I spent the last three days in Niigata Prefecture skiing with about twenty friends from the Badminton Club. Overall it was a rather enjoyable trip. Plus the price was right. Including all meals, lodging, lift tickets and ski rental for two and a half days, it was only about US$250. Maybe a little less. Sure, there are expensive places and things in Japan, but that was much cheaper for me than a three-day trip to Colorado.
One thing that I really enjoyed about the prices was the vending machines. First of all Japan has far too many vending machines. Generally the price of a can of Coke is US$1.00 while it would only be US$0.50 back home. Anyway, if I buy a can of pop here at Waseda it is only Y100 (student discount?). The standard machine in Tokyo sells for Y110. Our lodge in Niigata was Y120. The base of the slope was Y130. Half-way up, Y150. The top, Y200. I was too stubborn to buy a Y200 Coke, so instead I got a ice cream bar for Y300 when I was up at the top. Anyway, prices can get steep.
Ishiuchi Maruyama Ski Area was quite impressive. We took a cheap night bus to get there, so I was asleep on arrival. However, when I got out and look around, the place was beautiful. I had never been to Niigata Prefecture before. I new there were mountains there, but I didn:t think they were that big. Actually Mt. Ishiuchi was less than 1000 meters tall, but it was still amazing. All of the mountains around were covered in snow and could easily be mistaken for the Himalayas (at least by a college student who has not yet been to Nepal). I always thought that short mountains like those were all covered in trees, like the Appalachians in the US. Anyway, I was impressed.
The ski area was pretty big too. There were tons of lifts, but none of them seemed to go too far. One had to take about six different lifts to get from our lodge to the top of the mountain. However, after consulting the map, I managed to find a fun place to ski.
One problem was that I always had to wait around for my friends. I am not a terribly great skiing, but obviously people ski at different paces. However, for some reason, my friends thought it would be fun to ski together-all twenty-two of us. It is a pretty typical Japanese thing I guess (as Japanese things go). Anyway, being the typical American, I am not good at waiting around for people. I got a little upset now and then as we waited for that last person to make it up the six lifts to the top. Then we would take a picture where the background couldn't be seen, rendering our climb to the top virtually pointless. Slowly the leaders started to realize that by making everyone go together, nobody was enjoying it. Anyway...
I was talking with a friend about the Japanese hierarchy system the other day. You see, there are always people who have power and those who are not supposed to say anything. As I am new in the badminton club, I am one who is not supposed to say anything. Now, I don't mind showing a little respect for older people now and then, if they really deserve respect. However, in Japan, it seems that a person is worth more just if he or she is born a couple months earlier than me. Is this not strange? I didn't really expect this sort of senpai-kohai relationship thing to still be popular among some of the best students in Japan.
At the Middle East Technical University in Turkey, many of the students are doing and believing things that are quite contrary to their traditional culture. I am not saying that educated people should abandon their culture for Western values, but when the tradition makes no sense...
And so I was arguing with this friend about whether culturally bound things can be determined good or bad. Can we say that the American merit system is better than the Japanese age-based system? Personally, I say yes. The Japanese system of respecting people through keeping quiet and using especially polite speech when you do talk is often very wasteful. This is hard to explain in a short essay, but I believe that if you have a good idea you should say it or do it regardless of your social position.
But I digress...I did have a good ski trip. I learn something new everyday. I still can't seem to master those moguls, but I do know a little bit about personal relations. Plus I learned a couple good Japanese drinking games. Fun was had by all.