While it may be Apres Ski for some guests, others are just beginning to arrive at the resort for the 3 PM check-in. The Hotel division braces for this time of the day, especially at the larger hotel, due to the large amount of activity on both the guest and operation sides. Guests at this time consist of day visitors checking out the facilities, locals up for afternoon tea, as well as actual hotel guests. Guests of the hotel include those that have checked out but stayed on for a day on the slopes, registered hotel guests, and those in the process of checking-in. Given that front desk activity peaks at this time, the night shift comes in early and other divisions stay clear and keep a low profile. House keeping also braces for this time because they have to deliver most of the rooms by this time day-in and day-out.

Apres Ski in Japan differs from other parts of the world due to the amount of souvenirs (Omiyage) required by guests, a fact not lost on the Sales Division. Although it has been some time since I last visited a snow resort in another country, from memory I can’t ever recall desperately searching for a “rare cheese cake” to take back to family or colleagues following a day out on the slopes as is seen so often at snow resorts here. If “rare cheese cake” doesn’t quite do it, there is Japanese Sake along with a slew of other local products seductively displayed to make the trip back to Tokyo. The resort also offers Arai branded souvenirs such as T-shirts and the like - which are proving to be popular with the International community as well. Given such, language issues on a box of cookies for example come into play - the English actually has to make sense! In Canada, my friends actually had a cabin at Whistler they used to travel to every other weekend, but souvenirs never really came into the picture as it was considered their second home. Such an excuse I believe would fall on deaf ears in this country the following Monday morning when colleagues would be looking for sweets to go with tea break.

The Mountain Division sends the call through the main office at the resort for any full time staff that can help to head up the Gondola for the final run. Some staff outwardly groan while secretly relishing the chance to escape from desk work for a couple of hours. The final run entails heading up on the last Gondola to rendezvous with senior patrol members at their mountain office on the fourth floor of the building housing the Gondola peak. Just before 4 PM all head out and gather at the foot of the summit lift, waiting for the last guests to board before doing so themselves. Once on, the lift staff close the bottom of the lift, a process repeated at the top when the final patrol reaches the summit. From the summit, a sweep of the entire mountain is then carried out to ensure that all skiers and boarders have descended, while at the same time nets and signage are removed so that groomers can do their thing overnight.

To clarify, this patrol not only looks for guests, but also any visible tracks leading out of bounds. On a clear day, such a task is relatively simple. When snowing however, such tracks become hidden in less than an hour. Two inexperienced boarders last season intentionally went out of bounds in a blizzard. The patrol and a search party looked overnight for them. Fortunately, the following day the snow let up for three hours, and a top grade helicopter pilot and his crew managed to rescue them.

The weekly Sunday afternoon “time is money” expatriate exodus from the resort continues in earnest, and for the Inventory of Skills Division such means getting ready for the next weekend. The first step of which involves filing all of the documents related to the reservations just completed. On this day, almost three quarters of the folder holding reservations for the season are removed, leading to a brief moment of satisfaction as I realize that my responsibility related to the completed reservations has been carried out. This third season of handling such reservations for me was the busiest yet, but made much easier by having at my disposal for the first time both a customized website integrated with a database, and sufficient Japanese ability to liaise over the phone with various divisions of the resort. Gone for the most part are the early days of running through the underground tunnels to the reservation center each time I received an enquiry because I couldn’t work the phones.

While I am busy preparing for the coming week, guides of the Guest Relations Division are busy wrapping up the one just finished. This involves returning from the slopes to the Guide Center, and ensuring that guests are satisfied. For the guests that have been in Kids Adventure, Guides meet with their parents to discuss the progress made that day, and make sure that each child returns safely to their parents care. The salon of this facility is always abuzz at this time of day, because in addition to the above, families using the Kids Playground are passing through and quite often end up chatting with one another.

Vendors at the resort always need change separate to their daily float throughout the day, so the Accounts Division has a special machine for this. Although similar to an ATM, this machine is bigger and solely functions to make change. While game arcades sometimes have basic change machines, this machine appears to be an industrialized version of the same. At this time of the day, restaurants use this machine to adjust their floats for the dinner rush, while shops utilize it for similar purposes. Staff use the machine as well to make change for vending machines, including those dispersing tickets for staff meals.

One area where Japan has other places beat cold when it comes to apres ski is the baths. While the resort only offers tap water (as opposed to hot spring water) in the Japanese baths of the Hotel Division, these are always popular with day visitors and hotel guests alike following a day out on the slopes. Everybody is different, but I prefer to visit the baths when they are quiet, so try to avoid peak periods of usage from 3 thru 6 PM daily. Whenever you do decide to visit, be VERY careful to make sure that you are entering the right bath; That is, like many other resorts in Japan, this one offers two slightly different baths so alternates them between the sexes on a daily basis. A while back at a different resort a certain person forgot this and following a late night bath the night before, returned to the same one early the next morning only to give a granny the fright of her life! On another note, it is important not to stay in the baths too long (especially if they are hot), to avoid wooziness.

The kitchens around the resort belonging to the restaurant division are preparing for the dinner rush to begin when the doors open at 5:30 PM. Usually you will find the head chef talking to the restaurant manager concerning final details for the menu, while out front in the hall a waitperson will be taking reservations on the phone. The resort takes dinner seriously, and makes all meals to order as opposed to putting on a buffet. Although such a route requires more effort, the end product is a higher quality meal. Other staff can be found in the back winding up their breaks, adjusting their uniforms and the like. While such a setting was also found at the same time in restaurants I worked at back in Canada, the difference here is that some staff wear slippers when performing such work and will change into formal footwear just before the restaurant opens.

A couple staying at the resort arrive at the Spa of the Hotel Division to undergo counselling for their package that includes a dip in the Dead Sea Pool, tea break and a massage. Sounds nice, eh? The Spa features one of the first Dead Sea Pools in Japan, and in my humble opinion it is better than the real thing. I say so because I did the real thing when backpacking around the world, and found it to be a mixed bag. While floating in the actual Dead Sea is a neat experience, getting in and out of it can be quite the adventure. Those who wear glasses and get the water in their eyes have to stagger back to the shore to find their glasses over slippery rocks and the like, and then get changed without a shower. The couple at the Spa can enter the Dead Sea Pool without swimwear if they like as it is privately enclosed, and also have the lighting adjusted and music piped in. Following tea, they then have a therapist each give a massage in a special treatment room designed for couples.

The staff dormitory belonging to the Human Resources Division is experiencing an influx of staff returning from their shifts at the mountain via private vehicles or the staff shuttle. The dormitory residents tend to congregate in the kitchen on the main floor of the building around dinnertime, partially because other floors of the facility are gender segregated. The dormitory rooms, although a little cramped given that each houses up to four persons in either bunks or futons, are made more comfortable by the inclusion of an air-conditioning unit, basin, toilet and television. Each floor is equipped with washing machines and dryers, while bathing is communal in traditional Japanese style.

The lift attendants of the Mountain Division working that day gather on the second floor of the village station for their nightly meeting. Always a colorful crew, these staff take the meeting seriously despite wanting to go home and enjoy a hot bath and perhaps a beer. The manager for the lifts takes the meeting, and discusses events of the day, upcoming weather patterns, as well as assigning shifts for the next day. Anyone that has worked as a lift attendant may possibly agree that the work is long, tedious, cold and involves an incredible amount of responsibility given your payload.

A family checks out late from their room belonging to the Hotel Division, and with their car loaded up, has dinner at one of the resort restaurants. Parents living in Tokyo utilize this method to have a peaceful return trip back to their residence, given that the kids usually fall asleep on the way. The other neat aspect of this is that the traffic jams heading back into the city have often cleared slightly later in the evening, shortening travel time.

Is this the end of the day however? No - far from it - but further details will have to wait until the next volume of this mini-series within the setting journals comes out. I wonder what will happen between now and then that I will write about in my opening note?

This volume of the setting journals is dedicated to Ms. Tatemichi, who retired from the resort for personal reasons at the end of February 2005.

Ms. Tatemichi worked tirelessly to make Arai a friendlier place for both international guests and workers alike. She helped me in many different aspects of my work, and showed the way forward often when I hit walls.

Although no longer physically at the resort, her legacy will assist international visitors and staff here for many years to come.

Ms. Tatemichi, we miss you here at the resort. Nobody does it quite like you did.

Thank you very much for your support over the past several years, and I wish you all the best for this next step in your life.

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