Blast From the Not So Distant Past

Well, I never finished my "Blessed with Snow" series which should have been a three parter- with the さっぽろ ゆき まつり ("Sapporo Yuki Matsuri" = Sapporo Snow Festival) being the conclusion. So here it is!

For those of you who don't know about Yuki Matsuri, it is a festival celebrated in Sapporo every year in February. Hundreds of snow and ice statues are built in three different sites- Odori Park has small and large snow sculptures, Susukino has ice statues and the Tsudome Dome is basically turned into a playground made of snow and ice with funny activities such as Waku-waku Tappy Land and Snow Crystal Watching.

The 2010 festival was the 61st. The festival was started in 1950, when a group of high school students built a few statues in Odori Park. Five years later, the Japan Self-Defense Force decided they wanted in on the fun and started building massive snow sculptures. The Self-Defense Force is actually in charge of bringing in all the snow and has to bring in snow from outside Sapporo when accumulated snowfall is low. This is considered a training exercise for them!

I can't even remember what day we went to the festival but it's only a week long, so we must have gone on a weekend night. I don't think I've ever seen so many people in Sapporo before and I probably won't again until next year. It was freezing but worth it just to see the amazing things they built! I did not expect the statues to be so big but three or four of them were actually stages.

On to the most important part: the pictures! Enjoy!

Yuki Matsuri 2010

Long Time No See!

Well, it certainly has been a long time since I've written anything here hasn't it? It's been a bit slow here in Sapporo since the ski season ended, but let me get you up to speed on a few things that have happened since our last conversation.

Early April (or was it late March?) our friend Ruky came to visit us from the U.S. She came along with one of her friends that was stopping over on his way to return home to Taiwan. Their visit consisted mostly of traveling around the main island of Honshu, but they managed to trek up North for a weekend.

Arriving late on a Friday night, we assumed that they'd be some combination of jet-lagged, hungry, and shocked by the still frigid weather of Hokkaido. So, it was only natural that we feed them our city's comfort food: Soup Curry!

Jane has mentioned this once before but let me give you a little more in depth description. Soup curry is an Indian influenced spicy soup usually made from a tomato or beef stock. Though, we've seen other varieties including coconut and seafood. Curry houses and Indian food in general are very popular dining options in Sapporo and there seems to be quite a large population of Indian immigrants on our island. We're not really sure why that is in a country as homogeneous as Japan, but we're quite happy with it seeing as Indian food tops our list of favorites. Digressing, you can have pretty much anything you want with your soup curry. Jane and I prefer mame chizu which is a vegetable option with two large pieces of mochi smothered in cheese. Delicious!



The next day, we took them to all of the popular tourist attractions in Sapporo. Unfortunately, Sapporo isn't terribly interesting unless you're planning it as a hub on your winter sports excursion. And frankly, I'm having a hard time even remembering exactly what it was we did this day, so let's just skip to the next day shall we!

Besides skiing/snowboarding, Hokkaido's other main attraction are onsen. We had already visited a very famous set of onsen in Noboribetsu when we first arrived. This time we opted for something a little closer in the towns of Hohekyo and Jyozankei. Our good friend Midori also decided to join us for our little excursion. A short bus ride later, the five of us were in the town exploring the many nooks and crannies it had to offer.

First stop, a foot bath!


I'm probably breaking every rule there is, but I'm relaxing the only way I know how!

Afterward, we walked to an interesting local shrine.


Built into the ground below is a narrow tunnel housing many Buddhist statues. It was kind of a tight fit for me but a very fun adventure nonetheless.



There were several other hot spring attractions, such as this little waterfall.


The water is actually hot enough to boil eggs!


For the last part of the day, we took our friends to the onsen for the full Hokkaido experience.

Coming up next: Jane's naginata training, our experiences at a Filipino Pub, and more!

-Ryan

And then it was spring...

April went by quickly...Spring break wasn't really a break (worked almost half of it); Ruky came to visit for a few days (Yay!); The weather was bitter cold and rainy (Ryan often reminded me that spring is NOT the best season); Then Golden Week came upon us (More on that later); And last night while we slept, someone did this to our tree:



It is finally はなみ (flower-viewing) season in Sapporo!!! I'm sorry this is going to be short. I assure you I have a backlog of posts that will be published sooooooon but I have to admit now that the blossoms have arrived, I might be a little distracted. I was feeling a bit sorry that winter was ending in April (I would trade freezing rain for a blizzard any day!) but today's warm breezes won me over! Happy Spring, everyone!

Busy busy!

The month of March flew by! Three weeks since my last entry...Gosh!

Well, if you're still at the edge of your seats wondering about the "natto experiment"- I guess it was a success...though I didn't really set any parameters to indicate a failure or a success. Natto is basically my primary source of protein now- I've taken to using it at dinner instead of breakfast because that's my last meal before going to work out usually. So I guess I'm taking it back to feudal Japan...natto and miso being vital sources of nutrition. Haha.

I am currently on はるやすみ ("haruyasumi" = spring break) though I have had to teach a few special spring break classes at Blueberry. Those were especially fun because I was able to meet the older students who usually come for after school English lessons. They are around 9-10 years old and their English is pretty astounding- I felt like I was in an American classroom, almost. The students also had はっぴょうかい ("happyoukai" = recital) and graduation this month. I was so proud of the kids, especially the little ones, for performing so well!

March brings the end of the school year here and for students, teachers and some other public workers it's a pretty emotional month. I know we had a few tears at Blueberry. It's pretty heartwrenching to see a pretty well-adjusted child start to cry because they are scared of しょうがっこう ("shougakkou" = primary school) and so heartwarming when the child's classmates comfort and assure them that they will make good friends in their new school!

For teachers and public workers, March is the month that they get transfer notices. Our two favorite teachers in Ryan's office are actually getting transferred! (Actually most of the teachers we know are our favorites. Haha.) A transfer can mean something small like moving to another desk or floor or something huge like a different school clear across the prefecture. And it's a very short notice since classes start up again in April. It's a strange system here.

However, because of this upheaval and probably also because winter is ending, the calendar has been full of drinking/dinner parties. It's been tiring and fun.

Speaking about winter ending...we are still in the single digits (in celsius...aka low 40s in fahrenheit) with the temperatures dropping below 0 in the evenings and fresh snow coating the streets in the mornings. We don't anticipate cherry blossoms until late April/May (most likely May) but we're considering a trip to southern Hokkaido in late April so maybe we'll enjoy some はなみ(hanami" = flower viewing; usually cherry blossoms) a little earlier than in Sapporo.

Well, that's its, folks...now all I have to do is put up the ゆきまつり ("yuki matsuri" = snow festival) pictures...

では また! ("dewa, mata!" = see you!; usually pronounced more like "ja mata!")

P.S. Had an earthquake this morning- the longest and shakiest I've experienced so far! Don't worry- it's still just a baby quake.

Day 2 Natto still tastes good!

Second day of eating natto and still kinda love it! Today I really tried to take in the smell and taste of the natto. There's no way around it- natto smells awful. But tastes good! Someone suggested that maybe I can try a different brand of natto to see if it's just the brand I bought. So I went and bought another pack today. Will try it tomorrow!

This morning I stirred my natto a lot to get it all sticky and stringy. Yum!

I said I would examine the flavor a bit more today and like I said yesterday besides the smell and the outer texture, natto really just tastes like beans on the inside with a little bit of an earthy taste on the outside.

Stay tuned for the new brand review tomorrow!

Day 1 Natto Experiment

Today I had natto for breakfast and guess what?! I LOVED it! I don't know why my first time was so bad. Here is my breakfast: rice, natto and tea with milk.

Inside the natto cup:

Pulling up the cover:

Feast your eyes on this sticky natto!!

Then you stir your natto around, add the soy sauce and mustard and BAM!

Place it all on top of your rice and itadakimasu!

I guess during my first experience with natto, I was completely consumed by its aroma. To say it smells bad is an understatement. I don't think I will ever smell natto and say "mmmMMMmm!" This morning the natto didn't smell as bad. At least I wasn't as put off as the first time. Maybe the remnant of my cold is still dulling my sense of smell.

Another obstacle is its texture. It is very sticky and stringy and the more you stir it the more sticky it gets. This does not bother me that much actually. I think I rather enjoy its texture and stringiness. After I was done eating I did have to wash my face because I felt like all the little strands were sticking to my mouth and chin. That was a little gross.

As for the flavor, it IS strong but I found it very tasty! The beans seemed to have retained a slightly sweet bean-y flavor on the inside and had a sort of...well, indescribable flavor on the outside. It tasted like natto! It tastes earthy, I guess. I will try to think about the flavor a little more tomorrow morning.

Now I'm dreaming about natto sandwiches...

Skiing on Olympic ground and Day 0: Natto Experiment

We had a nice relaxing weekend here in Sapporo. On Saturday we skied Teine Highland aka site of the 1972 Olympics! Met up with some of the teachers from Ryan's office. They are AWESOME skiers...but what else can we expect from people who've grown up in Hokkaido?!


I tried the "Expert Only" course. It only took me 30 minutes to go down 1500m!! Hahaha. It was an ungroomed course through the trees and full of moguls. Next year I want to cut my time down a bit. Haha. But despite how difficult it was for me (not being able to jump turn or sometimes just get over my fear and go) I rather enjoyed that trail and hope to visit it again soon!

We ended the day with our favorite soup curry from Voyage. (More on that another time!) Skiing and soup curry on a Saturday! What more could one want?

Today, we were able to sleep in (until 10!!) and just cleaned/had a lazy day.

And tomorrow will be my first* day eating natto for breakfast!! Natto is a traditional Japanese food- everyone here always asks if we like natto. The answer is always "no." Why? Natto is fermented soy beans- which means it has a very distinct scent. Frankly, it smells like compost and tastes like it too. (Well, it tastes like how I imagine compost to taste like...) It is super sticky and extremely slimey. Read the wiki that I linked to at the beginning of the paragraph.


*My first actual day eating natto was over the summer at our hotel in Noboribetsu. However for the purposes of my experiment, tomorrow will be Day 1.

Then why am I eating natto tomorrow? Because I think I should give it a chance (again). So many people LOVE it here (even the children!) and it's SO healthy for you. I have bought a pack of 4-20g containers of natto and I will consume one pack a day with my morning rice. I wanted to take a video but mornings are a little busy in this household so I think pictures will have to do.

Well...better go to sleep so I can wake up and eat my natto! Oyasumi nasai!