Warm Fuzzies

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In Tokushima, warmer days are signalling spring's return. But in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, walls of snow coat the rural landscapes as well as the skyscrapers of its capital city. Two weeks ago, a group of JETs plus Francesca, my sorority sister-turned-fellow-Asia-explorer, braved this frigid frontier to see Sapporo's annual snow festival: Yuki Matsuri. Alight with ice and snow sculptures, festival food and activities like ice skating, tubing and a giant ski-jump slope, the wintery city seemed to smile.

In between festival exploits, I'd like to think I also experienced some of the distinct culture of Hokkaido and its native Ainu people. Before it became part of Japan, the island was a separate country with a history reminiscent of that of Native Americans in North America. In one Ainu shop, I learned to say hello in their language: irankarapte.

Yuki Matsuri Highlights:

- Watching ski and snowboard jumping, which felt like a front row seat to the X Games with a J-Punk soundtrack. Maybe it's the cheerleader in me, but conventional sports like baseball have nothing on back flips and big air.

- Cheese. Hokkaido is famous for its cows and resulting cheese and chocolate, so after living in cheese-deficient Japan the rich fondue and cheese-smothered potatoes were a fat girl's dream. The winner in terms of calories as well as all-around awesomeness was a crepe filled with a slice of cheesecake, whipped cream, bananas and chocolate sauce.

- A whimsical chocolate factory that had everyone singing the oompa-loompa song. Colorful playhouses and an ice-slide trimmed the courtyard of the castle-esque building, interspersed with twisting, snow-covered trees.

- Nighttime views of the larger-than-life snow sculptures of shrines, animals and cartoon characters in Sapporo and humbler statues in Otaru - an icy wall of candle-lit figures and designs opposite a candle-lined river transformed this nearby city into a fairytale.

There were many moments in which the enchanting scenery and no shortage of beer induced us to act like children, including an epic snowball fight to the death outside of the Sapporo Beer Garden and log-rolling down a hill... twice. With Francesca I also got to revel in Miami nostalgia, escaping from the cold with a GREEK marathon.

Maybe it was all of this time warping, but something about the trip made me realize how much like a second family the other JETs have become over the past six months. Being the only illiterate, too-incompetent-to-sit-in-the-teacher's-room-alone-for-ten-minutes foreigner at the workplace, and then coming home to an empty apartment every day can get exhausting and isolating. Without such open and sincere friends, I probably would have hopped a plane to the Philadelphia airport four months ago.

So, despite my iced fingers and toes, I had warm fuzzies throughout this Hokkaido winter holiday.

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Photos

Oompa-loompa doopity-doo
Outside the chocolate factory

Upsidedown American Flag!
In Otaru

Gaijin!
Even at a festival with millions of people, we are celebrities

Comments

[Uncle Bob]

Keep up the good work -- this is a great blog entry. Your readers are out here. The photos also really help us to get the full flavor of your experiences. I know you'll enjoy seeing your mom and dad VERY SOON. Have a ball.