Biwako Watersports Weekend
Trip Start
Jul 27, 2006
1
62
93
Trip End
Ongoing
Lake Biwa,
Japan
Saturday, September 15, 2007
the dock
out on the lake
My friend Shannon is lives in Shiga near Japan's biggest lake. The JETs in her area were having an end of summer, water sports weekend at the lake, and she kindly invited me to attend these festivities. I left from Kobe bright and early on Saturday morning and rode the train for 3 hours before arriving at the lake. Once there, I was welcomed with open arms and friendly smiles by an entire JET circle that I didn't even know. There were about 40 people there for the weekend, and a number of them were from the Midwest which was refreshing for a change. 
lake house
We stayed right on the lake at a place called BCC. They catered all of our meals, provided us with all the equipment needed for the water-sports, had instructors available, and gave us a place to sleep for the night.
wind surfing
Over the course of two days, we had the option of learning to Water Ski, Kayak, Wind Surf, and Sail. The sailing instructor wasn't able to make it that weekend, so I didn't try sailing, but I gave all the others a shot. 
kayaking
My favorite was kayaking, because it required the least amount of energy and skill. Water skiing was a lot of fun, but really difficult and because there were so many people,
in the lake
we only got a few tries before we had to hand over the reigns. I never successfully made it up for longer than a few seconds. Wind Surfing was a similar struggle because of the strong winds that came to the lake with us that weekend. 
ready to go home
This weekend get away was a TON of fun! It might have been a bit far away with the 3 hour train ride there and back, BUT the water activities, the price, and the pleasant company made it all well worth it!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Biwa
ready to go
DISCLAIMER: my camera was being a bit funny this weekend and i was unable to take a single photo. All photos in this album are property of (and have been illegally stolen from) shannon copp and shin koga- (thanks!!!)
