Monday, February 1, 2010

Cole's Mogul Masher Trip & Appi Onsen

A week and half ago Cole went with the Mogul Mashers(base ski group) to Getou Kogen Ski resort which is about 3 hours from here. The group goes every weekend, but Cole has been working the weekends lately but had one off to squeeze in for the trip. Cole said they built this ice sculpture that day while he was up on the mountain. We are excited to head to the ice festival tomorrow which will be filled with huge ice sculptures. Pictured (Cole, Nate, Josh, and 3 random Japanese guys that jumped in.)
So here are two pictures of the onsen at Appi Ski Resort that we went to after a day of snowboarding. We forgot our camera that day which was too bad cause we had a fun day at Appi Ski Resort with some great powder and no crowds and some beautiful views. And we enjoyed a nice warm lunch of wantan noodle soup and a Korean dish Cole cooked himself at our table. The food choices at a ski lodge are really different than what we are use to.
So the Japanese love their onsens and go on a weekly basis, and I finally know why. The men and women baths are seperate. The protocol to go into an onsen is you first enter this room completely in the buff and you walk over to the row of faucets. You sit on a little stool and wash yourself with soap and water so you are clean before entering the bath. This one is really hot, and the outside one is not quite as hot. And they also have a cold bath. It is truly relaxing, and the goal is too only look at faces and not look down. It is so weird how this is normal in Japan, but would be so weird in America. I actually only thought this sort of thing existed back in the Roman times.

1 comment:

DeLana said...

Tig, you totally have a great life!!!! Glad you are getting some use out of the ol snowboard. The onsens sound like a little piece of heaven on earth. Keep blogging Berry, I love it.

xxooo
Mom