Amateur went skiing in Japan
Skiing in the land of the
rising sun 
Written on 6 January 1998
Let me share my first skiing experience in Japan with you.
On 13 & 14 December 1997, together with my Japanese friend, Atsuko Nishizawa, we went to Sinshyu Yunomaru which is near Nagano where the Winter Olympic 1998 held. We checked in the ski school cum inn and restaurant. We shared a room with another two girls from Nagoya.
It was still in the early winter and there is not enough snow at the slope for advance skiers. I was lucky that they have enough snow at the beginner slope. I enrolled for the beginner skiing lesson. I started the lesson by wearing the ski boots and they were so heavy and I could not walk well with it. I felt so clumsy and walked like a robot. The ski board also heavy and we have to carry them on shoulder from the inn to the ski ground. My instructors were Ms.Yoko Fukai and Mr. Satake. My instructors don't understand and speak English. I was the first foreign student the ski school ever had. In fact I was the only foreigner in the whole ski resort. The class was conducted in Japanese. I have to use my "intelligent" and also catch key(main) words to understand the instructions. We learned how to remove snow from the snow boot, wear ski board, to ski forward and stop, and to walk sideway like crab up the slope. I don’t know if I am stupid and clumsy or because I don’t understand the instructions, I kept falling and couldn’t do things right. I couldn’t get up by myself and Mr. Satake have to pull me up several times. Once I didn’t fell the right way and sprained my left knee. Luckily, just a minor one and hurt a little only. The class ended 4pm. We carried our ski equipment back to the inn.
The next day I learned how to turn left and right. Then we ride on the lift(cable car/chair) up the hill and ski down phase by phase. Again I lost my balance several times and fell. I sprained my left knee again and this time it hurt more. I told my instructors that I need a longer rest so I stop lesson at around 11am and stayed at the cafeteria until lunch time. I continued the lesson at 2pm. This time I can ski better and know how to control left and right. But I am only good at slow speed. I fell again when the speed is fast. Mr. Satake have to catch to stop me from going down too fast and from falling and I HUG him to keep from falling(he is handsome so I took the opportunity ha...ha...). I decided to stop the lesson half an hour earlier because my knee felt pain from too much strain and pressure. I don’t want to risk to sprain my leg for the third time which I worry might be bad one. I stayed at the cafeteria until the closing ceremony of all lessons starts. Then we went back to the inn to return my ski suit and equipments. My Japanese friend gave me the Japanese plasters to put on my knee to remove the pain.
The next day, I woke up and found that my knee is better but my shoulder ached from carrying the heavy ski boards. So put the Japanese plaster came handy again and I put it on my shoulder too.
That was my painful but interesting skiing experience.