Saturday, March 26, 2016
Escape from the Snow World hr565
The mountain region in Japan where I live is covered with seven to ten
feet of snow every winter. My town is in a close area with mountains in
all directions. Those mountains turn into tall white walls in winter.
Deep snow lies beneath, white walls stand around, and snowflakes
constantly cover the sky above. It gives me a sense of being contained
in a white box. As winter deepens, I begin to feel claustrophobia and
suffocating. For that reason, I take a trip to the snow-free region and
stay there for a few days every winter. I stayed at a hotel near Narita
Airport and one near Tokyo Disneyland this winter because they became
bargain prices by using my accumulated points of the hotel chain’s
loyalty program that I had gained with a trip to Montreal. Since I was
entitled to use a pool and a sauna for free at the hotel near the
airport, I brought my new swimsuit that had been sleeping in the back of
my drawer for more than ten years and looked out-dated even though it
hadn’t been worn. Right after I checked in, I rushed into the pool. As I
was swimming watching a plane flying over me through the round glass
ceiling, I remembered how pleasant swimming was. I used to swim in the
pool at the gym a couple of days a week until about ten years ago. I
would care about my health and stamina so much, but I have gradually
become a night owl and put on weight. I decided to take this opportunity
to restart my health-conscious life. Next morning, while almost every
part of my body was aching, I had breakfast at the buffet restaurant in
the hotel. Most guests were from foreign countries because the hotel was
close to the airport. I felt as if I was eating abroad and it cost a
minimum to take an imaginary overseas trip. After I stuffed a whole
day’s amount of food into my stomach by eating for two hours there, I
left for an outlet mall near the hotel. I usually enjoy strolling around
a mall and looking for a bargain price, but I returned to the hotel
quite early this time in order to swim in the evening. Before I checked
out next morning, I went back to the pool again. Then I moved to the
hotel near Tokyo Disneyland and found that the pool there was free too. I
ended up swimming four times during this four-day trip. Although I was
supposed to be healthier when I came home, I started coughing next day
and it didn’t stop. Whether this trip was effective or not was now
questionable. Did I catch a cold at a warmer place where I bothered to
travel to get away from my cold town? Besides, my region has had
unusually little snow this winter and neither the ground nor the
mountains are all white. I can’t tell what I took that trip for after
all…
Labels:
bargain,
claustrophobia,
gym,
health,
hotel,
Japan,
Narita Airport,
night owl,
outlet mall,
pool,
snow,
stamina,
swimming,
Tokyo Disneyland,
travel,
trip,
winter