The visit to Karuizawa wasn’t a very well planned one. In fact, it was a last minute decision.

We were having dinner at an Izakaya near our hotel in Tokyo, when one of my friends brought up the idea to find snow <<while we were in Japan>>.

Two of my clients who were at the dinner thought it was a good idea. And so I spent the night figuring out the route to the nearest ski resort and what came up was Karuizawa Ski Resort in Nagano.

The best way to get there was by taking the Shinkansen train and yes it was quite pricey but I thought that’s okay.

I planned the route together with my friends Cak Aan and mas Soni, even though mas Soni wasn’t gonna come since he already had another plan. So route was picked and I shared it to the group chat where our clients were. Turned out they had a change of mind and decided not to go.

Cak Aan was already so eager to see what was going to be his first snow experience. My last encounter with snow was in 2013 so I kind of missing it too. After clearing with our client, Cak Aan and I made our journey to Karuizawa Ski Resort. It was quite a trip lol.

I decided to call myself Bonek Magang (Intern Bonek) since I was accompanying a true Bonek, Cak Aan.

The adventure started at the Shinkansen ticket machine.

The night before, Mas Soni already advised us to buy the Shinkansen ticket at the counter. But when we arrived at the ticket office, we saw a machine that said “For Tourist”. For whatever stupid reason, we decided that we were going to figure out buying the ticket through the machine, instead of the counter. After around 20 minutes we finally got our ticket — something we could’ve gotten in 5 minutes if we went to the counter. But where would the thrill be???

The trip included 1 regular train trip to Omiya, then a Shinkansen trip to Karuizawa.

Honestly, we weren’t so sure if there would be snow there. But I thought a ski resort usually would have their own snow machine so we just took our shot.

On our way there, we told ourselves that even if we wouldn’t find snow, it would be okay. We were proud of ourselves to be able to figure out the train system and brought our ass off to Karuizawa.

Upon arriving at Karuizawa train station, we looked around and saw snow on a hill nearby — which was the Karuizawa Ski Resort. Even before we got off the Karuizawa train station, it was already “mission accomplished”.

We had a quick lunch at the food court in a fashion outlet complex right next to the train station. And then we made our way to the ski resort.

I was so happy to see snow again after 10+ years, and was even happier to witness Cak Aan’s first snow experience.

The trip back to Tokyo was much easier. I consider it a successful internship experience as a Bonek Magang.

This is part of 39 in 39 series. Read the full list here!