Ok so nothing super new going on. Went snowboarding last week, busted my ass a few times. Discovered an awesome new hangout, and found out about a new roommate.
So snowboarding...Last Tuesday I went snowboarding in Shiga with three new Australian friends. All are NOVA teachers and pretty awesome cats. As many of you know, I seldom wake up before noon. We had to meet at Nippombashi station in Osaka at 7AM, thus I decided to just stay up all night before for fear that I would oversleep. Despite the insane lack of sleep, I held my own pretty well. So we all met and took a 45-minute train ride to Kyoto. Didn't see that much of the city at all, but from what I did see, it's an absolutely gorgeous city! It's quite large but has a completely different feel than Osaka, much more traditional.
So we met up in Kyoto with our snowboarding guide; his name is Axl. His real name is something Japanese but goes by Axl and he was rad. He spoke excellent English and joked around the whole time. He runs this mini-snowboarding company on his own. So we met up, got our gear (including snowpants, jackets, boots, boards, goggles, gloves, belts, and even sunscreen), and headed to Shiga in his blue van, about an hourlong ride. We got to Biwako Valley around noon and suited up.
Now this "resort" was nothing like ski resorts back home in Colorado. It was kinda rundown, nothing fancy. We had to take a gondola ride up to the actual mountain and Axl paid for this too (1300 yen = $12). So my new Aussie friend, Dickie, and I rode up together. Yup, I have befriended a guy who goes by "Dickie". His first name is Jon...why he goes by Dickie I have no idea. The gondola ride was breathtaking. See, right next to the mountain is the biggest lake in Japan, that day it almost looked tropical.
Now for not having snowboarded since I was 16 I'd say I held my own pretty well. I fell a lot and bruised up my knees pretty bad and flipped completely over once, but there were a few times that I went down the slope without ever falling! There was very little snow, they had to make it all and it was a bit slushy and hard as hell. But I still had a blast! My other Aussie friends Bec and Dave have some pictures they took, so soon I'll have those up. All in all, the trip cost only about 6000 yen ($55). Crazy! I can definately see myself snowboarding next winter here and picking it up back home as a hobby.
So lately I've been hanging out with my new Aussie friends and a few others. I really needed to make friends, so the timing on this was perfect. We've been out a few times to the 280 bars. Check this out...everything in the bar is 280 yen. It sits like a restaurant. They have food like chicken nuggets, beef skewers, and fries. But they also have fried chicken skin on a skewer, deep fried chicken cartilage, barbecued chicken heart, and heaps of other weird shit. They also have beer, er...beer-flavored alcohol. Not exactly sure what it is really. But it's not beer and the hangovers are a bit worse with this beverage. But you can get a huge mug of it for 280 yen! So yeah, these places are amazing. I'm wondering if back home you could open up a place like this. Put one up in a college town and you'd make tons of money. Hey Dad, look into this idea.
So also getting a new roommate on the 27th of this month. She's from Germany and her name is Bianca; that's all I know. Our Australian Muslim roommate is leaving mid-March and not a day later! I've really grown to despise this girl. A) she gets uncomfortable when we have guys over, B) she is insanely condescending. I cannot stand being treated like a moron, especially from some 21 year-old. C) she sings to all the songs in Moulin Rouge! Not kidding, I made the mistake of watching this movie with her last week. I love this film, but I had to leave the room after about 15 minutes. She fucking SINGS to every song! And not just a quiet hum, but SING! As if this wasn't enough, she proceeded to speak along with the actors, even when there was no damn song! I so badly wanted to turn to her and say, "Wow, Aicha. You have a gorgeous voice! Okay. I said it, can you shut the fuck up now?" I know this seems so trivial and nit-picky, but it has really started to grate on me. It has really made me appreciate my other roommate, Rebecca (the girl who came to Japan the same day as I). She and I get along pretty well. Hopefully our next roommate is a bit better than Aicha.
Sorry had to vent on that last one.
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