Firsts...

Wobble wobble. Balance? How!? Fall down. Try to get up--but oh so unsuccessfully. Down on my ass again. Really gonna get up this time. Almost there, come on just stand the hell up! Ah, back on my feet again. Just before (shit!) wobbling and falling down again. The joys of learning to snowboard.

This past weekend was my first time. P's friend shares a huge 4 bedroom house in Minakami with 3 other guys, and they go up every weekend. So the two of us took advantage of the invitation and went for a jam-packed 2 days of snowboarding. I had received warnings from everyone I knew. "You won't be able to sit down or turn your neck for days." "You'd better get some butt padding." Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought. At first I was sure I was going to kill myself, but once you get used to balancing and learning to shift your weight it's alright. The first day my boots were too big, so I ended up having to stay on my back edge because my heels were coming up out of my boots when I tried going on my toes. So there I went whizzing down the slopes shakily but without falling too much. But by the second day, I realized, the point isn't to stay on the back edge the whole time. I needed to learn to turn! I had taken a pretty hard fall on my 2nd run of the day right on my lower back, and I swear I thought I had broken it. Aside from the pain, my confidence was shaken, which means I just fell more. But up I went again, and after a few more good runs and successful turns, all in all, I seemed to be alright and I had so much fun!!... SO much fun that I am going again this weekend to Zao. Everyone says that the more often you go and keep following up on what you learned, the better you get. So, in preparation, tonight I went out and bought a Salomon board, boots, bindings, a huge bag for my board and gear, a new coat, pants, and gloves-- all Salomon-- for 33000 yen ($330). I was chuffed! Such a bargain! And now I never have to worry about renting too-big boots again! P and I are now in the process of planning a trip up to Hokkaido in 2 weeks as well for a long 4 day weekend, and S is coming too... can't wait!! Yes, I warn you now-- watch out on the slopes-- I have become a snowboarding convert.

Along with snowboarding, the trip had some other firsts: Imagine having a long hard day of boarding, and every muscle you never even knew you had aches. But then, you have the amazing opportunity to soak outside in a rotomboro (outdoor hot spring-- this one was co-ed no less), surrounded by some pretty gorgeous guys, just relaxing your body in the hot pool under the falling snow. THIS is heaven!!! It might just be the best part of snowboarding in Japan! :)
Speaking of gorgeous guys, at least half of them on this trip were. Yet, while grilling thin slices of meat over the Korean barbecue, I found myself saying in the dinner conversation, for the first time, "my boyfriend." So I guess it is pretty much safe to say I do have a boyfriend now-- still S, and I'm still as happy as can be with my adorable Frenchman.

Monday brought me back to Tokyo and to work, just in time for my FIRST EVER RAISE!!! Effective February 1st, I am now making 11% more than I was a few days ago. Thank you to all of you who made this possible. I will never forget you. And please, don't be fooled by the rocks that I've got... hehe.

And now for a very weird first... today was my dad's birthday so I called to wish him a happy birthday, to find out that, for the first time, I was told by my father that he got remarried-- in DECEMBER! And this was prompted by my asking, "So any other news?" and his response, "Nope, no other news, oh, except that we got married." What else could I say but "uhh, congratulations!" This is what I would call an abnormal parent-child relationship, or at least one that lacks proper communication. Dad really needs to hire a PR firm to manage his familial relationships-- too bad my firm doesn't specialize in training fathers how to show interest in their children.

Right, anyway, sorry for that tangent. Really, life is good!