annaan 0 Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 Hello! I´m a swedish student who studies what people are missing in the swedish mountains. The idea of my education is to discover or develop products and business concept within these areas. So I thought maybe you have something where you live that we don´t have that you could tell me about or just an good idea for me. Thanks! /Anna Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 Hi Anna Not totally sure what you are getting at there, but.... Spiffingly good snow, love hotels, gyoza and ramen. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 Originally Posted By: grungy-gonads Hi Anna Not totally sure what you are getting at there, but.... Spiffingly good snow, love hotels, gyoza and ramen. but I'm guessing that every hotel is a love hotel for the lovely swedes!! Haven't you ever saw a Swedish movie from the 70's?? Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 Hello annan I'm not sure you will get many serious answers here, but I'll try. Many (not all) ski areas in Japan are very poorly planned and amateurishly managed. What keeps them alive is the enormous volume of snow they get. Locally we get about 12m of fresh snow per season. That makes up for a lot of deficiencies, but it won't help you in Sweden. Another thing is the "Japan" experience. It is a big draw for many overseas visitors, and is also welcome for those of us fortunate to live here. Thirdly, and contrary to popular opinion, away from the major cities Japan is a very inexpensive country. You can have a perfectly acceptable meal and a glass of beer for 1,000 Yen. A day pass may cost 3,000 Yen and an hotel 10,000 Yen. Link to post Share on other sites
@tokyo 14 Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 Very good points from soubs there. Food is generally great in Japan too (perhaps not always so on the mountains themselves, but....) Onsen too. Link to post Share on other sites
Hokkaidough 4 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Soubs has good points up there. Remember the stuff nearby too - temples, countryside, etc. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Snow monkeys.... Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 The amateurish management is huge problem for Japanese resorts. They are often owned by companies whose main operations have nothing to do with skiing. They bought the ski resort whilst it was doing well during the 'bubble' and had plenty of cash to spare. The managers are from the management of the parent company and generally have no experience or qualifications for the positions they are in. They're typical salarymen with jobs for life, who've never had an innovative idea in their whole lives. It's little wonder so many resorts here are struggling financially. Link to post Share on other sites
meat 0 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Is there no sign of change in above? You'd think they would want to take advantage of momentum.... or is it another case of complaceny we might be looking at? Link to post Share on other sites
69 5 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Does the resort get a ton of stick from all the gaijin businesses up there trying to push it into doing decent stuff? Link to post Share on other sites
Rag-Doll 0 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 A bit of a lost cause, this thread Anna. Not many people on here will know what Japan has but Sweden lacks. You really have no choice but to score yourself a working holiday visa and spend a winter in the snow in Japan. Given the state of most Japanese resorts (and country towns) you might find there are lots of things that Sweden that has but Japan lacks! Lots of import opportunities I'm sure. word of advice though, forget about importing skis. Japan is famous for its unique snow and foriegn skis won't work. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Apres-ski Getting drunk in Japan is a relatively cheap endeavour. Even cheaper if you buy from the supermarket. JPY 1,000 for a bottle of gin. That's 65 Kronor. How much in your part of Sweden Anna? Link to post Share on other sites
JA2340 16 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 On the other hand, I'm an Aussie, have plenty of flies, hot (max 30deg plus) summers, cool winters (min -5 deg) and plenty of space between people and places. No snow where I am, Not ever! Just up in the hills, though, it has snowed in living memory. Link to post Share on other sites
Emilia 0 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Hey, I don't know if you want to find out what the difference between sweden and japan is or why people choose other places than sweden to ski in? You could write to me and I'll get back to you, been around (skiing!) haha I would say that swedish mountains isn't as high as other places, not steep and my own experience is that most people doing a season working in a swedish alps aren't there for skiing at all. maybe not most but yeah, a lot. Så om det är något annat du vill prata om så är det bara att skriva vettu. Ska till Japan denna vinter så om du väntar ett tag (till april :] ) så kan jag berätta skillnaden. Lycka till med arbetet! Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Emilia, Some of your answer will be found in 'proximity'. **It is closer and cheaper for people in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia....etc etc etc etc to go to Japan than it is to fly to Sweden. If they are PURELY looking for the on snow ski experience you have a long season, consistent snow, plenty of choice, low crowds on the slopes, it is cheaper and it is a shorter plane trip. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick - Winner! **For our family the final decision to travel to do multiple Japan trips to the snow in the last couple of years (and not anywhere else in the Northern Hemisphere) has been having a child in his final 2 years of school studying Japanese. He got to snowboard AND do homework (language practice) at the same time! BONUS! At this stage it is expected that his grade/marks in Japanese will be much higher than his grades/marks in English - mission accomplished! **Cultural Tourism mixed with Snow Sports: As the boy will have graduated school by the end of the year we are visiting Switzerland this season. Why? Everyone has to see the Matterhorn before they die right? We are visiting 6 different countries over a 5 week period - and in each there is a cultural/tourism reason for going ... the 3rd and 4th week will be spent carving up Zermatt. We ALSO hope to get back to Japan in March for some spring snow, but that is just coz we love it so. There will always be a group of tourists who want to hit the snow but want to be a tourist as well - and this is the group who will be nomadic in thier destinations. They will work out where they would like to ski next and what the local attractions are, or they will decide they want to see some local attraction and then look into the nearest ski mountain... I had not considered Sweden for ski - but I will google it now! Perhaps promotion is the key for your resorts. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 There seem to be a fair few Australian children learning Japanese (correct?) -- what kind of level do they get to? Do they become decent speakers or is it all a bit like English education here in Japan? Link to post Share on other sites
mina2 6 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Quote: I´m a swedish student who studies what people are missing in the swedish mountains. Hi anna Out of interest, what do you think people are missing in the Swedish mountains? Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Originally Posted By: MikePow Apres-ski Getting drunk in Japan is a relatively cheap endeavour. Even cheaper if you buy from the supermarket. JPY 1,000 for a bottle of gin. That's 65 Kronor. How much in your part of Sweden Anna? Spendthrift! A bottle of Scotch costs 800Y Anna has done the done the trick of posting one question, then not responding. No-one visits Sweden to ski for some/all of the following reasons. There is no vertical. The mountains are flat. The weather is shite. It is always freezing cold and dark. The food is shite. A glass of beer costs 10 quid. Swedes are suicidal depressives poisoning themselves with freeze-distilled aquavit. Sweden is no fun whatsoever. Link to post Share on other sites
sanjo 2 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 I'm sure it's better than that! Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Ever been to Scandiwegia sanjo? Believe me, it's worse. I'm being kind. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Originally Posted By: grungy-gonads There seem to be a fair few Australian children learning Japanese (correct?) -- what kind of level do they get to? Do they become decent speakers or is it all a bit like English education here in Japan? Depends GG... My cousin learnt Japanese back when it was a radically new and interesting thing to do - she got a BA majoring in Japanese at Uni and did what a lot of SJers do..teach English in Japan to JHS students. She was there for the Kobe quake - and CLOSE - and it unsettled her a lot - she came home not long after. Soon after she met a Norwegian Toursit in Australia and travelled the world with him - they are now married with 4 kids living in Perth, both working at Immigration. Between them they speak 5 Languages - so I think thier proficiency is pretty reasonable. Lot of the Japanese taught in schools is not at this level though - neither are the other LOTE (Languages other than English) mainly because they are so desperate for teachers anyone with a basic understanding of the language can teach it. They are often not trained teachers, nor highly proficient in the language themselves. And many only get a classroom and workshet experience - that conversational/immersion stuff is just not available. My son's Japanese class offerings are a little better than that. The school has at least one Japanese gap year student living on campus every year to provide conversation and interaction with native speakers. They offer a trip/exchange to Japan at least every 2nd year (not everyone can take advantage of course), and the classes are top notch. Many schools recognise that Languages used in our own Asia-Pacific area are SO much more valuable to us than those taught 30 years ago - French, German and Italian! So they are offered more and more. As for my eldest. He is a maths and computing nerd (I say that with great fondness!!) - he finds Japanese fun, interesting, reasonably simple ... English he hates, he finds the concepts are not concrete enough... Also he has a large number of Japanese kids at his school - many who are in his group of friends, the maths and science kids! His leavers jacket does not have his given name - it has "Kaguya" across the back - his screen name. He plans to study BSc(Computer Programming and Pure Mathmatics) at Uni, and plans to work in Japan at some stage. So it has been good for him. We found him to be a very competant interpreter and translator when we were in Japan - although he spent a fair bit of time playing tricks on us and laughing about it with the locals! Link to post Share on other sites
veronica 2 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Interesting. A bit off topic, but I wonder how the level of spoken English has risen in Japanese schools these last 10 years or so. Sounds like a new topic! Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Originally Posted By: soubriquet Originally Posted By: MikePow Apres-ski Getting drunk in Japan is a relatively cheap endeavour. Even cheaper if you buy from the supermarket. JPY 1,000 for a bottle of gin. That's 65 Kronor. How much in your part of Sweden Anna? Spendthrift! A bottle of Scotch costs 800Y Anna has done the done the trick of posting one question, then not responding. No-one visits Sweden to ski for some/all of the following reasons. There is no vertical. The mountains are flat. The weather is shite. It is always freezing cold and dark. The food is shite. A glass of beer costs 10 quid. Swedes are suicidal depressives poisoning themselves with freeze-distilled aquavit. Sweden is no fun whatsoever. but the women are H-O-T!!!!! Link to post Share on other sites
JA2340 16 Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 As soubs has noted, no further posts from the (questionable beauty) Anna. So, what do we conclude? We (us at SJ) have manners, which is something nne doiesn't have in Sweden. We respond to questions with alacrity and sensible replies, but cannot expect the same in return. Sorry, feeling a bit p***ed at the provocative post and lack of followup. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 At least it provides us with things to chat about as well. I wonder if she will come back? Link to post Share on other sites
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