I am currently nursing a very sore backside after my very first snow trip here in Japan. The PE teachers asked me last minute if I’d like to join the school’s ski excursion for the weekend. At the price they were offering, which included accommodation, transport, 2-day lift pass and all rental gear, I couldn’t refuse! So, I apologized and rescheduled all my other social appointments, and joined the many excited students on the bus to Daisen.
Daisen is a large mountain in Okayama’s neighbouring prefecture, Tottori. As we journeyed toward Daisen, the scenery suddenly changed from an ordinary landscape to blankets of snow. It was as if we were transported into another world! Coming from Adelaide, where there are no snowfalls, it was quite a sight to behold. Seeing white flakes falling from the sky and seeing rice fields covered in snow, untouched by any animal or human - it was almost too perfect!
Snowboarding is a rather difficult sport I have discovered. I never thought it would be simple. In fact, I felt more nervous about standing and riding down the snowy slope than when I do a back saulto on beam! To make things more difficult, my (very short) snowboarding lesson was given in Japanese. So, when asking ‘how do I stop?’ I was told just fall back. It’s no wonder my backside hurts so much now!
I do feel that I spent more time falling over than I did actually riding down the slopes. While I am sure the students were having a good laugh at me, it was beginning to become extremely frustrating. Fortunately, by the end of the weekend, I was beginning to get the hang of things. Given, my technique is atrocious, but at least I was actually able to ride down the slope without falling over every few metres!
One of the scariest parts of snowboarding this weekend was when the fog came in. When reaching the top of the lifts, you could not see past 10 metres in front of you. The heavy snowfall and fog made it impossible to see the bottom or anyone else who may have fallen over in front of you! It was quite the challenge for a beginner, like myself, to navigate my way to the bottom.
Nevertheless, I can conclude that I will never be a professional snow sport athlete. I think I’d prefer the 10cm plank of wood to a snowboard and sore backside. My body is aching still – and squat toilets certainly don’t help in this situation! I think a session on the foam roller may be required!!
On a more cultural experience, this week was also Setsubun festival. Setsubun is held on February 3rd of each year and it signals the end of Winter and the start of Spring (although this is per the old moon calendar and is definitely not the case right now!). As the season changes, many Japanese people have a tradition for throwing beans at their front entrance to rid the demons (called oni in Japanese) of their house. As they throw the beans, they shout ‘oni wa soto; fuku wa uchi!’, which translates to ‘get out demons, come in happiness!’
After throwing the beans, the members of the household then pick up the number of beans corresponding to their age and eat them. This is an assurance of good fortune for the coming year.
As a part of Setsubun, many families also eat Maki sushi while facing a ‘lucky direction’. The roll is eaten without saying a word. If successful, it is said to bring good fortune in business, health and longevity – however, this was when the roll was 20cm in length!
I was fortunate enough to experience this tradition with my own JTE and her family. It was quite amusing watching her young son throw beans excitedly around the entrance, and then hurriedly pick them up and eat them!
I feel I am so lucky to experience these cultural aspects first-hand. I am excited to one-day share this new knowledge with future classes in Australia. Right now though, I hope my readers enjoy these great moments as much as I do.
