*I’m going to try something with these blog posts where I list the days of the trip that are covered by each entry. I don’t know exactly when I’ll be heading home yet (likely early May, to be ready for graduation on the 22nd), but for right now I’m using May 1 as a placeholder. That means I have roughly 115 days in total here in Japan.

Days 4-8, January 10-14th

Man what a corny title on this one, huh?

Picking up where I left off after my last post, I spent my first 3 nights here in Japan in a hostel. I had the chance to get somewhat settled, explore my campus and attend day one of orientation, where I met some of my professors (a mix between Americans that are here temporarily, and Japanese professors who speak English), as well as a good majority of my classmates, of which there are about 45. Day two of orientation consisted of god knows what, because I was already back on a plane.

I knew coming into this trip that snowboarding would be a priority, but didn’t think it would happen on my very first weekend. I was incredibly fortunate to be set up with some mutual friends (thank you Margo!!!) who happened to be skiing here for a few weeks in early January, so I flew about an hour and a half from Tokyo up to Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido. I had that flight booked before I left home, but neglected planning any further than getting from Tokyo to Sapporo, the largest city on Hokkaido. From Sapporo, I needed to make my way a few hours west to the Niseko area, one of the most popular ski resorts in the country, where I would be spending the weekend.

One thing that has become immediately apparent here in Japan is that you need to book things in advance. My flight arrived fairly painlessly in Sapporo on Friday the 10th, but my cortisol level began to rise once I approached, and was turned away from, a half dozen of the various bus companies that run would-be skiers from the Sapporo airport to whatever ski resorts they’re headed to. I was dangerously close to accepting the reality that I might be spending the night in Sapporo and heading to Niseko on the following day (which admittedly wouldn’t be the worst thing ever – Sapporo is known for their beer), when I finally found a company that had a seat left on a bus headed for Niseko that afternoon. All in all, it worked out, but it felt a little last-chopper-out-of-Saigon-y at the time.

After a beautiful 2-hour bus ride, I found myself in the main resort area of Niseko, but then still had to wait for another bus to get me closer to the hotel that I had booked. Not to worry, I had time to grab a coffee and catch my breath while taking in the scenes.

After about 8 or 9 total hours of travel, I finally made it to my hotel, Lodge Moiwa 834. It was a really good bargain, and honestly felt closer to a high-end hostel, which I didn’t mind. For about $40/night, I got myself a “pod” in a shared room where everyone else had the same set up.

The hotel had a restaurant on the first floor that provided free breakfast and affordable food for dinner in the evenings after a long day in the snow.

The snowboarding itself was truly incredible. I was able to get a 3 day lift ticket and 3 day board, boot, and helmet rental for a total of about $240. I’m not even sure you can do a single day in the Pocono’s for that cheap these days. Niseko consists of 4 different “resorts” which are essentially just different sides of the same mountain, and the all-mountain pass that I bought gave me access to the lifts at all 4 resorts, which you can ski between by taking connecting trails from one resort to another.

For the 3 days I was there to snowboard, there was no fresh snowfall. It’s funny, because to me, it was still some of the best snow I’ve ever ridden, and there was deep powder to be found if properly sought out. Fortunately, the group of mutual friends that I met up with had been on the mountain for several days, so they served as fantastic guides. Sometimes it’s really nice to just let someone else run point and follow them – as long as you can keep up.

On the final full day of snowboarding, the Eagles played their first-round playoff game against Green Bay. I got a bit of a later start that day, but rounded out the weekend with some really fun laps and said my goodbyes to the crew I was riding with for the weekend.

Tuesday the 14th rolled around and I begrudgingly packed up and made my way back to Sapporo to fly home to Tokyo in order to make my first Tuesday night class. Was up by 5am in order to catch my flight, and ended the day by grabbing drinks with a friend from college who happened to be passing through Tokyo. Some days here are longer than others, but sleep can wait when there are only 115 of them.