Hello, readers! Jane here. It is an unusual weekday night for us- we decided to stay in and relax instead of going to BJJ. Winter is in full force now- it has been snowing everyday for the last 10 days and the forecast is for more snow every day for the next 5 days. And after that? Probably more snow.
We definitely didn't get this much snow in such a short period of time last year. We are running out of places to put the snow! The snow in front of our apartment building has reached the first floor balconies and the building is occasionally shaken by accumulated snow falling off the roof. The school next door already has quite a sizable ski hill for the kids to practice on. The sidewalks and the streets are now separated by 5 foot walls of snow and pedestrians are side stepping each other on the narrow pathways. It is a true winter wonderland! I only hope that this keeps up because it is tons of fun for me and bodes well for an awesome ski season.
So how much skiing have we done so far? Well, admittedly not as much as we should be doing. But we'll be remedying that soon! Actually, the season was delayed by about two weeks at most resorts and if they did open, courses were limited.
The best time for us to go on an extended ski trip was for the Christmas/New Year week. We visited our favorite ski resort, Furano and tried out a new place for us, Kamui Ski Links. Both resorts had basically opened around the week before we came and conditions were less than stellar- certainly not up to par with last year's conditions. Still, it was great to be back skiing at our favorite ski town (even though our favorite runs were closed still!). One shouldn't really complain when there's good hard pack on the ground, no lines at the lifts and good weather.
After skiing three days in Furano, we transferred over to Asahikawa city. This is the second largest city in Hokkaido, boasts a fine ramen and is home to the northernmost zoo in Japan, which is the first place we visited after we checked our luggage into our hotel. (And beyond those three things, Asahikawa offered little else.)
Asahiyama Zoo is an extremely popular zoo. I even read that it is often competing only with Ueno Zoo in Tokyo in annual number of visitors. They even have a special zoo train that runs between Sapporo and Asahikawa, complete with cars named after animals and animal shaped chairs. Have you ever seen a giraffe in the snow? How about a lioness in the snow? Maybe this happens in zoos in America but we never thought about it?
In the winter, the zoo's most famous attraction is, of course, the penguin walk. It is actually as awesome as it sounds. Twice a day, they open the penguin exhibit and march the penguins around. The penguins walk right past you. Watch the video- I am not zoomed in at all. Those penguins are IN MY FACE. (You might have to click the picture and have another window open up to watch the video.)
Two other features I really liked was the vertical tube that the seals would swim through and the underwater view of the penguin exhibit.
We spent the the next three days skiing at Kamui Ski Links. The conditions were similar to Furano. The resort is bit small- could have spent one day exploring it but it was pretty fun and relaxing. I especially liked the link run between peaks. It was a slightly narrow, ungroomed run that caused me a lot of anxiety but was also a lot of fun. We watched some guys practicing some competitive mogul skiing and pulling some awesome tricks. Kamui was also full of racers of all ages. Overall, a pretty nice mountain and is probably great when the conditions are better.
We arrived back in Sapporo on New Year's Day, after an uneventful New Year's Eve. (We watched Dynamite MMA on TV until we got sleepy and dozed off as some drumming and cheering floated into our room from outside.) New Year's Day in Sapporo was hectic. I don't think I've ever seen the station so lively. There were huge sales in all the stores and
fukubukuro (lucky bags) aplenty. Basically you buy a
fukubukuro at a set price (usually somewhere between 5000 Yen and 10000 Yen for bigger stores) and you can't see what's inside until after you buy it. You might end up with something you already own or something you wouldn't ever wear but you'll have gotten it at a killer bargain price!
Christmas takes a backseat to New Year celebrations here in Japan.
Oshogatsu (the beginning of the year) is a time for visiting with friends and family, going to the temple, eating symbolic food and drinking lots of sake. On January 2nd, we were invited to eat and drink with the family of one of the teachers Ryan works with. I ate whale soup and salmon jerky. Ryan drank lots of "demon killer" sake and was even able to meet a
maiko (apprentice geisha).
And to round out my
oshogatsu, I visited the Hokkaido Shrine with a friend of mine and paid my respects to the
kami (spirits/natural forces/gods).
It was a whirlwind trip and a whirlwind new year...and it didn't end there for me- I went to Hawaii less than a week after coming back. But that's for another post.
Please enjoy our new layout! The background is Ryan in Furano, patiently waiting for me to stop taking pictures and start skiing! Some of the new pages are still under construction but it'll all be done this week. Thanks for reading! And please view the rest of the pictures at the links below:
