Philippine Cadet on Japanese Soil (Part 4)

Winter Ski Training (ako yung 173)

For a person born and raised in a warm, tropical country like the Philippines, having the chance to ski (for free!) is an opportunity of a lifetime.

When I was a second year cadet, our batch went to a ski resort in Nagano Prefecture, somewhere to the north of Tokyo. A week of "training" (or should I say, just playing) away from the Academy grounds served both as a training and a way to release the stress and tensions piled up.

You just wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, and off you go! It was more of a gimmick than of a training. After skiing for one day, everyone gets back to their own billeting area and take a rest, eat dinner, sleep. A week of this makes you not want to go back to the "real life" as a cadet.

But, it was a good release. We learned how to ski, we saw the Japan alps, we drank some traditional Japanese soups, and most of all, formed new beer buddies between our classmates.