Spring Break Part 2 - Nozawaonsen

Matt's one request for this trip was to ride the Shinkansen, the Japanese bullet train. He was so excited when we got up to the platform where the trains were coming and going.

So excited! But they are pretty amazing. And so organized. Lines drawn on the platform to queue in perfect order, each train departing within seconds of its schedule. Impressive.

Happy faces ready to head up into the mountains 

The train was less than 2 hours (or 4 hours by driving...no thanks!) and then we had a 30 minute bus ride up into the village of Nozawa, called Nozawaonsen because of its onsen hot springs.

We had a 10-minute walk through the village and not all of us were quite as dressed for the new weather. 

It was cold and rainy and we were hopeful that it would turn into snow later in the day.

The Residence Yasushi was a great place to stay and we had a little 2-bedroom suite.

This room quickly became the ski gear room and was covered in clothes in a matter of minutes.

This was the boys' first time to see real snow and Alex couldn't wait to get out in it. They had seen a few inches of old snow here and there but never big banks that they could climb.

Our view for the week! A charming little town and fun ski slopes. Alice and her family had been here several times so we were thankful they knew this amazing place.

It was time to visit the slopes and find our ski gear.

As we were walking up, we could tell it was snowing a little higher and we got excited that we may have fresh snow to enjoy the following day. We did run into the Van der Hoevens, who had arrived a day earlier, and they had a really cold day on the slopes in the mess. We were pretty happy how our schedule worked out!

So exciting!! The ski shops and restaurants lined the bottom of the hill.

We all got fit for our gear and learned how to get our boots on. That was the only really tough part for me with a big toe that no longer bends, but I learned that it was much easier with a second pair of hands and a slightly bigger boot.

By the time we got out, the rain had turned to snow!

It was beautiful!

It was another long day of travel but we were all set to hit the slopes the next morning and our legs were still happy enough to walk 15 minutes down the hill to dinner. We met up with the Richardsons at a little indoor hawker stand and enjoyed a fun dinner before a good night's sleep....

...because it was finally time to ski!

 

Spring Break Part 1 - Tokyo

At a dinner in November or December, our friends the Richardsons mentioned that they were going skiing in Japan for spring break. We thought that sounded like a great idea, considering that Japan would welcome tourists again starting in December, and amazingly enough, it all worked out and the Van der Hoeven family joined as well! We even ended up on the same flight and one row ahead of Hedwige and Egon and their girls. They were so lucky I decided to bring my Jason Momoa blanket on the plane.

Ready to fly! All bright and cheery despite a 3:30am wake up. Matt was flying from Houston and met us in Japan.

We were really thankful that Mark and Alice had lived in Japan before and helped us navigate all the trains. They're very organized and incredibly efficient, once you know what you're doing. Unfortunately, the computer was down when we arrived and it took some time to get the tickets, but the kids didn't mind raiding the vending machines and hanging out while we waited.

Whew! On the train to the city, where we had to change to the subway to get to our hotel.

We didn't get much done on the first day other than make it to our rooms and find some dinner. But the lobby restaurant rewarded us warmly for our patience! Welcome to Japan!

On Sunday morning, we set out for a day exploring the city and I'm really glad we started at Shibuya crossing, the world's busiest crosswalk. Up to 2,500 people cross here every few minutes and it was fascinating to watch and check out the crowd.

About every 10-15 minutes, we'd see the Live Bus go by with girls dressed up as maids dancing in the windows. Why? Who knows! But it was entertaining.

We bought coffees so we could go upstairs at Starbucks and see the crowd from above.

Endless entertainment!

Traditional Japanese footwear?

We met up with the Guidroz family, also in Japan but not skiing, and checked out the Meiji shrine together. It was a really nice walk through the park with some cooler weather.

Snack time! Most everyone else chose ice cream but I had these grilled rice cakes that were kind of awesome.

The entrance has rice containers and wine barrels that were dedicated to the shrine.

The shrine itself isn't open to visitors or photos but people buy charms and take them to boxes inside. Apparently, you get the luck of the draw on what kind of charm you receive and some can be bad luck!

We saw two different weddings underway and really enjoyed seeing this procession cross the main court.

Outside, we found an interesting street band performing on the corner. Just walking the streets was so entertaining.

Next, we wandered through Harajuku street, famous for its tiny restaurants.

We had grilled pork and other skewers at this stall. Believe it or not, it has an upstairs and there are two people sitting behind me! Ben, Brayden, and Braxton were sitting along the outside.

Our next stop was the Park Hyatt with amazing views in every direction of Tokyo. On clear days, you can see Mt. Fuji as well. It was the set for the movie Lost in Translation.

Don't look down!

Finally, it was time to meet up with the Richardsons and some of their expat friends for dinner, so we went back through Shibuya (which was even busier as it got later!) to find the meetup. By this time, we'd been on the subway 4-5 times and we were becoming experts. Alex loved navigating the trains and the different stations and we'd finally learned the most efficient way to use google maps (screenshot it before you arrive or it's difficult to find the best exit out of the station...and some have like 14 choices).

Made it! Tired, jet-lagged (but only a 2-hour time difference so not bad), exhausted but invigorated from all the ground we'd covered all day.

This was a very cool area that Alice's friend chose and one of their favorite restaurants. Most things are tiny there so it took some thought to find a place that could accommodate 16 people. 

We were all headed back to the subway and wandered through another cool food street that would open much later.

The whole gang! Good thing Matthew has long arms and could get all of us in. We said goodbye to the Guidroz family, who would stay in Tokyo and then head to Kyoto, and goodnight to the Richardsons, who would meet us on the bullet train the next morning.

We made it back to the Intercontinental club just in time to get dessert. Alex sure knows how to make a plate!

We really enjoyed the beauty and simplicity! Ready to see more of the country!

IASAS Exchange

Being part of an international school means that our "district" of schools is other international schools. Since it's not all that convenient to travel to other countries for games, the Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian schools plans 3 meets a year where they schools exchange athletes to compete in weekend tournaments. Our first IASAS exchange since the kids have been in high school was rugby and we were pretty excited to be involved. Not as players, but as hosts and part of the Booster Club. All of the students are hosted in homes and we got two 11th grade boys from Taipei American School.

I was busy at school helping to welcome the visiting parents and students through the Booster Club. We sold lots of merchandise and food and drinks. Ironically, this tent was set up on the site of our old store and is almost as big!

I was proud that we got our new signs installed on the real store just before the exchange.

The tournament itself was three days...the first two were round robins and the last day was the playoffs. JIS was eliminated early with tons of injuries so we were thrilled to watch our Taipei boys take on Singapore in the finals. The Taipei girls won the championship just before this game so the boys were pumped with excitement as they took the field.

This was my first time really watching rubgy and it's a brutal sport. These are tough kids and the Taipei boys played their hearts out and brought home the championship for the first time.

One of our boys, Max, was able to celebrate with his parents.

Our other boy, Aidan, made the winning goal and was about the happiest kid I've ever seen!

They had an award ceremony and missed dinner because they were too excited to eat. By the time they got to our house they were starving and this is what two hungry rugby players eat, in case you were curious. They didn't quite finish the second pizza or the third burger, but they polished off nearly everything.

It was a great experience to host the boys for 4 days. They were really polite and friendly kids and it was fun to hear about life and school in Taipei for them. Oh, and turns out Max broke his hand during the first game and continued playing on it all weekend. He even scored in the final game with one good hand! Amazing kids.