STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 45* Mt. Fuji

JULY 12

Our trip to Mt. Fuji begins early this Saturday morning. Our bus wasn’t scheduled to leave until a quarter to seven, but I was up well before six repacking my bag. I had finally decided which clothes would be necessary for the excursion. If it was hot going up the mountain, light and breathable clothing was best, but on the other hand, the peak of the mountain would undoubtedly be cold.

I started off in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, lax enough for the bus ride, and also good for temperate weathers. In my bag I had my under clothes, for when things got colder, a 2-liter bag of water, and a couple snack bars. This was my white bag’s last journey, and it became very full once I put in my wind breaker jacket, gloves and knit hat. I doubled checked on my money and my ticket and I was out the door just after 6am to wait for the others in front of the subway station. As I waited, I checked my messages for any last minute notifications. It was good I did, because one of the girls asked me to bring an extra roll of toilet paper, just in case. It was almost time for us to meet, but I rushed back to my room and grabbed the toilet paper anyway.

Then it was 6:15am, we started to walk towards the station vigorously, but slightly hungry from not eating breakfast. In due course, we stopped at a convenience store just outside the station to grab a few last minute things. I figured a bag of granola would be a good compliment to my supplies. However, at the time, I was fasting, and I still intended to fast as long as I physically could. But if the climb became difficult, I had supplies on hand to save me.

(Gateway Fujiyama, Kawaguchiko Station)

Four hours on the bus later, we arrived at Kawaguchiko, but just the first stop on our trip. From there, we took another hour long bus up to the 5^th station. The 5^th Station is more of a tourist spot than anything. It’s the beginning or end for many people who chose to visit Mt. Fuji. For us, it was just the beginning of our hike, though it was halfway up the mountain. We stopped to go to the last free bathroom before starting our climb. It seemed to be that any bathroom along the route would cost a donation of 200 yen. That was the only option, however, as the trails were clearly marked and there was no bushes for one to escape into. I took the chance to throw on my long under pants, since I expected I would not have the chance to before we reached the 8th station. The 8th station would be our lodgings for the day, or rather for the end of the day, and only for a few hours as we prepared to make the final climb.

(Our arrival at the 5^th station and the view of Mt. Fuji from the last free toilet.)

Refreshed and ready to take on Japan’s most famous landmark, we approached the map at the trail head. The trail we were looking for was marked in blue, and that trail was on the other side of the mountain. We started off on the completely wrong side of the mountain. With no other choice, we checked out the visitor center for information as to whether there was a way to reach the other side of the mountain. We could go by bus, but that would cost us a couple hours and almost twenty dollars. The only other option we had was to change our lodging reservation. The clerks solved the matter for us immediately, and THEN we were off to tackle the mountain.

The trail started off at a decline, which didn’t make sense if we were climbing a mountain, but eventually it started to gradually incline. Horses occasionally passed us on the trail as they escorted their riders from the 5th to the 6th station. When we started our journey, we were muddled amongst a large group of people. Several young men started to pass us on the left, and I overheard one say to his friend, ‘Hey, do you speak English?’

I couldn’t help but throw in my own comment to their conversation, ‘Japanese is fine, too.’ That’s how we made our first acquaintances of the day. We took a picture with them en route, but their pace eventually put them farther ahead of us, into the woods.

The trail through the last bits of wood the trail was nice solid Earth, put after that it became something more like gravel. The trail began to wind in a gradually inclining zigzag. I tried to slow my pace and stay with our little group, but as my legs warmed up, so did my pace. I would end up walking ahead, and then waiting at the next turn, or the one after that. I was in the zone, just me and the mountain. I would meet with the group of young men, pass them and then they would in turn pass me by again as I waited for the girl’s to come in sight. First it was ten minutes, then fifteen. After we passed the 7th station together I told them that I would meet them at our lodgings if I went too far ahead. That was when the trail became fun.

The gravel paths were a toll on my legs, but the other kind of path was considerably more fun. Large rocks like a huge uneven staircase, roped off on either side to bar against one’s wandering. I felt the strongest at those points, strong and fast and free. It was on my way up one of these parts in the trail that I passed a middle-aged woman who seemed to be having some troubles breathing. I slowed my pace and watched her, and then I finally asked, ‘Are you all right?’ She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and said she was. I watched her a little longer as she rested, and once she finally pushed forward, then I too continued on my path. After that, I ran into the group of young men again as they had stopped to rest near one of the stations. We had a few moments of ‘international relations’ and then I started on the next leg of the trail.

(3.8 kilometers from the summit of Mt. Fuji.)

At a quarter to 6, I reached our mountain hut. It wasn’t as prehistoric as a hut sounds, but a nice suitable lodging. They even sold snacks and ramen for three times the usual price. Now all I had to do was wait for the others, so I sat on the bench across from the entrance. Time passed, strangers passed, the young men from Kyoto University passed, and I waited. Then, a woman sat next to me, and it was the same woman that I had encountered on the trail. She seemed to be really tired, drained from the climb. She told me it was her first time climbing Mt. Fuji, even though she had lived in the nearby town all her life. When I asked her about her lodgings, she told me that it was up near the 9th station. I was shocked. That would take at least another hour, if not longer at her pace. I was worried whether or not she could make it, but she insisted she was fine and soon got up to hit the trail again.

(The trail was consistently packed with hikers.)

By now, I had been sitting in front of the lodging for some time. The greeter took notice and approached me, asking about the reservation. It was well past six, but the others had still not arrived. He told me I could wait inside for them, but I chose to stay outside and wait. It could have been any minute. In fact, it wasn’t until almost 6:30pm that they arrived. You could see the wear in their faces as the crested the last of the stairs to the station platform. I was only cold from sitting still.

We finally regrouped and entered the hut, paid our lodging fee (about $100) and waited to be served dinner. I could understand why many people would camp, or simply time their climb so that they wouldn’t have to stop for a few hours. It was good that we had the chance to stop. The girls were tired, and we were all hungry, and a bit cold. Though we weren’t the last to arrive, we somehow ended up being the last to receive dinner, Japanese curry. They also provided us with a bag of breakfast, also known as two rolls and some jam. The sleeping arrangements were set in large rooms lined with group bunks and sleeping bags. It wasn’t much for the price, but I suppose any sort of shelter is a commodity up on top of a mountain. We lied down to sleep sometime past seven, but I hardly slept a wink. I couldn’t sleep with the other people in the room snoring, the lights outside blinking, and the voices of various visitors as they passed the hut. I did the only sensible thing, and that was to get out of bed.

First, I visited the bathroom, donated my 200 yen and sat in the main room for a bit. There, one of the women who ran the hut, was greeting people who came by for wood burnings. Each station provided its own brand to mark one’s journey as they pursued the summit. Joy was carrying a stick of her own. I understand it was a great souvenir, but I found it was an obstacle when climbing. I talked with the woman briefly, and then sat in the warm room with another guest who was having altitude sickness. I was surprised that I felt perfectly fine at all. So I sat there, and waited, counting off the time until it made sense to dress for the weather again and wake up the crew. We planned to leave before all the other groups clogged up the trail, which meant at 11:30pm it was time for round two.

(The great full moon watched over our last leg of the journey.)

JULY 13

Our second round up the mountain started out in the same fashion as the first, with a slow and gradual trail of gravel. I kept catching myself ahead of the group, but I would wait. There was no question that I could reach the summit, but I was here to do it with my best friends. I paired myself up with Rachael, who trooped onward despite the then oxygen levels. That’s why we had cans of oxygen with us. Joy also had something of a cold, so she used the cans as well.

I sent Joy and Aurianne on ahead, as Rachael and I brought up the rear. Maybe we had to rest at every turn of the trail, but we never stopped. We gave light to the couple that decided to climb without flashlights, and I met another couple from Australia. Then, as we were nearing the peak, we passed a small crew of emergency men. They were surrounding a woman who had collapsed on the trail from tiredness; it was the same woman who I talked to only a few hours before. I hung back as Rachael went on, eavesdropping on their conversation, she seemed all right, but I didn’t ask until one of the men proceeded up the trail. He said she was all right, but they were going to have someone help her to the nearest station and then probably take her down to the 5th station. I felt empathy for her because she tried so hard, but also there was a faint sense of disbelief that the one woman I talked to would be that woman.

There had been many once in a lifetime encounters during our climb. Now, all that lied before us was the final climb to the gates of the mountain shrine. Joy and Aurianne would be waiting for us. We climbed in the deepest dark of the night, guided only by our little lamps and a trail occasionally lit with torches, two amongst many, from all over the world. We met with the summit at half past three in the morning, a good hour before sunrise. Joy and Aurianne were huddled together against the cold air, facing the east horizon. Rachael quickly settled down with them. There was nothing to do, but wait. I couldn’t sit still, so I went off in search for a bathroom to no avail. After that I stayed standing so I could move around and stay warm in some way. We should have brought some more aids against the wind.

Dawn started to peek over the horizon, causing everyone to rise from their seats to take pictures. We took our pictures, too, as daylight filled the air. There I was, July 13th, the dawn of my own birthday, atop one of the world’s wonders. It was wonderful.

(We reached the summit! I couldn’t have done it without these amazing women. I can’t thank them enough for sharing this experience with me.)

Wonderful until the cold started to bite at us again. We saw what was needed to be seen, and it was time to start our descent. Almost the entire descent was more difficult than the ascent, in my opinion. Whether that was because I had not gotten any sleep, and the very little rest that I did receive over the past day hardly gave my legs a chance to recover, or if it was just navigating down the loose gravel for hours… we also needed to go to the bathroom. The entire way down that’s all we were thinking of. Unfortunately, there was no place to go until we reached the 7th station. After that, it was still hard on our legs, but we bore with it until we returned to the 5th station.

(The view as we descended the mountain at first light was breathtaking.)

We had just enough energy to look at the souvenir stores and grab some snacks before we boarded the bus back to Kawaguchiko. I had successfully fasted on my way up and down the mountain, but once the trial ended, I needed something to keep me awake and functioning. It was my birthday, so until our bus back to Nagoya came back we loitered around the station, ate lunch and a few sweets from the convenient store. For the first time, I was knocked out on the bus, all the way back to Nagoya. The walk back to our apartment was painful, and we were still half-asleep; it was the complete opposite of our departure. We will sleep well tonight.

STUDY ABROAD:WEEK 29

MARCH 16

It didn’t seem as though anyone was going to the park to practice today so I went shopping. I was scoping out all the stores in Sakae looking for an appropriate dress of some kind for the Senior’s Send-Off Party. I brought nice clothes when I came to Japan, but those were ‘presentation-worthy’ nice clothes, not formal wear. GU has a lot of dresses to choose from, and their LL size fits me fine. However, the styles are just too cute for me. That and many of the dresses are really short, which is not good for me at all. GAP also had some promising styles, but I ended up buying a pair of jeans instead. The prices were reasonable, to say the least, so if I can’t find anything else, I’ll probably come back next week and choose something.

MARCH 17

More shopping around today; this time I looked a little closer to home at the Meieki Department store above the station. I knew they had plus size shops in there somewhere, but it took me quite some time to figure out how to reach the floor with the advertised large sizes. I did find it eventually, but I was quickly disinterested when I saw the price tags. Everything in those stores was hundreds of dollars, not fifty dollars or so, but hundreds. That was way out of my budget. The shop keepers tried to talk me into things, but I excused myself as gently as I could.

After leaving the department store I headed down to the underground shopping mall. Maybe I would find shoes at least; I had seen shops with large sizes for women, so it was only a matter of price and style. As my luck would have it, there was no glass slipper to satisfy both my budget and my tastes. Four hours of searching only to end up empty-handed once again. Now, I feel like I need to take a break from ‘shopping’ for a while.

MARCH 18

The strain in my back has considerably lessened!! That means I slept well last night. As for today, it was back to dance practice, only this time I was doing some hip hop. With the new semester approaching, it’s time to prepare to invite the new freshmen into our club. The best way to advertise our club is with a showcase of course. I have wanted to do a showcase again for a while now, so when the girls asked me to join their hip hop group I jumped on it. I forgot how aerobic hip hop can be, especially when you are practicing the same routine over and over non-stop. It was a great reminder to myself how fun hip hop is. Break dancing is fun, too, but on a different level. If only I could combine them in real life like I do in my head.

MARCH 19

It doesn’t look like things are going to slow down for a while, so I took a break while I could. Started doing some spring cleaning, but generally I just lazed around until it was time to go to training.

MARCH 20

Practice was so much fun today! We didn’t make much progress with the hip hop choreography yet, since our two leaders are still thinking it out, but we did have practice in the multi-purpose room again. After moving from the small studio (where we were working on the hip hop choreography) back to the practice room, I was shocked at the sudden increase of break dancers.

At first, I didn’t know anyone outside of the BPM members. Some of the faces I was able to recognize from past events, including SOUL BREAK. I found myself a little corner of the room to keep practicing until we moved the practice outside. During a brief break, all the guest dancers gathered in the Mini Stop. I happened to come across them when I bought a cup Ramen, and with one acquaintance at the table, I inserted myself into the group. There was little communication between us until I decided to put my broccoli in my ramen to cook. That started our conversation, and by the end of the night I had seven new break dancing acquaintances, even one BGIRL who I tried to introduce myself to before (but clearly failed to do).

MARCH 21

So…funny story. During training today I was left to run the kid’s class. The teacher gave me a line out print of a flag and instructed me to show the children how to color it. I clearly did not read the instructions. During the coloring, I chose three bright colors that the kids recognized very well: blue, red and yellow. I thought things went well until the teacher came back and gave me a really confused look. She asked me, ‘Why did you color the German flag like this?’ Suddenly, everything made sense, and the words appeared on the page for the directions on which order to color the flag. That’s what I get for assuming this was just another free activity; reading instructions has always been a weakness of mine.

With that slip up against Germany under my belt, I proceeded to go to a party at Chi and Tobias’ new apartment. Their internships were taking place in Nagoya, so they simply moved to a different apartment, closer to the station and International Center. Several of the upperclassmen and international students had gathered, so we had a fun night playing different card games.

MARCH 22

The party-goers slowly went home on their own accord, until it was just me a couple people remaining. Those people soon fell asleep, and then the Germans turned on the soccer match. That meant the party was over, so I headed home at 5:30am and slept until the afternoon. Then it was back for another day of training.

STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 24

FEBRUARY 9

Otaru is officially my favorite place in Hokkaido. It takes just about an hour to get from Sapporo to Otaru by train, but part of the train ride itself is its own reward. After passing through many small towns the scenery opens up. Snow covered mountains line the horizon with a screen of black pine trees painted over them. Tall mountainous cliffs of snow supported by an inclined support of logs also line part of the rail way. Across from that, to the right of the train, there is suddenly a lake. Dark blue and black, the kind of lake you expect to see some marvelous creature come forth in the breaks of the white waves. But the lake is silent, as another strong black mountain watches over it waters.

Though Otaru is a relatively famous town, it’s a station you can only access on the local line. The station itself is simple, and small, unlike the colossus of the big city stations. We left the station with little knowledge of the area, but there was a sign that pointed to the waterside. Once we reached the waterside, we were surprised that there was little signage regarding the Otaru Music Box Museum.

My senses suggested we head North, or at least what seemed like North. In any case, we followed the road with the water to our right side until we came upon a more populated area in town. There, spread before us like a little Dutch town, stood the Music Box museums. We entered the first building in front of the clock tower as we searched for a place to build our own music boxes. The first building was a museum, a clean cut look into the history of the music boxes. There, we found out that there was five other buildings on the area map that were part of the museums. At each building, you could receive a stamp, so we picked up another mission of finding all the stamps.

We left the quite museum just as the clock tower outside the building rung its hour. Not only did music play, but steam rose from the tower and a couple little figures danced around the clock. It was very popular with the tourists, so we all tried to take our pictures amongst the crowd before heading to the next stop on the map. I say next stop, but really we were free to go anywhere.

(Otaro Orgel Museum)

The second building was small, built into a storefront along the street. It was also a little gaudy, decorated with many Victorian style furniture, crystals and tapestries. The pieces in this building, which was part museum, and part store, varied in value, unlike the top dollar pieces of true history in the first museum. There was, however, a very large organ style music box. It still functioned and it would be played once or twice a day with a little puppet show. This was also our first glimpse at the modern music boxes to come. No longer where they classic box shapes, but it seemed as though anything and everything could be made into a music “box”. They looked more like jewelry, or toys than anything.

From that store, we decided to walk up the street, away from the Music Box Museum, in search of lunch. There was one store we were looking for in particular: Kita no ice, an ice cream shop famous for its unique flavors, such as squid ink. With Joy’s GPS we wandered up the streets, passing more interesting shops on the way which we promised to go back to. Eventually we entered what looked like the downtown area of the city, with buses and taxis lining the intersections. A couple blocks into the city, we turned onto a small side road that looked like a snowed out alleyway. There it was, hidden in the back streets of Otaru, with snow up to its doors and a sign that said closed until April. Our quest was in vain.

It was unfortunate, but we were still determined about two things, to find a quick cheap lunch, and some ice cream. As we headed back toward the Music Box museums, we grabbed some chicken from a place called Naruto, which was famous for serving its hanshinage chicken, literally half a chicken, during lunch. We only grabbed some cups of fried chicken nuggets to go. The various treasure shops along the road back finally pulled us in. From Native arts, crafted with animal skins and stone, to the commercialized mass of souvenir goods, we perused everything and bought little. I had bought a few things for omiyage, including some chocolate from LeTAO. They gave us free samples at the door, so how could we not buy a small box or two? The box I bought was half milk, half green tea-flavored chocolate, and I intend to give it to the international center when we return to Nagoya.

 

As we wandered we finally came upon the largest building among the Music Box Museums, and it seemed even bigger on the inside. Three massive floors filled with countless music boxes. It was there that we could craft our own music box at a reasonable price by choosing from several pieces of music, and two or three decorations, including the box cover. Rachael was overjoyed with the idea, so she built two or three boxes herself, and then she also bought a few pre-made ones as well. Joy also bought a couple to give to her family. I was tempted… My grandmother would have loved a music box, I thought. There was also small carousels that reminded me of the large set at my grandmother’s house that I used to love when I was little. I’m not sure what happened to it, but since recently we are in a state of cleaning out all the extra trinkets from her house, I decided against adding to the mess. At least not this time; should I ever come back to Otaru, I think I will have to make a few purchases for my family as well.

(Music box pieces for your own creations)

I thought I was handling my wallet well that day, but then we came upon the Character House. It wasn’t just a music box store, though there were a few music boxes there. The two floors of the store were spotted with character goods, from Hello Kitty to Disney, to Studio Ghibli and beyond. I was immediately drawn to the Disney section. Among the goods, were some very well-crafted stuffed dolls, blankets and figurines; I had never seen these items in the Disney Stores. They were definitely a different tier. In the end, I bought myself a stuffed Tigger doll and small warm blanket with Classic Pooh and Piglet.

With my craving to buy something cured it was now time to find the last stamp. We had to backtrack up the street to some tiny high-class jewelry stops to find them, but on the way back towards the station we also found ice cream… twice. Both stores offered unique Hokkaido flavors, and in the second location we were able to sit in and out of the cold. It was a long day, but as many good days do, it ended with a sweet treat before a long ride back to Sapporo and the semi-comfort of our shared bed.

FEBRUARY 10

This morning we ventured out to visit Hokkaido University. It wasn’t that far from the station, so we walked. All of us were jealous of the large campus; it was like a small town. We didn’t venture into any of the buildings, but instead we played around in the snow to the point that we became soaked and cold. This snowman with the interesting growth greeted us as we left the university grounds and headed back towards downtown Sapporo.

Much of the afternoon was dedicated to one thing: a search for a Snow Miku doll. This doll’s design changes every year with the new snow festival, so it’s a somewhat rare commodity. When we arrived in Sapporo there had been plenty of these dolls in the souvenir stands and at the convenient stores. I received word from one of my friends asking to buy him one, so I tried. Had I gone out last night to buy it, I could have gotten one of the last dolls, but this morning they were all gone. As Joy and Rachael went back to take pictures of the snow sculptures, I went to every convenience store and goods stand I could find. In the end, I bought him a few items with the same character on them, like a keychain and a muffler.

That little purchase left me with little money, but I was determined to last the next three days off the 8000 yen in my wallet. I haven’t bought nearly half of my souvenirs yet, so I assume that’s where my money will disappear.

Tonight, however, we were lucky enough to be mostly treated to dinner. A friend of Rachael’s, whom she met in Hawaii, invited us out to dinner with a couple of her friends. This woman, Shuko, was a bit older than us, but she was very fit for her age (she’s a marathon runner). She was also a very open person who loved to have a good time, so we all had a great evening thanks to her. At the end of the night, since it was already drawing on midnight, she offered to let us stay in her room at the hotel…The Hotel Okura. We insistently declined, but she showed us her room anyway— it was huge! The bathroom was probably the size of our single room. She laughed when we told her about our sleeping situation, but we couldn’t bring it upon ourselves to take her up on her offer. With only the slightest regret, we headed back to our little, homey room for a good rest.

FEBRUARY 11

We’re starting to get tired of the cold. That and we are trying to save up our money. Tonight we made plans again to meet with Shuko for dinner at an Italian Restaurant with another small group of friends. We slept in late, lazed around our bed, and killed time in the warm room before we went out to find the restaurant called Osteria Yoshie. Shuko taught me the location of the place the night before; it was at South-1 and East-3 Street. That’s where we headed, but as we looked along the street for some beaming light with the restaurant’s name lit across it we found nothing. As the meeting time came closer, we called Shuko to confirm the location. She told us to wait till she got there, and that it was on the first floor of a building. Turns out we were standing practically right in front of the building all long: it was tucked away on the first floor of another building with no restaurant relation whatsoever.

The dishes were very delicious, but unfortunately a bit on the small side. Many of the dishes were to be shared amongst the table, and they continued to come out like a course meal. I don’t mind sharing, but it’s always hard when it comes down to the last bits of food. A lot of our conversation with the new group was “Would you like the last of this or that?” Last night I was able to speak with Shuko and her group more directly, but tonight we seemed separate from them. Thankfully, Joy, Rachael and I were all in the same boat— we just enjoyed our food and the new atmosphere. Tomorrow is our last full day in Sapporo.

FEBRUARY 12

Souvenir time! We walked around the city all day, buying little treats for people here and there. I found a great discount bag full of what looks like hard candies in apple, milk, and melon flavors. Then, of course, we each had to by some Koibito, a famous Hokkaido cookie with creamy chocolate sandwiched between the thin wafers. All the shopping is done, all the money that can be spent is gone. Now I’m down to 3000 yen, which should be enough to get my back to Nagoya.

FEBRUARY 13

Our flight wasn’t until the late afternoon, so we had plenty of time in the morning to pack up our bags. Even though I thought my huge orange duffel was too big for the trip at first, it came in handy when packing in other people’s omiyage as well. We actually had too many bags when we arrived at the airport and we needed to check an extra one.

But we made it! We’re finally heading home! Back to Aichi, back to Nagoya! Back to a mild winter with no snow, a bed to ourselves, clean laundry, and let’s not forget curry! After we get back tonight it’s already been decided that we are going to meet with the other students for curry.

FEBRUARY 14

First day back in Nagoya and it snows, what luck.

I didn’t realize it was snow at first because it came out of nowhere as I was returning home from my run. I honestly thought a bird had suddenly pooped on me. But, no, it was snow. The flakes were large and fluffy, but soon there was quite a bit falling in the streets. At one point it stopped, which was when I decided to go out grocery shopping. And then again! A huge snow flake attacked me— I really thought it was bird poop again.

A heavier snow persisted this time, but I hurried to the sanctuary of MaxValu, only to find it was closed: under construction, or reformation. Half of the building, where the hayku-en shop and Elpas shoe store had been was now torn down. Not only that, but it wold be closed until the beginning of March! I had to double back and stop at the little grocer on the way home for some essentials. I guess this month we’ll be shopping at Aoki Supermarket or Piago.

Above all that, it was Valentine’s Day today, and this was the kind of luck I had. I also had training down in Toyohashi with the three high school boys. I gave them and my host family chocolates from Hokkaido in part as omiyage, and also for Valentine’s Day. In Japan, it’s customary for the girls to give chocolate to their male interests, coworkers, family members, etc. Then, a month later on March 14th, White’s Day, the men reciprocate with a gift, or candy.

It was a strange day indeed.

FEBRUARY 15

Today I spent most of the day delivering omiyage to our landlords, and to my friends… I found out that the big bag of candy was actually not hard candies. They were delicious, mouthwatering chews~ I wish I had kept some for myself!

I also delivered the chocolate to the International Center. They accepted them, but told me not to bring them stuff in the future during my time as a student. I could give gifts to the teachers directly, but there was a rule against receiving gifts from students as an office. I couldn’t quite understand why, since it was not like I was bargaining anything out of them. I guess they don’t want us to worry about spending our money on them— but isn’t part of the study abroad participating in new customs? I guess I’ll just prepare to give my omiyage directly to the teachers next time.

STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 23

FEBRUARY 2

Generations Volume 2, a break dance battle event, held at the University of Nagoya. Members from BPM, as well as from Shirakawa Park were going to dance today, so I went to support them. The event opened at 11am, so I made sure to arrive at Sakurayama Station by 10:30am to wait for the others to arrive. Humito arrived first, soon followed by Sato, Yusei, and Bayashi.

When I first arrived at the station, I assumed that the large University right next to the station was the correct location. However, after snooping around and looking for a sign of dancers, I quickly came to realize that it could not be the venue. In fact, it was the university hospital, in other words, the medical campus. The campus where the event was being held was a few blocks down the road. It was sometime after 11 when we arrived, but the place was already filled with dancers warming up. Several members of BPM, as well as a couple other faces that I recognized, were there too. Before the event started, there was a segment of DJ time. Ken kept pressing me to go out there and dance, and I wanted to, but I hung back. I’ve challenged so many things in the past few months, but even I can’t understand why I don’t just go out there and dance freely like everyone else. It’s something that I have to keep challenging.

After noon the battles finally began. There was a total of 68 teams, all two versus two. BPM and the Park members all made it into the second round, but by the 3rd round nearly everyone I knew was eliminated. There were also kid teams, really talented kids. I couldn’t imagine having to face them.

Ken and the others left early to prepare for a nabe party back at Ken’s house. Humito and I hung back to watch the showcase and then we soon headed for Ken’s house as well. Zawarun and Sato picked us up at the station and drove us the rest of the way. The food was nowhere near ready, in fact, they hadn’t even bought groceries. Bayashi was working on his laptop in the video editing program Premiere. We talked about how I was an art major, and then of course I had to explain my current study abroad situation.

As the night went on, and the nabe was finally prepared, we had a delicious meal together. The other members seem to enjoy teasing Sato, maybe a little too much. Once that fun was over we started playing card games until it was time to catch the last train home.

FEBRUARY 3

I went to school today to see if I could use the studio to practice one last time before we head to Hokkaido for 10 days! I had to wait until 4:30, so I inked a few pages to kill time. Then, since no one else could come, I practiced by myself for a couple hours. Even if it’s just me, I still can’t dance fluidly. A move here, a step there, maybe I’m thinking too much. I just need to listen to the music.

FEBRUARY 4

Heading to Hokkaido today!!! In part to see the snow festival, but mostly because it’s Hokkaido.

Usually I pack for a trip well in advance. I don’t know why, but I didn’t actually pack for Hokkaido until this morning. Maybe it’s because I’m not looking forward to the cold trip, or maybe it’s because I have no idea what I’m supposed to pack. I have left most of the planning up to Joy, so in many ways I’m going on this trip blind.

On top of that, we all got an e-mail from Mr. Yoshida to meet him in campus at 10am. From there we were going to head straight to the station to get to the airport before our 4pm flight. I just threw warm clothes in my large orange duffel bag (the new blue one I bought at Donki would not suffice) and headed for campus. It was good news. We all received the JASSO scholarship for the next semester; that’s $800 a month we had not accounted for. All it requires is a few pieces of paperwork and a report once the study abroad program is over.

After that meeting, I actually started to feel excited about Hokkaido. Our flight was only an hour long, and when we arrived in Hokkaido it was dark and snowy. From the Chintose Airport, we had another hour long commute by train into Sapporo city. The snow was piling up, not just on the streets, but on us as well as we walked towards our hotel. Tobias, one of the German exchange students, had also flown into Sapporo around the same time as us, so we met him for dinner before actually stopping at our hotel. We already needed a break from the snow and cold.

When we were ready to brave the cold again, we trudged through the fresh snow down the main street for several blocks until we reached our hotel. Our lovely accommodation was a single room, to be shared by the three of us. It was a budget move. We ended up lying sideways across the bed, with towels as pillows and our feet propped on our luggage.

FEBRUARY 5

 Our highlight of the day was eating Ramen in the famous Sapporo Ramen Yokocho, ramen alley. I suppose it’s called that because the narrow little alleyway has nothing but tiny ramen restaurants, side to side, all lined up with their own special deals. I was able to find some ramen without pork for 800 yen. The warm soup and noodles were a comfort against the cold.

But, it couldn’t last for long, as new customers came to eat the ramen. We gave up our warm seats and headed on into the cold once again. North of the ramen road was the world renowned snow festival, spread across several blocks and lined with dozens upon dozens of snow sculptures. There was also a snowboard and ski tournament going on over the next few days at the east end of the snow festival, just before the TV tower. We spent the rest of the day wandering up and down the road

looking at the sculptures and simply getting to know the area.

((Above) Ice Sculptures near Susukino; (below) Massive snow sculpture) 

Once it got dark, the temperature dropped again, so we headed back to our warm hotel room. It was tiny, but it was better than wandering aimlessly in the cold. We bought dinner from the nearby convenient store and stayed up for a few hours just talking before calling it an early night.

FEBRUARY 6

This morning we took the bus out to the Maruyama Zoo; my first trip to a zoo in Japan, and my first trip to one since August. I forgot how much I enjoyed visiting zoos, there’s something peaceful about observing all different kinds of animal life. The Maruyama Zoo did not disappoint. Despite the cold, the animals were out and about, or at least visible. We had a lot of fun navigating around the massive snow piles that mounted up on the sides of the trails. They also had impressive polar bear and wolf exhibits, which I suppose should have been expected since those animals are native to the environment.

(Six geese… and a duck: someone has identity issues.)

We returned to Sapporo from the Zoo in the late afternoon, only to run into Marie, one of the French girls, and her boyfriend. It was completely by chance but we made a plan to eat dinner that night with them and her boyfriend’s friend. At the same time, a couple of the girls from China and Taiwan were also in Sapporo to see the snow festival, so we invited them as well. Sometime after 6pm we all regrouped at the Sapporo station and went to a nearby restaurant to eat soba. Marie’s boyfriend’s friend and I ended up sitting next to each other, so we talked through dinner, mostly about sports and food. However, when dinner was over, he, along with the Chinese girls, had to go home early, leaving the five of us to wander around the closing Pokemon Center. I always want to buy something, but I can never decide because there are too many new Pokemon that I don’t recognize.

As I said, the stores were closing, so soon we had to leave the building. We still wanted to hang out a little more, but since we couldn’t find a karaoke place, we settled for an all-you-can-drink deal for the rest of the night. It was past 11pm when we all went home. In the cold, dark night, there was something attractive about Sapporo that I didn’t notice in the bright daylight. I think it was the lack of people flooding the streets, the lack of tourism. That’s one of the reasons I like seeing the cities at night: you can really feel the city as a place, not just a business or tourist location. Nagoya, Sapporo, and it was the same in 2011 in Tokyo. The cities at night are quiet and peaceful. Maybe that’s why I like the countryside too?

FEBRUARY 7

The simplest way to describe today’s events is ‘too much’. We joined Tobias on an adventure out to a place called Moerenuma Park. Only it wasn’t a simple bus ride out to a nice little park. The bus took us out to the middle of nowhere. It literally dropped us off at a bus stop surrounded by nothing but snow. I wanted to believe we got off at the wrong stop, but we didn’t. Our destination was down the road, a good long walk through piles of snow. The snow was literally piled up to our heads on either side of the shoveled sidewalks. Joy and Tobias enjoyed taking pictures of the open expanse, but I was just ready to get to the park and head back to Sapporo. We made plans to visit the Sapporo Beer Garden tonight and eat Genghis Khan, fresh lamb meat; that was the only thing that kept me going through all that snow.

Once we reached the park, it was still another long walk to anything. In particular, there was a small mountain and a Glass Pyramid. The Glass Pyramid was called “Hidamari”, or “sunny spot”. We came upon the small mountain first. A few people were sledding down the hill, so it looked like it was safe to climb up. They were only halfway up the mountain though. Joy and Tobias wanted to climb up a bit of the way to see the view. I went with them out of some warped idea and determination that I could climb to the top of the mountain. Why only go halfway up, right?

The mountain was of course packed with snow, but it was an easier climb than I thought. I was grateful I bought my boots—they were getting their money’s worth today. It wasn’t long before I reached the mountain’s summit, an empty, frozen, ice covered summit, with a wide-open view of the surrounding lands. It was a refreshing view, but that impression only lasted long enough for my fingers to freeze trying to take pictures.

(Panoramic view from atop the mountain; we are cleary in the middle of nowhere.)

 Back down the mountain, half-sliding, half-running, now with an all new drive to get into the warm shelter that lied at the bottom. Rachael was already waiting there for us, down in front of the Glass Pyramid. Finally, we were able to find some warmth and some sustenance from the vending machines.

There was little else to do in the Glass Pyramid other than enjoy the warmth and explore the three empty floors.

Tobias and Joy had their fill with taking pictures all over the Glass Pyramid, and when we were all warm again it was back outside to find our way back to the isolated bus stop. The walk back wasn’t nearly as bad, but we had to wait for some time for the bus to arrive once we reached the bus stop. At the same there was a high school girl waiting at the bus stop as well. Joy and Rachael were having a snowball fight, of all things. But, I guess they don’t have snow in Hawaii, so it’s a rare experience for them. I had made a comment, which started up a conversation with the high school girl. Despite the frigid temperatures, she was wearing a short skirt, without warm leggings. I asked her why, and she said that her leggings were in the laundry. To which I replied, ‘Then why don’t you have more leggings? Aren’t you cold?’ She laughed. ‘Yeah, it’s cold. I guess I’m used to it.’

Just looking at her made me colder. She had been waiting before us, and her bus would come after ours. I wished her luck as we boarded the bus back to Sapporo. It was back in Sapporo that we got a little lost trying to find our way to the Sapporo Beer Garden. We walked around an unknown part of the city until we finally stumbled upon the right path. We were so close to warmth and delicious lamb meat. So close, but we still had to walk through part of the Beer Garden to reach the restaurant.

Patience came through: we finally sat down to enjoy all-you-can-eat Genghis Khan that you fry on your own to perfection.  The whole building smelled of meat, as the scent of grilled meat drafted up to the high ceilings. They even provided plastic bags to store your jackets or belongings in so they wouldn’t be drenched in the scent. We didn’t care.

After that day, with too much snow, too much cold, too much walking… I’m not ashamed to say we had about eight rounds of that meat between the four of us. It was well worth the 4000yen.

FEBRUARY 8

Today we wandered aimlessly about the city. We discovered the underground shopping area which connects Sapporo Station to the station closest to our hotel. That means we no longer have to walk outside in the cold, at least when it’s really cold. We checked out the souvenir stores, the Disney store and other stores around the station before deciding to have a fancy parfait for lunch. Dinner was another first in Japan, KFC; it was a taste of home in a place that now feels like it is home. By that I mean, it can get pretty cold in winter. This year in particular the cold and snow back in Toledo is ridiculous. It’s actually colder than where we are in Hokkaido right now. I’m glad I’m in Japan.

For the record, parfaits are extremely popular in Japan. This store in particular not only had dozens of options, but also group sizes as well.