Nagano-way Jose

I will get this out of the way immediately. I did not meet someone named Jose in Nagano last weekend. I just needed a catchy title (achieved). Last weekend, I went to Nagano with a bunch of other foreigners (105 to be exact). It was a gaijin-explosion! We rented out an entire hotel and went skiing at the Hakuba47 Resort. 

 The morning of the trip, it snowed in Kiyosato. I didn't have to work because it was the anniversary of my Junior High. So I spent the day lazing about and watching the Jazz game. They lost, and I was super mad. 

 This is the view outside our hotel, the Lady Diana and St. George. 

 The Lady Diana, or as I called it, the Dirty Diana (like the song, clever right?).

 The St. George. Not as nice, in actuality it was the dirtier of the two. Our accommodations were super Japanese. I slept on a futon on the floor with 7 other guys. It made for a terrible night of sleep.

 Up on the mountain. You can see me rocking the super sweet SUU sweater. What is crazy about this picture is that it was taken in a place with no daylight. We figure the pure power of my spirit is what is shining behind me. Also in the picture is Matt, Matt, and James (in the hat). 

The resort was really neat. There was a storm hitting the mountain when we got there, but we took a chairlift and actually got far above it and could look down at the roof. It was pretty neat. 

 Getting ready to go down. I ended up skiing most of the day with no hat or goggles. I am sure that it was quite a sight for all the Japanese people to see a white bald guy tearing it up out there. I didn't feel dressed right for skiing, but it worked. 

 Another picture, but we swapped out James for Lana. We took this picture here because there was a recycled steel statue of Alien and Predator strung with lights. Makes total sense right? It does if you live in Japan... 

 My attractive face. You see at the buckle on my shoulder a pocket for a cell phone. I had used this to put my ski pass in. The ski pass is a little electronic chip that you scan at every lift entrance. This was the most sensible place to put mine. The only problem is that the scanners were about 4.5 feel high. Every time I got on a lift, I had to stoop down and rub my chest on it until it let me through. It looked a lot like I was trying to chest-bump a little person every time I got on the lift. 

 This was chilling back at the hotel. We visited the onsen after a long day of skiing. My feet had become numb and bruised by the boots which were too small. Most unfortunate. An onsen is like a Roman bath (I think). It is like a hot tub, but only dudes...and you are naked. You also wash and shower totally before getting in. It was an experience to say the least, but after a day of skiing, any hot water is welcome. 

 This is a picture of me on Sunday watching the Jazz game on my phone. I am fairly to extraordinarily intense during games...

A tour around the Lady Diana.

 The night after skiing, we had a big dinner arranged by the hotel. Hamburger steak, Some kind of fish, some kind of roast, salad stuff and some potato wedges. Food of kings I say. 

 Ah yes...then the drinking. Apparently the allure of this weekend is not actually the skiing, but the crazy party that goes on afterwards. Here you can see they are starting with a drinking game. 

 Chatting and having a good time.

 The guy in the green shirt is Fred. Fred is in charge of the trip and has been the resident expert on all things in Yamanashi for many years. 

Also, people wore cute pajamas. This is Nick. He is Canadian, so we will let it slide.  

 The annual ski trip boat race. A boat race is a drinking contest where you race to finish your beers one at a time moving down the line before the other team. Every year it is a contest between America and the rest of the world. Every year (nearly) America loses. 

 Getting ready, the Americans are on the far side. Not being a drinker, but being a proud citizen of the USA, I was looking forward to a good American showing. 

 Conor is the captain of the American team, and he is wearing a super awesome shirt. It features Lex Luger, a famous professional wrestler from the late 90's. 

 It ended up being a very close race, with 3 lead changes, but the Americans won by a half a beer. It is the first time in 5 years that the Americans have even come close (yay for us?).

After the win, there was much rejoicing and rage. You would have thought we just won the SuperBowl. 

Oh beautiful for spacious skies,
for amber waves of grain

we beat another ther countries best

at intoxicating our brains!

America, America thy patriots we'll be,

No drinking game, can we not tame.

Go go gadget land of the free...

Overall, I didn't fall down once, and I have nearly regained full motion in my legs. Fun times to be had, and despite 6 years away from skiing, the kid has still got it!

Stark White and Startling

I know this may come as a shock to most of you, but I am white. Like really white. I am also pretty bald, which makes the whiteness (or redness depending on the season) of my head stand out. I am also what I would consider average height (although I have no basis for comparison). I had a realization today that was both startling and stunning (useless parenthetical comment). 

As I finished school lunch today, I stood up and walked the length of the lunchroom to return the little card with my name on it to the lady who takes the little cards with your name on it. As a side note, my name is in Japanese, and it is followed by the Kanji for sensei. I am sure that one of the things I will miss most about Japan is being called Jeff-sensei. What was I saying? Oh yeah. So I walked the length of the lunchroom and had my startling realization. I am the only whitest, tallest and baldest person in the room. I double-checked by standing tall and walking past some of the taller people and in fact, I am the tallest person. No where besides Japan have I had that distinction. I also realized how little I take into account race...or so I thought.

After work, I stopped by my local grocery store to procure food and sundries for the preparation of meals. As I was there in between the kimchi and bread I came across a stunning realization. I walked by a mirror that was on a pillar in the middle of the store and saw my reflection as I passed (now you know why it was stunning). I kind of jumped a little at seeing such a tall white person in the store. It totally caught me off guard. After realizing it was me and doing a few curls with my shopping basket, it occurred to me that I don't see myself as looking any different than the other people in the store. After all, I can't see myself when I walk, so in my mind, I feel like I fit right in. Then I see a mirror and realize I don't.