The Sapporo Snow Festival takes place February 6-12. My original plan was to leave Takasaki on Wednesday night, enjoy the festival Thursday-Saturday, and come back on Monday. Yes, there is a 3-hour ALT meeting/conference/get-together to talk about lesson plan ideas on Thursday afternoon, but I figured, I've gone to everything else and I can skip this one thing. I bought my plane ticket.
Big mistake.
As it turned out, neither my JTEs, nor the Vice Principal, nor the BOE supervisor wanted me to miss this training, so after a few passive-aggressive email exchanges, I cancelled my Wednesday afternoon flight. Unfortunately, the next flight I could get was on Friday. Night. At 6:50. This means I'll get to Sapporo around 8:30 on Friday night, just in time to enjoy the last few hours of the Snow Festival before they close up shop (?). I know it's not that big of a deal, but I still feel frustrated that I'm missing three days of it for one three-hour workshop.
Oh well. I'll be up north Friday-Tuesday, staying with a friend from Oregon and another Gunma JET who will also randomly be up there. I think it'll be fun to fly domestically, see a ton of snow, and eat lots of yummy food. It should be a good trip!
Also, I've learned (from this my own and from other experiences that happened to my friends) that work always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always comes first. Always. And don't you forget it.
Now. Off to pack!
A friend of mine in Tokyo had to cancel a date with a boy she likes because she had to go to her coworkers parents funeral and viewing. Now keep in mind she had never met this person and is not Buddhist. While she certainly wants to support her coworker, there is such thing as asking too much! But the Wa must be maintained, and the whole office including dumb foreigners have to go. Alas, eh?
ReplyDeleteIn other news, enjoy Hokkaido!