Skiing in Shiga Kogen

Last weekend we celebrated MLK weekend by taking our first ski trip since arriving back in Japan. We went to the Nagano area, which was the location of the 1998 winter Olympics. The resort we stayed at is called Shiga Kogen. It is a huge area with many, many ski runs. We left our house Friday night (Saturday morning) at 1am and joined the Kanto Ski Club on a bus. After driving all night we arrived at our hotel at 730am and checked into our room. It was a Japanese style hotel so our room was tatami mat with futons on the floor. There was a small bathroom with a toilet. There was not a shower or bathtub in the room but there was an onsen (Japanese hot bath) on the lobby floor. The view outside the window was beautiful. The hotel was in the heart of the Shiga Kogen area and we could walk to the ski lifts. After checking into our room we had breakfast in the hotel. The breakfast was great with a mix of western style (eggs, sausage, hash browns) and Japanese (miso soup, rice, smoked fish, seaweed, natto beans) so there was something for everyone. Our hotel was right on the mountain and we were able to take a short walk to the ski lifts. The mountain directly behind us had green (beginner) slopes so we went directly to it. This was Madeleine's first time to ski so Vanessa and I did our best to teach her how to snow plow. She did great. After spending all morning teaching Madeleine we were all exhausted so we went back to the hotel for lunch. We had ramen noodles which are great on a cold day! After lunch we went back out and explored the area around the hotel. We had a fun time playing in the snow. The weather was great the whole time we were there. Lots of snow on the ground and it snowed every day so we had lots of fresh powder. After a wonderful dinner, we slept well that night. The next day we headed back out after breakfast. Madeleine showed great improvement so we tackled another mountain. She was a little intimidated by some of the steep slopes but by the end of the day she was starting to turn pretty well and we all had fun. We did what we called "family ski time" where we held hands with Maddie in the middle and skied together. We had a few "family falls" but overall did some pretty good skiing. The last day, we stayed on the mountain behind our hotel. Madeleine was really skiing well at this point and was pretty much on her own. At the top of the lift, the run is fairly steep but Maddie decided she would go it alone. She headed down the hill and got going very fast. She ended up turning but was going so fast she got scared and couldn't slow down. She managed to turn uphill and head to a snow bank where she finally fell down. It freaked her out a little but I'm proud to say that she "got back on the horse" and it wasn't long before she was back in fine form. We went up and down that mountain more times that I can remember! In the afternoon we loaded up our gear, checked out of the hotel and got back on the bus. We returned home about 10pm. Upon reflection, Vanessa and I got our snow legs back after a ten year hiatus of skiing and Madeleine learned how to ski so it was a really great trip. We loved the snow and look forward to our next ski trip at the end of the month. Enjoy the pictures!

View from our hotel room.

A particularly "fun" wipeout.

Maddie throwing a snowball....

and the end result!

Snow bunnies!

Maddie found a deep snowdrift!

Maddie in action. 2014 Olympics????

Maddie is looking good on the slopes!

Happy New Year (of the Cow or Ox)

Happy 2009 Everyone!
I'm a little late in writing this but we hope everyone had a great New Year celebration. We went to a New Year's party at a friend's house off base. They recently moved into a Japanese style home right along the Sagamigawa river. It was a small gathering but very nice with lots of food and drink. We counted down the year and celebrated with a kiss at midnight. Maddie stayed up for the first time to celebrate with us! Then, we bundled up (it was very cold) and walked to a nearby shrine. It was a beautiful one on top of a little hill. We walked up the steps to the shrine and said a prayer for the coming year and rang a large bell. Then we were given some hot, sweet sake called amazake that is almost like a thin gruel. (That doesn't sound very appetizing but I don't know another way of describing it. It is a sweet drink and very good on a cold night!) We purchased a ceremonial arrow but I haven't researched what the significance is yet. We stayed at our friend's house that night. I woke up before sunrise and sat at the window. The sun came up and highlighted the nearby mountains. It was a beautiful way to start the year. The next weekend we went back to our friend's house to put our daruma in the fire. I'll explain. The Japanese have a red, paper mache figure that has large, empty spots for the eyes, called a Daruma. Every year, you make a wish, set a goal, etc. and color in one of the eyes. Then, during the year if your wish, goal, etc. comes true, you color in the other eye. During the new year time, they have these bon fires and you throw the Daruma into the fire. The whole process then starts again. We took our Daruma to one of these fires and Maddie threw it in. Our wish had been that our family stay healthy!

This fire had been much bigger when it was first started but we were a little late in getting there. The people gathered around were drinking sake and roasting mochi. (More on Mochi later in the blog.)

Later that day we went to Camp Zama where Madeleine and Vanessa participated in Kakizome. This is the tradition of writing calligraphy at the beginning of the year. Maddie had also done this when she first went back to school. The Japanese calligraphy teacher (sensei) was very impressed with Madeleine's skill, especially when she wrote the one she had memorized from school. They put it on a special kind of paper for her and Vanessa hung it in our house. In the picture above, Madeleine and Vanessa are writing the kanji for "lucky" and later wrote "power."

The next day we were in a nearby area called Machida. We like to go there for shopping, eating and walking around. We stumbled upon a crowd of people listening to drummers and making mochi. Mochi is basically steamed white rice that is pounded until it is a sticky consistancy. You can then add different ingredients to it for flavoring. It takes a lot of pounding using a large wooden mallet and wooden bowl. One person swings the mallet and the other reaches in and moves the rice around so that it all gets evenly pounded. It is quite dangerous for the one moving the rice! They saw Madeleine in the crowd and invited her up to take a few swings. She said the mallet was pretty heavy.

Afterwards, they gave us some of the finished product. Madeleine likes the plain mochi the best but Vanessa and I enjoyed it with the sweet red beans and salty soy flour. I guess that's it for now. Again, Happy New Year to all!

Happy Christmas Time

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  The picture above was taken just outside our front door on Christmas Eve.  It was amazing!  We heard some Christmas music down the street along with lots of flashing lights so we went out to investigate.  After a little while it made its way to our house and stopped.  It was a big beautiful fire truck!  A man came up to Madeleine and asked if she lived at a certain house.  It wasn't our number so she told him no.  Then we told him our house number and he checked a long list.  Then he looked up and smiled and said, "Is your name Madeleine?"  Madeleine's face lit up and she started laughing.  Then he told her to go to her house because Santa was on his way to meet her.  Sure enough, just a few minutes later Santa Claus came to the house bearing a gift.  Madeleine was excited (and a little stunned) and gave Santa a hug and bid him goodnight.  When she opened the gift a few minutes later she was surprised again because the package contained something she had really wanted.  Wow!

We had a quiet Christmas morning.  We enjoyed opening all of the gifts from family and friends.  Thanks everyone!  Later that day we had a Christmas dinner with some friendly neighbors.  They are from Texarkana and cooked up a truly wonderful spread.  It was just like home in Texas.  We ate way too much (just like in Texas) and waddled home late in the afternoon.  We had a really nice day spent with each other enjoying the spirit of the season.
On Saturday, Dec. 27th we headed out to Yokohama.  We were invited to that area to have dinner with some old friends, Morik and Miki and their daughter Rio.  Morik was a student of mine in 1994/5.  I looked them up when we got settled in only to find out they were preparing for a move from Tokyo to Abu Dhabi.  Anyway, we decided to go a few hours early and see the sites of the port town of Yokohama.  We first went to a park by the water.  It was a nice park with sculptures and water features.  We walked along the shoreline and then headed over to a place called CosmoWorld.
One of the attractions in CosmoWorld is a giant ferris wheel.   I believe it is about the size of The Eye in London.  We got on as the sun was beginning to set.
To our surprise, Mt. Fuji sneaked out from between the skyscrapers.
After having a good time at CosmoWorld, we headed back toward the train station.  We took the picture above of the ferris wheel in the background to show the beautiful lights.  They were constantly changing colors and patterns.  It was great because of the huge scale.  We snacked on some yummy sweet treats shaped like little teddy bears and continued to the station.
Vanessa and Madeleine under the arch of love.  We made our way to the station where we were meeting our friends.  From there we all walked over to China Town.  It is pretty similiar to the one in San Francisco.  Huge ornate gates at all of the entrances.  The area was very lively and full of lights and street hawkers.  Morik and Miki brought their two year old daughter, Rio.  She was very cute and outgoing.  It was our first time to meet her and soon became friends.  She was born in Rio de Janiero.  We walked to our restaurant which was a very large, beautiful building with lots of marble and ornate wooden carvings.  Morik had reserved a special room for us.  It was at the top of a gorgeous marble stairway.  We had a delicious multi-course meal (I lost count after 10) and a few chinese beers.  It was great visiting them  and they invited us to Abu Dhabi anytime during the four years they will be there.  We might just go!
A few days later we took the train to Odawara.  This city is on Sagami Bay and is famous for the Odawara Castle.  (From the brochure:  It was the stronghold of various daimyo during the Muromachi period of Japanese History. From 1495 onward, five generations of the Late Hojo clan held the castle.  Odawara Castle had very strong defenses, because it was situated on a hill, surrounded by moats with water on the low side, and dry ditches on the hill side, with banks, walls and cliffs located all around the castle, enabled defenders to repel attacks.)  

It is a very nice place to visit on a day trip.  We enjoyed the views from the upper floors.  We had a picnic on the grounds.  They also have some animals on the grounds.  Maddie really liked the Japanese Macaque monkeys (also called snow monkeys.)  These are the same type that like to sit in the hot springs during winter.  Here is a link for more info or simply Google them:  http://www.jigokudani-yaenkoen.co.jp/frameset.html  Click on the word LIVECAM and you may catch them in action.

She also liked the Indian elephant.  She was about 65 years old and was very friendly.  She would come out of her little house and lift one of her front legs for the crowd.  Later, we got to see them feed her.  She like cabbage the best.  Maddie really enjoyed spending time with her.
From the castle, we watched the sun set behind the mountains and then made our way back home.  Another fine day in Japan.