It’s 10am Monday morning in Japan and we have the Super Bowl up on a projector. Two people are in the lodge watching it, everyone else is out. I’m here waiting for Beyoncé. 

I use to really enjoy American Football but it’s been years since I’ve followed or even just watched the sport. Once I started traveling after college everything kind of flipped and even when I lived back in the U.S. for a bit it didn’t have the same appeal. I do miss caring about sports though, having a team, gettin’ rowdy. 

This Super Bowl feels weird, especially because there aren’t any nachos. 

It’s sunny here today, the first sunny day in a bit. A huge group of pro’s arrived late last night and I’m sure they’re bummin’ to wake to no powder. Hopefully it’ll come again soon. It always comes again, eventually. Why are weather reports always so fickle? My sisters and I would ask my mom every morning before school, “MOM – Pants or shorts?!” – my dad would always roll his eyes – “Look outside!”, he’d say. I learned in Boston though that “looking outside” didn’t mean much. I’d peer out of my 17th floor room to beautiful blue skies and sun, only to be hit with freezing temperatures and winds once out the door. My first year on the east coast I wore sandals for as long as my toes could handle it. My friends would always make fun of me, running across the campus as fast as I could to the next heated building. Letting go has always been a work in progress.

When the first snow came freshmen year we all ran outside, threw up our arms and stuck out our tongues to catch it. I had a weird things about tongues then and didn’t wanna stick mine out all the way. I decided to fuck with them and only stick out the very end of mine and then convince them that’s how long my tongue was. They didn’t believe me until they did and then they asked how I could ever kiss with such a short tongue. I’ve been catching snowflakes here, too, except this time I don’t have a weird things about tongues and stick it all the way out and let the huge Japanese flakes dissolve in my mouth. When I’m boarding and get thirsty I just roll up a snow ball and start eating it. I’m pretty sure that’s not normal / weird but I’m weird so it works. It’s nice to care less and less about what other people think. 

The half time show is almost on and the sun is getting warmer. Snow is sliding off the roof and the blue skies are beautiful against the ridges of Mt. Myoko. I’ll be heading out to ride for a bit after this and I’m looking forward to some solo slope time. Coldplay just took the stage and I think about what a crazy feeling that must be to run out and sing in front of so many people. One of the two people watching it just said, “It’s weird to be watching this and not be half drunk…” Let me get you a drink, ma’am. 

Onward.