Hokkaido Trip!

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11

After a bit of frantic last-minute checking and re-packing, I stood in the hallway and calmly surveyed my apartment to make sure everything was ready for me to go: kotatsu turned off, microwave unplugged, heaters unplugged, futons stored in their closet, dishes washed and now drying on the rack, refrigerator bare of any items that could go bad in my five-day absence. Only the overflowing laundry basket made me feel guilty, but shoganai, there wasn’t enough time to get it done. My three small bags sat by the doorway, full of winter clothes, Japanese study books, Gunma omiyage, and the requisite Valentine’s Day chocolate for all the boys I’d be seeing on this trip (all two of them).

Shogo picked me up at 1:20 to drop me off at the train station, and my traveling began: first to drop off a movie at Time Clip, then the 30-minute drive to the station that culminated in a series of train rides that carried me to Haneda Airport in Tokyo by 5:00. I have to say, for a girl who grew up at the end of a country road in rural North Carolina, I do pretty well navigating public transportation in foreign countries (I guess all the posted bilingual signs don’t hurt, either). I used to be so afraid of transferring trains, too . . .

Flying domestically was similar to how it would be in the U.S., except for a few small differences: 1) Japan lets you fly with three checked bags, not one; 2) you don’t have to put your liquids in a small plastic bag, and if you take a beverage with you they have a cool machine that scans it for illegal contents instead of making you dump it out; 3) you don’t have to take your shoes off when you go through security; 4) you can’t put huge quantities of liquid in a checked-in bag (on the way back, they made me take my bottle of Hokkaido wine on the plane in my carry-on). I flew Sky Mark, and I will recommend them to anyone: it’s a budget airline, but still comfortable and nice.

I was exhausted by the time I arrived at New Chitose Airport near Sapporo at 8:30, but there were still a few more train rides left before arriving in Ebetsu. Tony had picked me up the airport, and we met Peter and Brian at Nopporo Station an hour later. Once all together, we made our way carefully over the slippery ice and snow to Puu-san (a play on Winnie-the-Pooh, maybe, because the whole bar was full of Pooh paraphernalia), a local izekaya that the Hokkaido ALTs frequent. While the boys sat around the table flirting with the cute, smiling waitresses, I gawked at the one cute waiter in the back, a young-ish looking Japanese boy in a sleeveless shirt and a nametag that said: わたる (Wataru) in black-markered letters (later, I found out just how young this one was—ouch). We stayed for a few hours, my eyes progressively becoming heavier and heavier, until I couldn’t be awake any more. We left around midnight and took the last train back to Tony’s apartment, where I crashed on the first bed I’ve slept in in months.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12

It was cold in Hokkaido, with a heavy quilt of snow over the whole area, snow piled up five feet deep in some places. The roads in Ebetsu were still covered with a layer of ice and snow, and the curbs were slushy and wet. The snow was beautiful, as snow always is, but its beauty had the fading grace that February winters have: too many months of snow and ice, melting and refreezing. Everything looked tired and ready for spring.

Saturday was the much-anticipated Snow Festival! The boys and I got up around 11:00, took the train to Sapporo, and ate a (somewhat strange but delicious) breakfast of ramen on the top floor of a building near the station. One whole wing was dedicated to ramen restaurants—Sapporo’s specialty—and choosing which one to go to a little difficult. Plus, it being the last day of the Yuki Matsuri, every place was absolutely packed with lines 30 people long. We picked one at random because the line seemed shorter than others, and even if it wasn’t the Most Famous Ramen Shop in Sapporo, it was still good! I had Otosk seafood ramen, with crab.

After we ate, we made our way to the Festival, stopping by the Governor’s Building to take our picture in front of the giant snowman that said, “We Heart Hokkaido” in big English letters.

The festival itself was fun, but different than what I had expected. In my head, I was imagining a tree-lined park filled with giant snow statues like the snow version of Edward Scissorhands’ (or the Overlook Hotel’s) shrubbery. But, there were more commercial shops and food vendors than there were actual snow sculptures, with so many people packed into the park that men were placed in strategic spots to yell, “Keep walking! Keep walking!” in order to prevent bottlenecks. And unfortunately, since it was a warmish day, many of the sculptures were looking kind of sad and droopy in the sunlight. Don’t think I was unimpressed, though, because the sculptures I saw were absolutely amazing! There was a giant baseball player (I was told his name but have forgotten), a fantastic 30-foot tall Kyoto palace replica, intricately carved owls and foxes, and a life-sized 2-story house, all made of snow! There were also various animals and sentient beings, all carved into existence by some talented artist. Ice sculptures abounded, too: dinosaurs, flowers, and alligators. There were other ice sculptures on the other side of the park that I wasn’t able to see: instead, I skipped it to go to the temporary post office to buy cards and mail them off to my friends. (It was worth having a Snow Festival-stamped card!)

As we were wandering around, we were approached by two friendly people from a Japanese tour group. “We’re a new company doing tours around Sapporo,” they explained. “Would you like to go on a free, English-speaking guided tour this afternoon, in exchange for filling out a short survey?”

Free?
English-speaking?

Sure!

Right at 4:20, we met the group by Sapporo Tower, and were riding on the big tour bus with 25 more people by 4:30. Weirdly enough, three Gunma JET girls were on the same tour as us! The world is very small—or at least, an ALT’s in Japan is. We had been promised a tour of a chocolate factory and a ride on a Ferris wheel between 4:30 and 7:00, but unfortunately, the chocolate factory was closed by the time we got there. The building itself was amazing: large and impressive, with intricate patterns, like a French government building from the 18^th century, but we couldn’t go in the factory part. Instead, Tony and I spent most of our 40 minutes playing outside, for nestled in the snow around the building were dozens of little dollhouses, the perfect size for a 5- or 6-year old girl. I was immediately transported back to my days pretending to be Laura Ingalls Wilder, and happily jumped in to sit on the doll-sized wooden furniture. Before we left, we bought some caramel cake to share and a slice of cheesecake that I ate all by myself. Yum!

On the bus ride over to our next stop, we filled out our two-page questionnaire, that I mostly understood but whose English was so convoluted I couldn’t make heads or tails out of some questions. I wish I had copied some of them down to give you a good example! It was something like, “When you make a plan to visit another place, do you always not plan by yourself before you go?” I hope I answered correctly!

Our next stop was Susukino, the Tokyo-esque section of Sapporo, the one with the huge neon billboards and people all over the place. Our tour group stopped in front of one building (not exactly sure which one) and went up to the 7^th floor, where another guide was waiting for us. We were put in a line that led to the rooftop, where a gigantic Ferris wheel was perched. Tony and I shared a car with a woman who claimed she was from New Zealand but who had a completely different accent that I couldn’t place, and I think maybe she was a spy. From the Ferris wheel, we could see all of Sapporo glowing underneath us, the city lights blazing and the moon high in the sky. I felt a little vertigo (a rooftop Ferris wheel?!) but mostly enjoyed myself.

Then our tour was over.

For dinner, eight of Tony’s friends (American, Canadian, and Japanese) joined the four of us at a soup curry restaurant nearby. Soup curry involves a bowl of curry with meat and vegetables in a soupy sauce that you eat with a plate of rice. It’s really delicious; I just wish I had asked for one a little bit spicier. (Can you believe it?)

Later, we joined even more people at a bar called TK6 that apparently is the hangout place for foreigners in Sapporo. It was narrow and two-storied, decorated like any Western bar and so full of non-Japanese people that I felt I had been instantaneously transported back home. We didn’t stay long, though, because the tables we were sitting at were reserved for 10:00 and because everyone wanted to go karaoke-ing. So karaoke-ing we went! It’s always fun to lock yourself in a room with ten ex-pats and sing 80s songs for 90 minutes . . .

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13

Brian had to leave on Sunday, so Peter and Tony and I hung out by ourselves. We had another ramen breakfast—this time ba-taa kaan (butter corn) in a miso base—for me. Then we visited the Sapporo Clock Tower—glowingly famous for being the first Western-style building in Japan, and for being number three on the list of Japan’s Most Disappointing Tourist Attractions—and went browsing at a couple of stores before hopping the train bound for Otaru. Otaru is famous for its narrow canals, now in February filled with icy water and surrounded by mounds of snow.

The sky had been full of icy snow clouds all day, and by the time our train arrived in Otaru—its route took us directly beside the roaring, breaking, freezing ocean, but I couldn’t get a good picture of it—the snow was coming down heavily. Our whole purpose for going to Otaru, besides the canals themselves, was to see the candles that had been placed in the snow. The lantern light was beautiful, but the snow was coming down thick and quick, making me just want to go someplace warm.

Peter had been there once before, so he led us on to a German brewery a few blocks away. The restaurant was spacious, its rows of long wooden tables circling the giant vats of beer in the middle of the floor. We tried a couple types of home brewed beer—even a “smoked” kind, which was both delicious and strange. It was so nice to sit wrapped up in the flannel blankets the waitress gave me, sipping a dark beer and eating a hot doughy pretzel, after having been in the cold whiteness for so long. I almost didn’t want to leave, but we needed dinner.

We wandered the streets of Otaru looking for the perfect sushi restaurant, not too expensive, but still good, before settling on one. Peter and Tony both ordered huge plates of sushi, but I was still full from my pretzel so I just ate crab soup and scallops. I had a bite of Tony’s sushi, though, and it was delicious! Maybe I should have gotten that instead. Next time.

We took the train back to Ebetsu and watched Back to the Future: Part II before going to bed.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14

Valentine’s Day! The day Japanese girls give their friends and boyfriends chocolate!

Tony and I spent a lovely morning studying Japanese before heading to Maruyama Park to visit Hokkaido Shrine, looking beautiful in the falling snow. It was the most magical-looking place ever!

For dinner we found the Genghis Khan restaurant (lamb, onions, and other vegetables roasting over a hot plate over a bed of coals) in Sapporo. We squeezed in the tiny restaurant, which was one U-shaped bar, and left half an hour later full of lamb and smelling like smoked meat. It was pretty delicious.

Back at the train station, I shopped for omiyage for my co-workers and friends, and Tony looked around the foreign foods store for some good American meals. At 8:00, we left Sapporo and went back to Puu-san in Ebetsu to meet Tony’s Japanese friend from the BOE (I forget his name). The three of us sat around Puu-san drinking and talking in an English/Japanese mix until almost midnight, when we caught the train home. Before we left, though, I asked that cute わたる nan sai datta—yeah, he’s 19. (Shudder!)

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15

9:00: Woke up

9:45: Left Tony’s

9:57: Caught the train to Sapporo

10:30ish: Caught the train to New Chitose Airport

11:20ish: Checked in to the airport

1:10: Flew out of Hokkaido

3:15ish: Landed in Tokyo

3:30ish: Train to Hamamatsucho

3:45ish: Train to Ueno

4:05ish: Train to Takasaki

6:30ish: Arrived in Takasaki

7:00ish: Dinner

9:00: Bedtime

Thank you for a fun time up north! I can't wait to see it again in the summer!