Lately I've been feeling very on edge. It is already the 23rd of February. My current contract ends on the 28th of March. I still have not heard from Altia whether or not I will be offered another contract. Also, Dede has heard nothing. The company recruiting website was updated on the 21st saying that they still need to find 10-12 new recruits for this year. One good thing is that there are not any free positions in Nagano, which makes it seem like I will be getting this contract again.
The problem is that I would rather a position closer to Dede; living on my own just sucks. But the main problem is that in the event that I don't get this contract again, I will be out of a job and a home here. What to do, what to do? All the jobs in other companies are getting snapped up quickly! It takes a long time, and is expensive to go to other places from here in Kiso.
Ah well, things will work out. In other news, I went to Hakuba again last weekend.
About to use my new snowboard for the first time; it was amazing! I just got it waxed, which took a little getting used to, but required if I want it to last a long time. It really helped having my own snowboard, and I improved a lot over the weekend.
Dede and his snowboard, which he acquired free from a friend!
It was a busy day that Saturday, over 3000 visitors apparently! We definitely noticed the difference. It was the first time we had to line up quite far from the gondola lift, and at lunch time the restaurant was packed! We had to wait for quite a while and were very lucky to get a table. That day, Dede took me down the snow park, with jumps and stuff. It's possible to avoid the jumps, which I did, because at that time I still couldn't turn from heel to toe edge. But it was a little difficult, everything was so white I nearly accidently went over a jump! Nothing would've happened though, I wasn't going fast enough. Either way, I didn't like it because I am always too worried about being in other people's way.
On Saturday night, we went out to dinner with Dede's friends from work; Gaku, Yoshi and Kashiwagi. They are all really nice. Gaku knows English quite well and Dede is helping him everyday, but he knows that I want to get better at Japanese so he speaks Japanese to me. I really appreciate it. We all went out to a restaurant in Happo called 'GU', a steak house...but still not steak like home. I was still full from lunch so I had a salad! Afterwards we went to the Happo One Fireworks Festival, at Happo One, obviously (site of the 1998 Nagano Olympics). There were skiing and snowboarding displays. At the end, there were snowboarders and skiers going over a massive jump. It was amazing! I don't think I will ever do big jumps like that, but it was great to see. There was even a skier going backwards in the run-up, and doing an amazing flip. Great night!
When the fireworks were over (and they were some of the best I have ever seen!), we found Julia and Koji, and went to the Beach Bar. Dede loves this place but I don't really. A lot of people he knows gathered there, and we ended up being there until about 12.30am. He enjoyed himself which was really good.
The next day, Sunday, I woke up the the most pain I have ever felt. My entire body just hurt. It was a mixture of muscle, bone and bruising. I felt sure that I wouldn't board again, even though I wanted to so badly. After breakfast, Dede gave my legs and arms a massage. He said he would 'do it until it doesn't hurt anymore'. I told him that was impossible, but try if you like! I can't usually get a massage from him that easily! It helped a little, but it still hurt to do a lot of normal things. However, the day was beautiful and clear, that I couldn't waste it. I decided we would go, and I am so glad I did. It wasn't as busy as the previous day, but since there hadn't been a lot of snow fall, the snow was hard, which meant that when I fell, it hurt more than ever. And did I fall! I wiped out a lot. The reason is that when you are learning to turn from heel to toe, your speed automatically rises quickly, otherwise you fall. But if you still haven't got the correct balance, you fall, and at that faster rate. I don't know how many times my legs went over my head! The same thing happened on Saturday, but everytime Dede was looking the wrong way. Today, he finally saw how I was falling. Despite it hurting a lot, I enjoyed it. However there was one point when I fell on my bum extremely hard that it gave me a headache, and I had to lay down in the middle of the mountain for a few minutes. But everytime I stood up again, I felt good that I kept going.
We met up with a few Australians (I think) that had been at Dede's birthday. It was only the second day snowboarding for one of the guys, and already he had far surpassed me. I thought I was doing extremely well, but that just was not fair! He beat me down the run to Dede's lift! After that it was getting late, so Dede decided to go down his lift once more to talk to Gaku about giving us a lift to the station, and then he would go down the mountain. So I had a head start down to the bottom! I really didn't believe I could beat Dede, but I tried my best. On my own, I learn a lot faster. I'm not constantly looking at Dede to ask if I'm doing things right, or to see if he saw me fall. It's just all me. About a quarter of the way down, I finally got the hang of heel to toe. Previously I could do a maximum of four turns, and then would fall. But on my own, I was going so fast and turning so smoothly it was amazing!
Then, on the final turn, the final 100 meters or so, Dede and the two guys from earlier caught up to me. I had nearly done it! It was good though, because Dede got to see just how good I had gotten. Unfortunately he got no videos or photos of this. I did beat the guy on his second day though :) Saw him wipe out hahahaa~~
Where I still wasn't quite good yet :)
View of the run down to Dede's lift. It's a great run for beginner's. The first part is so flat that you nearly don't move, then it gradually gets steeper. It's good to practice heel-toe-heel-toe, and then the last part is fun enough for people more advanced.
On Tuesday night I went to Masa's party at Chikara, and I met a nice Japanese girl there. We spoke only in Japanese, because she doesn't know English. We had a great conversation, so I got her email address so maybe we'll catch up soon! I need more people that don't know English so I'm forced to speak Japanese. It was great!
The problem is that I would rather a position closer to Dede; living on my own just sucks. But the main problem is that in the event that I don't get this contract again, I will be out of a job and a home here. What to do, what to do? All the jobs in other companies are getting snapped up quickly! It takes a long time, and is expensive to go to other places from here in Kiso.
Ah well, things will work out. In other news, I went to Hakuba again last weekend.
About to use my new snowboard for the first time; it was amazing! I just got it waxed, which took a little getting used to, but required if I want it to last a long time. It really helped having my own snowboard, and I improved a lot over the weekend.
Dede and his snowboard, which he acquired free from a friend!
It was a busy day that Saturday, over 3000 visitors apparently! We definitely noticed the difference. It was the first time we had to line up quite far from the gondola lift, and at lunch time the restaurant was packed! We had to wait for quite a while and were very lucky to get a table. That day, Dede took me down the snow park, with jumps and stuff. It's possible to avoid the jumps, which I did, because at that time I still couldn't turn from heel to toe edge. But it was a little difficult, everything was so white I nearly accidently went over a jump! Nothing would've happened though, I wasn't going fast enough. Either way, I didn't like it because I am always too worried about being in other people's way.
On Saturday night, we went out to dinner with Dede's friends from work; Gaku, Yoshi and Kashiwagi. They are all really nice. Gaku knows English quite well and Dede is helping him everyday, but he knows that I want to get better at Japanese so he speaks Japanese to me. I really appreciate it. We all went out to a restaurant in Happo called 'GU', a steak house...but still not steak like home. I was still full from lunch so I had a salad! Afterwards we went to the Happo One Fireworks Festival, at Happo One, obviously (site of the 1998 Nagano Olympics). There were skiing and snowboarding displays. At the end, there were snowboarders and skiers going over a massive jump. It was amazing! I don't think I will ever do big jumps like that, but it was great to see. There was even a skier going backwards in the run-up, and doing an amazing flip. Great night!
When the fireworks were over (and they were some of the best I have ever seen!), we found Julia and Koji, and went to the Beach Bar. Dede loves this place but I don't really. A lot of people he knows gathered there, and we ended up being there until about 12.30am. He enjoyed himself which was really good.
The next day, Sunday, I woke up the the most pain I have ever felt. My entire body just hurt. It was a mixture of muscle, bone and bruising. I felt sure that I wouldn't board again, even though I wanted to so badly. After breakfast, Dede gave my legs and arms a massage. He said he would 'do it until it doesn't hurt anymore'. I told him that was impossible, but try if you like! I can't usually get a massage from him that easily! It helped a little, but it still hurt to do a lot of normal things. However, the day was beautiful and clear, that I couldn't waste it. I decided we would go, and I am so glad I did. It wasn't as busy as the previous day, but since there hadn't been a lot of snow fall, the snow was hard, which meant that when I fell, it hurt more than ever. And did I fall! I wiped out a lot. The reason is that when you are learning to turn from heel to toe, your speed automatically rises quickly, otherwise you fall. But if you still haven't got the correct balance, you fall, and at that faster rate. I don't know how many times my legs went over my head! The same thing happened on Saturday, but everytime Dede was looking the wrong way. Today, he finally saw how I was falling. Despite it hurting a lot, I enjoyed it. However there was one point when I fell on my bum extremely hard that it gave me a headache, and I had to lay down in the middle of the mountain for a few minutes. But everytime I stood up again, I felt good that I kept going.
We met up with a few Australians (I think) that had been at Dede's birthday. It was only the second day snowboarding for one of the guys, and already he had far surpassed me. I thought I was doing extremely well, but that just was not fair! He beat me down the run to Dede's lift! After that it was getting late, so Dede decided to go down his lift once more to talk to Gaku about giving us a lift to the station, and then he would go down the mountain. So I had a head start down to the bottom! I really didn't believe I could beat Dede, but I tried my best. On my own, I learn a lot faster. I'm not constantly looking at Dede to ask if I'm doing things right, or to see if he saw me fall. It's just all me. About a quarter of the way down, I finally got the hang of heel to toe. Previously I could do a maximum of four turns, and then would fall. But on my own, I was going so fast and turning so smoothly it was amazing!
Then, on the final turn, the final 100 meters or so, Dede and the two guys from earlier caught up to me. I had nearly done it! It was good though, because Dede got to see just how good I had gotten. Unfortunately he got no videos or photos of this. I did beat the guy on his second day though :) Saw him wipe out hahahaa~~
Where I still wasn't quite good yet :)
View of the run down to Dede's lift. It's a great run for beginner's. The first part is so flat that you nearly don't move, then it gradually gets steeper. It's good to practice heel-toe-heel-toe, and then the last part is fun enough for people more advanced.
On Tuesday night I went to Masa's party at Chikara, and I met a nice Japanese girl there. We spoke only in Japanese, because she doesn't know English. We had a great conversation, so I got her email address so maybe we'll catch up soon! I need more people that don't know English so I'm forced to speak Japanese. It was great!
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