Jo-Lo in Tokyo: WOW Zao!...

My second weekend of snowboarding has come to a successful close. This time it was 5 of us girls, pretty much beginners, facing some wild wind and about 3.5 meters of snow. From start to finish it was a fun trip, almost like being a kid at camp again. We did this one cheaply-- took the bus and stayed in an anachronic lodge that was literally usurped from the beginning years of the Bubble economy. The 5 of us stayed in one room-- think 5 sets of bunk beds and a bright orange carpet-- it was room 217, which actually wasn't even written on any of the signs at the hotel. Officially, the room numbers reached only 215 and we are convinced we were actually hidden in a storage area. But actually in the end it wasn't even that bad. The place had an onsen (hot spring), so it's not like we were bothered by the shared bathroom/shower, and I was so exhausted I could have slept on a rock-- the futon was surprisingly quite comfy anyway. And meals (basic washoku style) were included and pretty good-- even had mangos (possibly not as good as in Dominica, but I digress).

By the end of day 2 on the slopes, after having had a lesson the day before, which helped a lot, I was smoothly dismounting the lift without falling, skating along flat surfaces with one foot in the binding and the other on the board, and most importantly, maneuvering down the slope (unsteadily but still maneuvering) in "S" turns. The challenge was the last run-- A. had convinced me to come up with her to try the intermediate slope, which we knew immediately was a mistake when we saw it. I ended up facing the mountain and braking down the whole thing! But hey, if you don't try, you never know, right?

Anyway it's really fun learning a new sport, I realized. It's been a while since I've worked on a new physical skill-- the days of learning to do backflips are over. I guess for a soon to be 23-yr old, snowboarding is a good sport to pick up, however expensive! On Sunday I realized I was $100 short of spending my entire budget for the month... and $800 of it has been spent on snowboarding (gear, trips) for this month only. Incredible. I have now limited myself to weeknights straight home from work, canned soup and blogging-- at least for the next few weeks. Be prepared to hear much more from me!

Upon arrival to... summer camp??! On the slopes with Amy
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