ASAHIKAWA SNOW AND ICE FEST
Yes, it IS better than Sapporo's













AIBETSU MACHI
See if you can spot Aichan man!






















HITTIN THE NITE SPOTS
(Note "cool" spelling of night. I don't even care that it's wrong!)

SAPPORO!

HOKKAIDO

For those of you who aren’t aware of it yet, Hokkaido is A M A Z I N G.

Phil, Tim and I travelled up there for the Sapporo Snow Festival (it’s obviously important – it has C

aptial Letters), to visit Phil’s friend Mads (also Capitals) and to Do Some Snowboarding (Naturally).

I’m sorry to say it, but Sapporo was so-so. I know I was only there for 24 hours or so, and it seems like a pleasant enough place,

but I have to say I’d be VERY disappointed if I had travelled halfway across the world (or even halfway across Japan) to see some dirty, chunky snow sculptures. Tough, but fair.

The following day, we drove up to Asahikawa – Hokkaido’s second city – whose snow festival was waaaaay better. It was much less crowded and more spectacular. And they had barbequed meat on sticks. Mmmmmm. Tasted my first lamb in Japan, and I liked it! Also, slightly less interesting for me… biomass toilets. Well, it got Timmy going, anyway.

The following day, we moved on to Aibetsu machi – Mads’ hometown, where snow is measured in metres, not centimetres. Which is famous for mushrooms. So naturally, the town mascot is Aichan man, a flying mushroom, with a big A on his chest. All I can say is lift your game, Shirakawa. Where’s our damn mascot?!?

Then it was on to POWWDEEERRRRR snow. Hokkaido is famous (especially amongst Aussies, apparently) for having amazing POWWDEEERRRRR snow. And I have to say that the POWWDEEERRRRR at Furano was fantastic. For one thing, it makes it much more difficult to hurt yourself when you fall over, and I’m all for that. I think that I should also point out that as I can now get down a ski run without falling, I am officially a snowboarder. And that means that snowboarding is now, officially, uncool (yes, even when it is -12). POWWDEEERRRRR!

Hokkaido was heaps of fun, and I hope I get the chance to go back when it’s a li

ttle warmer and attempt to get the sports of cycling and hiking off the cool list. If they were ever on it, or are currently. See – I don’t even know. That’s how uncool I am. POWWDEEERRRRR!

Turning 27 (Not Japanese)

Yes, it’s official. I’m another year older. Honestly, I don’t feel it though. I can remember the shock of turning 25, and it’s nothing like that. Somehow I think I have become less responsible with age. I suppose it’s part of living in a country where you can’t speak the language. You can’t be worried about current affairs if you can’t understand them. I can’t vote, so who cares what happens in elections. And somebody else arranges and stresses over my taxes for me. I have recently discovered that I may in fact be stupid as well (I’m probably just too idiotic to know). Bring it on, I say. Ignorance is bliss.

Be ready when the revolution comes!


See photo below...

It’s been a while since my last blog post, so naturally there is a lot to report from bustling Shirakawa.

In January, Phil and I attended a New Year drinking party with our English conversation class students. The students are really interesting, and I can honestly say that I miss teaching them. They are there because they actually want to LEARN English, unlike some Junior High students…

Some of the students attend with their spouses, and one couple, are having a baby very soon. They already have a two year old son, who attended the party with them. He is getting my vote for Cutest Kid in Japan. Not only is he cute in that toddler kind of way, but he can also speak English, and did a performance of “head, shoulders, knees and toes” for us. You won’t be able to see his “Head and Shoulders” performance, but take a look at the pics and judge for yourself.

When I heard that I was heading to Japan, one of the things that I was really exited about was winter. I pictured snowy mountains and trees, with maybe a fast flowing stream or icy pond in the foreground. And then I started worrying when Japanese people complained about how much they hate winter here and how the roads would be covered in ice for months. Well, thanks to either global warming or El Nino (only El Nino seems to register with Japanese people) we have had a virtually snow-free winter. But that hasn’t stopped me from engaging in The World’s Most Painful Sport: snowboarding.

In an attempt to gain some cool credibility and avoid spending the whole of winter inside watching DVDs, I have spent the last couple of weekends on the piste (dunno if that is correct grammar – I just wanted to say “piste”). And coincidentally, I have been on the piss the last few weekends too…

Fortunately, snowboarding seems to be one of those sports that you can get better at very quickly. The first morning I went, I think I probably fell over at least once every 5 metres. But by the end of the day, I made it down a whole run without falling. Since then I’ve been once more, and am going again this weekend.

Next week we (Tim, Phil and I) will be going to Hokkaido for the ice festival there, and to visit Phil’s friend Mads and get some more snowboarding in. The only problem is that there hasn’t been enough snow in Hokkaido to be able to build the sculptures…

This week, I returned to Chuo Junior High (aka “the bad school”). To be honest, I don’t think it’s really that “bad” at all – though the teachers toilet is smelly and dingy… I seriously doubt that it has EVER been cleaned. The real problem is that the teachers are a fairly unfriendly bunch. But I think that the students more than make up for that. They come to the staffroom and chat, and always say hello in the halls. Some students even talk to me during class – something that would never happen at Ni Chu Junior High. There is even a good side to having unfriendly teachers – I have lots of time to study Japanese and am writing this blog post on my laptop in the staffroom.

In the next few weeks I will be quite busy, with the Ice Festival, and after that I am hoping to go snowboarding at Zao in Yamagata prefecture. Mum and Dad will be visiting at the end of April, so we will probably visit Tokyo and Kyoto and after that, in early May, Liz and I are sketching out plans for a trip to Hiroshima, overpriced airfares notwithstanding.