Traveling to Niseko in Hokkaido

The morning started early but everyone was up and ready to go when the taxi driver arrived at 7:00 AM - We were a bit amazed when we heard Nihcolas announce that it was snowing! Not flurries, but big, big fluffy flakes and lots of them! Since we were flying out of Haneda airport it was much closer and more convenient to take a taxi rather than two trains. And since we really didn't have any luggage - we had already mailed it to the hotel (gotta love Japan!) - it was very easy to head out the door.

When we arrived at the airport, we checked our ticket print out and realized that we could head straight to security. Flying domestically in Japan is MUCH different that the US - our directions said to show up at least 15 minutes before our flight was to depart! Then as we went through "security," we just showed our ticket confirmation and moved right through - didn't have to take off our shoes, our jackets, or even show our IDs!!

We found a Starbucks directly in front of our gate and watched as the hordes of people arrived - our flight was no more than an hour but we boarded a 747! After the masses did their controlled boarding, and we were ready for take-off, we saw that many of the Japanese people were already asleep - how do they do that?? My favorite part was the camera that showed the "view" from the front of the plane... you could see things speed by as you lifted off, but then the moment that we were airborne, the camera switched to the view underneathe the plane which made one wonder why we were suddenly looking straight down after we had just taken off! Gave a us a few giggles... Not as many, however, as the video that showed the nine rules of the plane! They were basic rules but they had cute little cartoon characters showing them in more detail...

When we landed in Hokkaido, we opted to take the 2 hour train instead of the 3 hour bus to the hotel! With Chris and Nicholas's levels of motion sickeness, a bus traveling through a mountain sounded pretty miserable! The train, however, was amazing! As we traveled through the mountains, we saw the ocean and mountain peaks, deer tracks and valleys - it was so beautiful! When we arrived in Niseko village we were absolutely taken back by the amounts of snow there - I have never seen so much!

We got all settled in - rented some skis and equipment - and scheduled lessons for the next day... I went to bed wondering if I would be able to pull it off the next day! Being Southern, 36, and non-athletic... suddenly trying to learn to ski did not sound like something I could pull off!