On 12th Feb I finally moved into my apartment.
Basically it is 2 minute walk from Hon-Atsugi station, Hon-Atsugi being the only big town (or city in Japan speak - clasifications are different) within easy commute of work and with easy access to main roads and train lines. It also has loads of bars, resturants and Karaoke bars! (Plus hostess bars if you are into that - which many Japanese men are)
It has one bedroom, one small room for the loo, a utility area with sink with shower/bathroom next to it, a kitchen, a small living room and a tatami room. Basic size is a little smaller than Espoir where I lived last time in Japan but the layout is better so there is more usable space.
Emi moved in on the same day and we gradually moved her stuff from her apartment over a couple of weeks.
That weekend (16th and 17th) Emi and I went went Snowboarding with a bunch of people from Nissan Shatai where I work. There were about 16 in total - 2 English, 3 Spanish, 2 Thai and 9 Japanese. The resort was called Kita Shiga and is in Nagano prefecture.
First day was awesome and I went from hardly standing up to making a few turns without falling over.
Aprie Ski was going to Onsens. An onsen is basically a hot bath usually heated by natural hot springs - being on the ring of fire, having volcaneos and earthquakes has some perks! The town had loads of public onsens, us boys only visited 1 or 2, the girls visited a few (they are split by sex). They are always taken in the nude.
The hotel we stayed in was basically 1 foreign boys room, 1 Japanese boys room and 1 girls room. The foreign boys room was the nominated party room. However I was very tired and it didn't help that everyone except me was conversing in Japanese. I ended up trying to sleep in the corner of the room only to be bundled every 30 minutes until about 3am.
The Sunday was a little more successful, trying out some other runs which were harder -steeper and a little more narrow - yet easier than the begineer slopes - had little camber so I didn't end up at the side of the slope.
The return journey was a right chore - onsen followed by lunch followed but trying to find a sort cut and failing followed by slow eratic driving. What really cheesed me off was that after 300km of driving with no stops we then stopped for an hours break only 45 minutes from home. The Japanese sat around chatting and the foreingers were itching to get home. I just wanted to get to bed after little sleep over the weekend (I couldn't sleep in the car).
Basically it is 2 minute walk from Hon-Atsugi station, Hon-Atsugi being the only big town (or city in Japan speak - clasifications are different) within easy commute of work and with easy access to main roads and train lines. It also has loads of bars, resturants and Karaoke bars! (Plus hostess bars if you are into that - which many Japanese men are)
It has one bedroom, one small room for the loo, a utility area with sink with shower/bathroom next to it, a kitchen, a small living room and a tatami room. Basic size is a little smaller than Espoir where I lived last time in Japan but the layout is better so there is more usable space.
Emi moved in on the same day and we gradually moved her stuff from her apartment over a couple of weeks.
That weekend (16th and 17th) Emi and I went went Snowboarding with a bunch of people from Nissan Shatai where I work. There were about 16 in total - 2 English, 3 Spanish, 2 Thai and 9 Japanese. The resort was called Kita Shiga and is in Nagano prefecture.
First day was awesome and I went from hardly standing up to making a few turns without falling over.
Aprie Ski was going to Onsens. An onsen is basically a hot bath usually heated by natural hot springs - being on the ring of fire, having volcaneos and earthquakes has some perks! The town had loads of public onsens, us boys only visited 1 or 2, the girls visited a few (they are split by sex). They are always taken in the nude.
The hotel we stayed in was basically 1 foreign boys room, 1 Japanese boys room and 1 girls room. The foreign boys room was the nominated party room. However I was very tired and it didn't help that everyone except me was conversing in Japanese. I ended up trying to sleep in the corner of the room only to be bundled every 30 minutes until about 3am.
The Sunday was a little more successful, trying out some other runs which were harder -steeper and a little more narrow - yet easier than the begineer slopes - had little camber so I didn't end up at the side of the slope.
The return journey was a right chore - onsen followed by lunch followed but trying to find a sort cut and failing followed by slow eratic driving. What really cheesed me off was that after 300km of driving with no stops we then stopped for an hours break only 45 minutes from home. The Japanese sat around chatting and the foreingers were itching to get home. I just wanted to get to bed after little sleep over the weekend (I couldn't sleep in the car).
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