I really like snowboarding.

When we got to Matsudai ski slope on Saturday, Neil took us to a quiet part at teh bottom of teh slope. After we'd fastened our bindings and managed to stand up, he taught us how to fall. Makes sense really. Until we get better, we'll be falling a lot so we need to do it so we don't hurt ourselves. He then taught us about 'finding our edge' and then the basics of how to turn. I started to get quite confident and decided that I was getting bored of sliding to the bottom, removing the board and walking up the slope to start again. So I bought a lift pass so I could go higher up on the slope; the higher I am the longer my run and the more practise I would get, desu yo?Neil escorted me on my first ride on the ski lift, which was dead easy. Then I had the whole ski run in front of me. It was a little scarey, but I set off and made my way down teh slope. I fell a lot of times but I that didn;t put me off. I just got back on the board and tried again. And when I got to the bottom of teh slope, I would get on teh lift back to the top. By the end of teh afternoon, I was able to confidently turn left and, in a fashion, turn right. I surprised my self when I managed to do an entire run down teh slope without falling! Okay, I wasn;t exactly carving up the slope, but I thought it was a big acheivement.

For dinner we went to the katsu palce near Annie's and afterwards bought beers and headed back to Annie's for Winning Eleven 8 and Sex in the City.

When I woke on Sunday I was sore all over. My arms and shoulders were aching because of teh number of times I tried to stand on my bored. My legs were aching with standing in a stance all day. My arse was hurting because of all the falling. But still, we went to the slope for a second session.

It had snowed in the evening so the Matsudai Ski Slope was covered in powder. This was great for learning because it cushioned every fall. I decided that it was too difficult to get to Niigata for teh footy dinner so I decided to cancel and spend the whole day on the slope. Like yesterday, I bought a ski pass and spent the day going up and down the slope. I was gaining confidence with every run and by the end I was knackered, sore, but pretty good a turning right. So during my weekend in Matsudai I've managed to go from a complete novice to a beginner who can turn left and right. Can't wait for my next session. Debs and I are planning to go back to Matsudai on Friday afternoon after work. Maybe I can squeeze another session in before then?