I Skied Down a Mountain with "Big" in its Name.

I skiied (skied?) for the first time last weekend. It was scary as hell and amazing at the same time. I started off with a face plant, ass in the air move on the way to the slopes. Who would have guessed how hard it is to walk up a slight incline on skis? Surely, not I. Eventually I clipped out and carried the skis the rest of the way to the lift - a workout in itself. I was feeling kind of gimpy and weak by the time I reached the lift.... omg the lift. Though the lift up was nowhere near as terrifying as the lift down... anyway. Back to the story. So up we went, skis in hand and pee running down my leg (joke). James, Hessen's bf, volunteered to show me some moves, or rather, how to move in general. After demonstrating my most obnoxious damsel in distress, "James, I'm scared!!!" he told me to suck it up and get on the hill. So eventually I adjusted to the slight feeling of terror that struck me while gliding sideways down the mini hill. Julie said I was ready for the big hill. Up another scary lift. This one was a bit trickier, because I was wearing my skis, and we had to do a graceful slide off the seat transition into skiing. This time I decided to try a tailbone-centered landing, complete with an urgent rescue from one of the ski lift guys who was afraid I would get skiied into as I lay stunned on the snow/ice. Ugh. I fought some more to waddle up to the summit of the slope, and I peered over the edge. Holy shit. This was not a bunny hill. What a cruel cruel joke. But I knew I had to get down somehow, and Julie looked genki and encouraging, so down we went. Most of the trip down was me screaming "Oh my god!" and Julie yelling after me, "Pizza!! Keeley, bigger pizza!" I guess they call snow plow "pizza" in England. It would have made me hungry if I hadn't thought I was going to die just then. Anyway I made it down the hill by some miracle of God, though unsuccessful at the left turn Julie wanted me to complete. How was I supposed to turn left when I was flying at the speed of light? Really, an impossibility of physics if you ask me.

This called for a ramen break. It ended up being a 2.5 hour ramen break, but seriously, I needed it. And the ramen was pretty good. Finally, I headed back out to the slopes by myself, but this time went in search of the actual bunny slope, instead of the one they call a bunny slope so your friends can scare the shit out of you on the way down. At any rate, I found the area most crowded with 7-year-olds, and started to go. And then I was skiing. I tucked my poles under my arms and straightened out my skis. I was flying! Of course then I got a little scared so I pizza-ed again... and I turned! So I went back and forth for a bit, gliding cockily by the toddlers... psh, rookies. It was excellent. Kind of similar to ice skating, which is my favorite thing in the world, for those of you who don't know. I hiked back up the hill in my boots and did it again. It was even better the second time. I had discovered the joy of skiing. I quit there.

The rest of the weekend was just partying and eating. I got to see Angie, caused a ruckus at an onsen, ate many fried things on sticks, and best of all - skied!!!!

Side note: I think my tailbone-landing maneuver may have been less graceful than I thought. Tonight during yoga I tried boat pose and nearly hit the ceiling. Itai!

Boulders and Water

I've found my favorite place in Kure. When I first got here, I heard about some place called Nikko Gorge but never felt any sort of inkling to go. But since Hessen's bf, James, has been here, he's been exploring all of the hidden treasures this hole has to offer, and he happened upon Nikko. So last weekend, he suggested a hike out to the gorge. Last Sunday, after a delightful breakfast of tofu donuts and instant coffee, a group of us headed out for a hike.


Despite the chilly air, the weather was perfect- sunny with a sprinkling of clouds, and not too much wind. We ended up spending about 3 or 4 hours wandering the trails through bamboo groves, past shrines, over bridges and into unknown crevices. The boulders, as you can only sort of see in the picture above, were amazing. Huge and crushing, worn smooth by water that must have risen and fallen a million times before we saw them. There were small pools of blue-green water for a summer dip, little plateaus for picnics, and so much green! I'm always really happy to find places like Nikko, because they're so obviously filled with God. Does that make sense? When I was climbing, every time my knees wiggled from exhaustion or fear of heights, I felt Him. Like the air I was breathing there was different somehow... cleansed or live-giving or something.

Anyway, a few of us went back on Friday night for a hike to enjoy the full moon. It was a little scary, I'm not gonna lie. There were moments when I couldn't see much of the ground in front of me, only the bottomless drop punctuated by bamboo directly to my right. But the moon was so bright! And sometimes I like it when my heart races. So it was fun. Below: a cute one of Julie and me.

This weekend is skiing in Tottori! I'm completely stoked. I'm sure there will be plenty of good photo ops of me on my bum. Stay tuned.