Well, my travels have come to an end (for now) so things are starting to slow down for me.. Kind of.
Beginning of the month, I went to Sapporo for their snow festival with some friends. With all the snow, I felt like I was back home. It was still warmer than any Chicago or Minnesota winter. Fun fact, Hokkaido has insulated buildings!!!! Which makes sense since it get’s so cold up there.. It was nice not having to wear layers to bed and waking up to a warm apartment. Kind of like Minnesota, they didn’t really use much salt. But, they used what looked like tar or rubber… Whatever it was, it worked a lot better than sand *hint hint, Minnesota*. They still had kerosene heaters but the way our place was set up was that there was a pipe that directed the fumes outside so we didn’t have to keep a window open while the heater was running. I always complain about the cold and how I don’t like it, but this trip made me realize I don’t mind cold so much when there’s snow on the ground.
Sapporo was flooded with tourists from all over. Many people were there for the snow festival but a lot of people were there to ski. Which, when I go back to Sapporo (I definitely will be), I’m going to dedicate at least one day to skiing and going to the onsen.
Our first day, I went to Odori park where the snow sculptures were along with food and entertainment (dancers/singers, photo ops, shopping). Besides the food stands, literally everything else was made of snow. They had professional ski jumping and snowboarding which was really cool. The ages of the pros ranged from 16 to 35! They were flipping and twisting which was amazing to watch! 16 year olds! You know what I was doing at 16? NOT PROFESSIONAL SKI JUMPING! I may be able to flip, but there’s no way I would do it with skis attached to my feet and landing on hard snow. There were performers throughout the day. You had to give them credit because the stages were made of snow too and looked really slippery. The park was separated for the most part between snow sculptures and food and shopping. Hokkaido is known for a variety of foods and sadly, I didn’t get to eat all of it… I’ll just have to do it when I go back. Hokkaido is known for their snow king crab (and seafood in general), some kind of ramen, and genghis kahn BBQ. I had gotten some recommendations of what to eat when I was there and it definitely did not disappoint. The seafood was so good! After Japan, I don’t think I can go back to eating seafood in America.. This country has spoiled me! We went to Ramen Alley which is, you guessed it, an alley of ramen shops. It’s not wide like the how they are in the states. This is Japanese style.. so small.. and cramped. The ramen shops were also, small. I think the one we ate at held less than 20 people. But it was so good!! Yes, you read correctly, I ate ramen while I was there. I took glutenease though which is kind of like lactate but for gluten intolerant people. It wasn’t my smartest decision ever but I don’t regret it. I also ate beef from that specific area and that also, did not disappoint.
At night, we went over to Susukino where they had ice sculptures, bars, and restaurants. For the most part Sapporo reminded me a lot of Chicago. They festival closed a street in Susukino to showcase all the ice sculptures. The details on these sculptures were amazing! I honestly don’t know how they do it! They had sculptures of different companies, trains, cars, boats, and a slide! Apparently it was only for children but that didn’t stop the adults from going…. or us.
Our last day we went to Mt. Moiwa. It was a bit of a trip from where we were but it was definitely worth it. You had the option of taking a gondola half way up the mountain or also taking a train/trolly thing to the top. Obviously, we went to the top and the view was amazing! You could see the entire city and the ocean! At the top was a bell that couples could ring and I don’t know what would happen but I assume something good, cute and romantic. And, if you bring a lock, you can lock it on the rails surrounding the bell. It was a little windy up top but the view was worth it.
The school year is wrapping up so school is pretty crazy…. Except for English because we’re the fun teachers ?
