Skiing in Japan

The irony of the situation is that for nearly the last two years I've lived in Pittsburgh, PA. For those unfamiliar, Pittsburgh has PLENTY of snow. It's so cold there and there are plenty of places to ski, if one so desires. I've lived in other cold places too, most notably Germany, which of course provides endless opportunities for snowy adventures. In spite of these facts, I have never attempted to ski or snowboard in my life. I'm not the outdoorsy type, in all honesty, and skiing has always been one of those things that I say I would do, but never feel motivated enough to do. So, when of my colleagues here in Japan informed me of a trip to a ski resort with about 4o other employees, I jumped at the chance. The planning was taken care of, I could rent my equipment there and I would be going out with a bunch of novices (some who had never seen snow before in their lives). Although in Japan, the group I went with was completely non-Japanese. These were a bunch of global recruits - relatively new employees recruited from other Asian countries to come work in Japan. Joining me would be a group of people from countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia...etc. In my head, I imagined I should do fine...I'd at least seen snow and even attempted to ice skate once before coming to Japan. I didn't even fall when I did it. Ice skating and my ability to walk and drive on snow (thanks Pittsburgh) in no way prepared me for the travesty of attempting to ski. I couldn't even stand up in the things....it was horrible. I fell five times within the first few minutes and sat there immobile in the snow...how embarrassing! Most of the people I went with opted for snowboarding, so after taking of my skis I traded them in for a snowboard...hoping for better luck. It was better, in a relative sense. I still couldn't stand up and spent over thirty minutes at the top of the hill trying to stand up. After some maneuvering, I finally figured it out and made my way down. It was a long and hard journey and halfway there I stopped out of sheer exhaustion and the pain of my frequent falls. Determined to make the best of this experience, I convinced another skier in a similar position to snap a few pictures. It was an interesting experience, but I will say, do not attempt without some type of instruction/training beforehand...this isn't something to pick up along the way. Skiing in Japan certainly sounds cool...but limping in Japan does not....