I was in Nagano on the fourth through sixth.
Maria had planned a snow trip for eight of her friends and I. We would travel by train to the bus pickup and from there be taken by bus to the mountain resort. The bus would be traveling all night so we had to have an early dinner, and make do with whatever snacks we brought, or would purchase on the way.
Maria’s father took us to Maria’s apartment to where we picked up two other girls. We then went to the supermarket to purchase food and drink for the next days dinner. We then boarded a train and set off for Osaka. There we met up with the rest of the group. In total five nationalities were represented. There were three Americans, two Koreans, two Japanese, one Russian, and one Canadian. We then boarded another train to get to the bus pickup. After we boarded the bus, we were told that the bus would be stopping every two and a half hours a rest stop. I knew from my trip last year that Japanese rest stops were very nice. Often having a 24 hour shop and restaurant with free tea. It was a little cramped but I managed to sleep for a while between each stop. We finally arrived at the mountain around 7 AM. We had to walk in the snow to the resort’s rest area and wait for our check-in. We grabbed our rented boots, wear, and gear, and got into a snowmobile type vehicle. It was a very bumpy ride and I had to lay down on all of the luggage because there were no longer any seats. We had rented two cabins. The first one was the largest and had three rooms along with a kitchen, bathroom, and toilet room. The second one was much smaller with just the one attic room, kitchen, and bathroom/toilet combination. We went to the ski/snow resort and arrived just after 10 and started to ski and snowboard. The conditions were picture perfect, sun out and no wind. The mountain didn’t have very many people so there weren’t any lines on the lifts. We had a great time and took a break around noon to eat lunch and a meat/steak restaurant. The restaurant’s proprietor seemed very interested in talking to the many foreigners in his restaurant. After lunch we spent the next four hours on the snow. After that we were picked up and taken back to the resort. The resort was empty and we found out that we were the only ones not staying in the lodges and renting cabins. We could make as much noise as we wanted. The girls prepared a nabe (soup over fire, sort of similar to shabu shabu) dinner, and then we ate. We played a few games like Taboo and a pillow swapping game, then finally retired for the night. The next day it was snowing, and we were a little bummed about the weather. The snow was really piling on by the time we got to the lifts. The first couple of runs weren’t very good. It was difficult to see and the powder piled on too high. After a while though, we started to get used to it, and for the more experienced skiers and snowboarders it became a fun challenge. We ate (with a coupon!) at the nearby hotel, the Radiant, and later went back to the resort. We had checked out that morning, so we showered and bathed at the lodge. We then boarded the bus to get back. We arrived in Kyoto twenty minutes early and everything was closed. We couldn’t get into the station until 5 AM and the trains wouldn’t be running until 5:18 AM. Finally we boarded and after a few transfers got to Tenri, the home of Maria’s school, Tenri University. We said our goodbye’s and went our separate ways. It was a good trip.
I put a positive spin on everything. No need to spoil it with drama (there was some!).