Culture Shock - Not Yet

So far culture shock has actually been rather mild, I was expecting a bit more strange situations. I've not been screamed at from the ski patrol yet, but from what I hear there are two kinds of freeskiers in Japan. Those that have been screamed at by the ski patrol, and those that have not yet. So far I'm in the latter category, we'll see how long that lasts.

Otherwise I got a very firm but mild reprimand when I forgot to take my slippers of when entering the breakfast room. In Sweden we're quite firm on taking our outside shoes of when entering a home for example, but we consider shoes made for just indoors as well as slippers to be ok. Here, when it's shoes off they mean no shoes. Socks are alright, but many are don't even wear that.

Somehow it seems quite easy to fall into the pattern of saying "thank you" every other second in a conversation, and to bow in various degrees. I've still not dared a real bow, just mostly head nods, it feels like I need to learn more about proper context first.

From a personal perspective I'm having more and more trouble with the food. Not that it isn't good, because it is. But because I normally follow a fairly consistent lacto ovo vegetarian diet, and decided early on to take a practical point of view and go with the flow when in Japan. Also, to be honest, I did not want to miss out on some great food experiences. The problem is that I'm not really feeling that good with myself when I am eating meat, fowl and fish that I have no control over the origin for. I find myself tending to choose dishes with at least as much vegetarian ingredients as possible, and certainly avoiding meat. Actually I find this to be good, as it indicates that I still think the reasons for my dietary choice are valid. Perhaps once I learn more about Japanese food I'll find a way to at least mostly stick to vegetarian.

Another thing about food is that I really like to try things I've not tried before. So far the highlights have been fermented soy beans, which according to my colleague Linus is a sometimes acquired taste, and fried marinated grasshoppers. For breakfast. Neither of these dishes actually really tasted that much of anything. The soybeans were mostly tricky to eat because of a very strange and elastic consistency, the grasshoppers were a little challenge mostly because they are grasshoppers, and looking it very much. Still, now I know from my own experience what to think.

From a skiing point of view, the day started nice with 20 cm of fresh snow.

Always a nice view when exiting the hotel.

My skis are probably more shocked than I am, lifts here were built ca. 1985 in the days of 210 cm long, 5 cm wide, Elan skies, or something like that. Armada JJ's with a front with of about 14 cm just won't fit. The solution is not the apparently obvious one, to change the ski holders of the cabin but instead purchase orange plastic ski tip protectors and then shove the skis inside the gondola cabin effectively reducing the capacity by 2/3 from 6 people to 2.

At least they get to ride inside with us!

This was the day the first group of Active Ski guests arrived, so far so good. Conditions are not the best, but all seems fairly determined to the best of the situation as it stands, as are we. On the flip side, the alps are even worse off, so it's not like it would have been better going there.