I'm WINNING!

Sunday was a day of trying new things. The list, in order:

1. Snowboarding
If you know me, you're probably thinking "WTF?" I am not athletic, I am not outdoorsy, I am scared of everything to the point where I won't go on most roller coasters, and before this year I had never lived in a place that gets snow. Well, Joetsu, as you might have heard, gets a LOT of it, and everyone here does winter sports as a way to make it bearable. It took me a while to hop on the bandwagon but I went for the first time on Sunday and it was AMAZING. I'm pretty sure they release some sort of chemical in the air at Ikenotaira to make you feel this way. Going up the ski lift and feeling the fear was amazing, getting it right and zooming down the slope was amazing, falling down was amazing, going 3 feet and then faceplanting again was amazing. Snowboarding is something I would never in a million years have considered doing back home. I was so proud of myself just for going, and then to actually have a great time doing it was the icing on the cake! I'm almost disappointed that I got into it so late in the season, but I think this was something I needed right now.

2. Onsen
Onsen are public baths fueled by natural hot springs. They're everywhere in Japan (there's one within a few miles of my house) and I really should have been to one already by now. But man, it was the perfect way to relax after snowboarding.

3. Kimchi ramen!

Enough said.