A.
