How to Make Friends in Hakuba
Trip Start
Nov 10, 2009
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63
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Trip End
May 07, 2010
Hakuba, Nagano, Japan
Sunday, March 21, 2010
fruit, we follow up with a waffle topped with crispy bacon and maple syrup, then wash it down with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. Then a sausage, sauteed mushrooms, toast and roasted tomatoes. And finished with a chocolate-chip muffin. And a Danish pastry. In fact, we've eaten so much on this trip we're considering jacking it all in and becoming Sumo wrestlers. Since arriving in Japan, we've followed the sport closely on TV and think we may have a fighting chance of becoming the No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. The technique is simple: grab, lift, fall. Apart from the pants, it's easy. We just need to gain a few more pounds. An extra spoonful of Bircher muesli and a pain au chocolat ought to do it. But while we work at expanding our waistlines even further, we need to look elsewhere to exert our athletic credentials, and what better than skiing? Lucky for us, we just caught the end of the skiing season, and after some advice from a skier we met in Korea we settled on 1998 Olympic town of Hakuba.
For those of you who don't know, Per and I are both expert skiers. Semi-professional, you might say. The fact that I fell on my head last year and ended up unable to move for three days tells nothing of my downhill skills. And don't let the fact that I stick to the nursery slopes fool you. I'm keeping a protective eye over the toddlers who haven't mastered the sport like I have.
Our train journey from Kyoto was more complex than we had envisaged. What we thought ould be a relatively straightforward trip turned into a 8-hour slog where we changed three or four times. We eventually pulled into Hakuba in blizzard conditions in the dead of night. Okay, it was 8pm, but it was very dark. And with Per's blackberry playing up, we waited another hour to be picked up by our hostel's host.
Due to our AWOL text messages and what he claimed was a booking error on our part (which it wasn't) our Australian host did not seem overly enamoured of us. I know what you're thinking: how could anyone not be enamoured of us? I assure you it came as much as a shock to us. During our travels, especially in Japan, we've become used to everyone being very enamoured of us with very little reason. In fact, its hard to recall anyone who wasn't distinctly charmed by our blank stares and poor linguistic skills. Thus, for the first time in our travels, a rather chilly atmosphere pervaded our stay. Unfriendly you might say. This atmosphere was not improved by the few other guests who apparently took their snowboarding so seriously they didn't want to waste any energy in making friendly conversation when it could be used at a later date to perform a perfect 360 wassit.
But not letting the sad sacks spoil our fun, we set out for the sunny slopes with a skip in our step and a song in our hearts. And the recent snowfall made for a fun, albeit rather slushy, day. With a midday stop for curried noodles and me managing not to fall on my head, we could hardly have hoped for better. But due to the inaccessible nature of the easier runs and the repeated failure of our charm offensive, we decided to leave after two nights. Next time we'll remember to stay somewhere run by the Japanese...
Comments
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Its those damned Aussies I tell you, can't trust em!