"How do I stop again?"

View from our lunch and tea spot!

Well, I have survived the first two days of skiing....just! As most of you know, I'm not known for my patience and am a perfectionist, so it should not surprise anyone to hear that my first day of skiing was an extremely frustrating experience as I struggled to stay upright and spent most of the day on my arse! I had a lesson with the hotel owner, Konno, who was very kind but didn't make me feel any more confident when he informed me that I was a 'very beginner' and was 'good at crashing'! I had strong dejavu experiences all day, as I remembered the first (and only) Davidson skiing holiday when I was 8 - 'Snow plough Anna!' and my legs just got further and further apart and I didn't slow down a bit. It was a lot like this yesterday. I was a little too ambitious at the end of the day and attempted to ski down by myself, it took me about an hour to get half way down the slope and then the ski patrol wanted to shut the lifts, so I had to get a lift to the bottom on the ski patrol! How embarrassing! But a fun experience all the same.

Beginners on the mountain!

I discovered a new side to Gunnar yesterday as well, he was so unbelieveably patient with me as I cursed and got angry at my own inabilities and the fact that a skiing holiday had been his idea and I should have gone to Vietnam as I had planned to! Gunnar is a lot better than me, so has been heading off on more ambitious trails. The gondola Today was much more successful though, I managed to master the snow plough and made it down the mountain several times without falling over once! I had a new teacher today, a lovely Japanese girl whose words I will dream of tonight - 'Make a triangle, eyes down the mountain, eyes where you want to go, push with your leg'. And it worked! I didn't fall over! I may even be able to go straight down the mountain with no turning tomorrow! Outdoor onsen in an old sake tub! We are the only westerners at the hotel and the owners, Junko and Konno, have taken us under their wing and are really looking after us. They invited us for drinks last night and have given us free lessons and organised all our ski rentals etc. Today, we stopped for afternoon drinks with Konno and his friends - how they managed to ski after several sakes and red wines, I'm not sure. I have enough trouble staying upright while sober! Tonight, they are having a party for us, with traditional Japanese food and lots of drinking! Tomorrow night, they are taking us to a local Japanes restaurant with an onsen (hot springs bath) attached. Hopefully tomorrow I can keep improving with my skiing!