Hakuba was very nice small village, a relaxed place without powder stress. I really liked it.
And our lodge. The atmosphere was great! With all that crowd in the kitchen on powder-mornings trying to make breakfast at the same time, that noise in the evenings (Aussies yelling, kids screaming, guys talking), the smoky smell from fireplaces, the owner judging our food and cooking (“you can NOT eat pasta with ketcup AGAIN?!), and then finally shaking his head and adding spices to our food. I’d recommend lodge life to everyone who likes to meet like-minded people to ski with. And you won’t only find skiing companion, because if you’ll stay for longer time, those people around become friends, good friends. You ski with them, you cook with them, and you chat with them about all the things in the world. You can build a quarterpipe or an igloo on the backyard, go out with them or have a Top Gun-night when it’s raining. The kids Hannah, Tyler and Maya would give you free hugs and play games with you whenever you want, and especially whenever you don’t want. I got many new friends during these two months at the lodge.
Living in the lodge also helped to get the latest info about snow conditions in the valley. Every night there were discussions about where your group was today, how were the conditions and what they think about the snowpack stability. It’s priceless information, since there are really no official snow reports, at least not in English. Every morning there also were some computers open and people updating the weather pages constantly. If you have no idea about where to go, what to do, sitting in the breakfast table for half an hour will probably give you an idea.
My first impression about everything in Japan being really small stayed. By everything I mean cars, busses, seats in the busses, roads, clothes, doors, tables, gondolas – I could continue the list quite long. It’s understandable because the people here are small too. But what I don’t get is why sushi rolls then are so big that I just can’t fit one in my mouth. And it looks like you really are supposed to eat them as one piece. I just couldn’t! Another funny thing is that it seems the people really try to avoid riding chair lifts with strangers, even when there is a huge line. I thought Finns were supposed to be the not-so-social ones. And the heating issue…apparently Japanese have not quite figured out how to heat their houses, or how to build a house where the heat stays in. Maybe they never really had to because they didn’t really have -40 C winter days either. But enough of complaining, there are many things in Japan that I like, too!
Everybody was so friendly and polite. These people really know what excellent customer service is and they have taken hospitality to completely different level than Europe. We would have a lot to learn from Japanese. I learned to use a Japanese bath, onsen, and I love to soak in those warm baths. It’s almost as good as sauna! I tasted squid. I got used to the taste of seaweed and miso soup, even though they’re still not on the top 10 of my favourites. I got to eat nabe, okonomiyaki and Genghis khan, and those were the best dinners I’ve had in Japan. And warm sake, that’s good! I also learned three words Japanese (yes, two months studying hard=) “arigato”, “konichiwa” and the best of them: “HAI!!”
I’m happy for choosing Japan this season. It was really an experience after all. Even though the last two weeks were not the best ski days, but it can’t always be just epic pow, or if you know the place please tell me. Still I had some dream runs and really fun days during the last two weeks. And the beginning was quite perfect powder days! I also liked the country and those people I met. But I was also happy that I didn't stay any longer because of warm weather and bad snow conditions, so I won't give now any promises about going back there...maybe, some day, maybe =)
Cheers mate! <3
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