Summer Hol's II - Hokkaido
These days the students are writing their end of term tests, so there are no classes at junior high schools. I am making a new English Corner display (it's still about Halloween right now) and I have two days to make this display, which is now half finished. Break time!
I spent the end of my summer hols running about the great white north of Japan. It was green when I saw it and it's really pretty small compared to the other vast spaces of the northern hemisphere... but I am in Japan, and coming from here, Hokkaido is the huge and very cold island in the North.
Surprisingly, the week I was in Sapporo there was a heat wave and it was honestly almost as hot as Kagoshima in the summer (minus the increadibly high humidity). I felt right at home. It was fabulous to ride a bike around everywhere; I am SO sick of driving and the environmental impact of my lifestyle here - I know, I know, don't complain, change. Anyways, back to Sapporo. It's a very simple city to navigate, with well-organized straight streets and sidewalks for pedestrians and bike riders (not a fan of the bike on the sidewalk but that's how it went there). It is a newer city in Japan and was well planned out. The roads in Sapporo are designed for cars, unlike some roads here where the towns are really old and the roads had to adjust to cars. In many cases the mountain roads are tiny and I wonder just how my car alone can make it, let alone 2 way traffic. Sapporo had a refreshingly wide open feel.
The weekend I got into the city, Josh and I headed to a beautiful lake in Shikotsu-Toya National Park. The water was increadibly clear; I could see all the little pebbles on the lake floor. In the city, I studied Japanese at a small school for one week and while it was short, I feel I got a lot out of the course. I am studying a lot more now, compared to last year, and that course was the start of this motivation I have now.
After classes ended on Friday afternoon, Josh and I and a schoolmate of ours took a bus out to somewhere in southern Hokkaido, in search of an Ainu festival we had seen a poster for in the city. We were aiming for the vicinity with hopes of getting a ride to the festival, or walking or something. We are great planners. No worries though, we had our tent and food and were ready to settle for wherever we ended up that night, Ainu festival or not. Just a bit in case you didn't know, the Ainu are aboriginals of Japan who are unfortunately not recognized as an indigenous group by the Japanese government. Ainu festival hunting we went, starting with a bus ride to somewhere close to where we thought the festival was in southern Hokkaido...
We took note of him the minute we stepped onto the bus, not just because the man was immediately suspect of heading to the festival, but because it was hard not to notice him. His character seemed to fill the bus and he didn't quite look Japanese. He wore a bright tie-dyed shirt, had many necklaces dangling down inbetween his vest worn over the loud shirt, and the most amused smile in the world, which he shot our way numerous times before finally yelling, no hollering, HELLO! down the bus aisle. Our previous polite smiles and acknowledging nods turned into wide grins and waves. He ambled down the aisle and proceded to talk to us in a bit of a rambly Japanese and English combination, until the bus driver announced that universal rule, "no hanging out in the aisle!" We had asked him about the festival, but we really didn't understand what exactly he said about it except that there were drugs there. (That's a universal gesture!) He got really enthusiastic about the festival though and that was a good sign. As we neared the area of our bus stop (we really weren't quite sure exactly where our stop was) we saw him getting ready to get off the bus too. Sure enough, we got off at the same stop. We stood there by the side of the road in the near empty landscape, kinda hopping from foot to foot, staring at each other, at the man and at the road that stretched lonely into the distance... how do you say "are you going to the festival? how are you getting to the festival? and can we bum a ride with you?" in Japanese?...
He told us to wait and said something about a phone call, some guys, a van and the festival, and soon enough, after he made a call, we were all picked up by a couple guys and off to the festival in a van. It turns out The Elder that we met on the bus has been to North America. He told us he'd been to British Columbia and met with west coast First Nations groups and took part in making a totem pole. He was so friendly and warm and the lady he was with was really sweet, it was pleasing to be in their company. So off to the festival we went, talking, laughing, lounging and rolling about in the back of a van with our new friends. Into the hills we climbed, around curving mountain roads as dusk settled in and the air got cold. We arrived in near dark to a little set up high in the mountains.
Tents were here and there, even a teepee, and little stands were set up along the dirt road to the river by friendly folk selling food and drinks. There was a stage and performers for most of the night. There counldn't have been more than a few hundred people there. It was fascinating. We set up our tents, filled our bellies with yummy food and waded about in the mud exploring the camp. People played Ainu music and all kinds of music with one band even playing some North American rock classics. That band was headed by a Korean Japanese! He spoke English well and made a favourable impression on me when he stood up for our American friend. There was one man there who wouldn't stop ranting about Americans (by Americans he meant Bush) and our friend sat there as this one man drunkenly and very aggresively ranted about America. The band member totally stood up for the American and tried to make the point of seperating this dude sitting beside him at the picnic table from the administration running the country he is from. It was frustrating. I can't imagine what it's like to travel around the world and be greeted with that sort of agression right off the bat. Though, the way Canada is running its foreign policy now it's not looking too good for us in the future. Or maybe even now? Is anyone having negative experiences anywhere? I haven't yet. (Though most people guess I am from India!)
We spent the next day mostly hanging out with really friendly people we met. There was another obvious foriegner there who turned out to be the girlfriend of the guy staying in the teepee. The woman was studying something related to Ainu culture and anyway, long story short we got to check out the teepee which was really cool!!
From there we were aiming for the center of Hokkaido, Daisetsuzan, the largest national park in Japan. After a loooooong time standing at the side of the highway airing our thumbs out, a really nice young couple picked us up. The woman spoke English well and they took us all the way up to a tiny town called Biei. We were aiming to get as close as possible to a park entrence so we could start hiking the next day and Biei was right there. We arrived in the town late at night and were pleasantly greeted with the town's summer festival! The main square was filled with people, locals and Japanese and foreign tourists. There was a parade, lights and festival food. Perfect. We found a nice town park and um, set up our tent in a patch of trees, (no one minds!) and joined the festivities! The night was complete with a gorgeous summer fireworks show set to techno-dance music.
The next day we rode bikes around the patchwork hillsides of Biei before we took off for Daisetsuzan where we found a wonderful campground with soft grass and trees perfect for hanging our hammock. In Daisetsuzan we explored and onsed (hot springs) and climbed a mountain. It was stunning. Honestly, I need pictures here, I can't describe it.
That was it, my summer hols, in a very long and wordy nutshell!
I spent the end of my summer hols running about the great white north of Japan. It was green when I saw it and it's really pretty small compared to the other vast spaces of the northern hemisphere... but I am in Japan, and coming from here, Hokkaido is the huge and very cold island in the North.
Surprisingly, the week I was in Sapporo there was a heat wave and it was honestly almost as hot as Kagoshima in the summer (minus the increadibly high humidity). I felt right at home. It was fabulous to ride a bike around everywhere; I am SO sick of driving and the environmental impact of my lifestyle here - I know, I know, don't complain, change. Anyways, back to Sapporo. It's a very simple city to navigate, with well-organized straight streets and sidewalks for pedestrians and bike riders (not a fan of the bike on the sidewalk but that's how it went there). It is a newer city in Japan and was well planned out. The roads in Sapporo are designed for cars, unlike some roads here where the towns are really old and the roads had to adjust to cars. In many cases the mountain roads are tiny and I wonder just how my car alone can make it, let alone 2 way traffic. Sapporo had a refreshingly wide open feel.
The weekend I got into the city, Josh and I headed to a beautiful lake in Shikotsu-Toya National Park. The water was increadibly clear; I could see all the little pebbles on the lake floor. In the city, I studied Japanese at a small school for one week and while it was short, I feel I got a lot out of the course. I am studying a lot more now, compared to last year, and that course was the start of this motivation I have now.
After classes ended on Friday afternoon, Josh and I and a schoolmate of ours took a bus out to somewhere in southern Hokkaido, in search of an Ainu festival we had seen a poster for in the city. We were aiming for the vicinity with hopes of getting a ride to the festival, or walking or something. We are great planners. No worries though, we had our tent and food and were ready to settle for wherever we ended up that night, Ainu festival or not. Just a bit in case you didn't know, the Ainu are aboriginals of Japan who are unfortunately not recognized as an indigenous group by the Japanese government. Ainu festival hunting we went, starting with a bus ride to somewhere close to where we thought the festival was in southern Hokkaido...
We took note of him the minute we stepped onto the bus, not just because the man was immediately suspect of heading to the festival, but because it was hard not to notice him. His character seemed to fill the bus and he didn't quite look Japanese. He wore a bright tie-dyed shirt, had many necklaces dangling down inbetween his vest worn over the loud shirt, and the most amused smile in the world, which he shot our way numerous times before finally yelling, no hollering, HELLO! down the bus aisle. Our previous polite smiles and acknowledging nods turned into wide grins and waves. He ambled down the aisle and proceded to talk to us in a bit of a rambly Japanese and English combination, until the bus driver announced that universal rule, "no hanging out in the aisle!" We had asked him about the festival, but we really didn't understand what exactly he said about it except that there were drugs there. (That's a universal gesture!) He got really enthusiastic about the festival though and that was a good sign. As we neared the area of our bus stop (we really weren't quite sure exactly where our stop was) we saw him getting ready to get off the bus too. Sure enough, we got off at the same stop. We stood there by the side of the road in the near empty landscape, kinda hopping from foot to foot, staring at each other, at the man and at the road that stretched lonely into the distance... how do you say "are you going to the festival? how are you getting to the festival? and can we bum a ride with you?" in Japanese?...
He told us to wait and said something about a phone call, some guys, a van and the festival, and soon enough, after he made a call, we were all picked up by a couple guys and off to the festival in a van. It turns out The Elder that we met on the bus has been to North America. He told us he'd been to British Columbia and met with west coast First Nations groups and took part in making a totem pole. He was so friendly and warm and the lady he was with was really sweet, it was pleasing to be in their company. So off to the festival we went, talking, laughing, lounging and rolling about in the back of a van with our new friends. Into the hills we climbed, around curving mountain roads as dusk settled in and the air got cold. We arrived in near dark to a little set up high in the mountains.
Tents were here and there, even a teepee, and little stands were set up along the dirt road to the river by friendly folk selling food and drinks. There was a stage and performers for most of the night. There counldn't have been more than a few hundred people there. It was fascinating. We set up our tents, filled our bellies with yummy food and waded about in the mud exploring the camp. People played Ainu music and all kinds of music with one band even playing some North American rock classics. That band was headed by a Korean Japanese! He spoke English well and made a favourable impression on me when he stood up for our American friend. There was one man there who wouldn't stop ranting about Americans (by Americans he meant Bush) and our friend sat there as this one man drunkenly and very aggresively ranted about America. The band member totally stood up for the American and tried to make the point of seperating this dude sitting beside him at the picnic table from the administration running the country he is from. It was frustrating. I can't imagine what it's like to travel around the world and be greeted with that sort of agression right off the bat. Though, the way Canada is running its foreign policy now it's not looking too good for us in the future. Or maybe even now? Is anyone having negative experiences anywhere? I haven't yet. (Though most people guess I am from India!)
We spent the next day mostly hanging out with really friendly people we met. There was another obvious foriegner there who turned out to be the girlfriend of the guy staying in the teepee. The woman was studying something related to Ainu culture and anyway, long story short we got to check out the teepee which was really cool!!
From there we were aiming for the center of Hokkaido, Daisetsuzan, the largest national park in Japan. After a loooooong time standing at the side of the highway airing our thumbs out, a really nice young couple picked us up. The woman spoke English well and they took us all the way up to a tiny town called Biei. We were aiming to get as close as possible to a park entrence so we could start hiking the next day and Biei was right there. We arrived in the town late at night and were pleasantly greeted with the town's summer festival! The main square was filled with people, locals and Japanese and foreign tourists. There was a parade, lights and festival food. Perfect. We found a nice town park and um, set up our tent in a patch of trees, (no one minds!) and joined the festivities! The night was complete with a gorgeous summer fireworks show set to techno-dance music.
The next day we rode bikes around the patchwork hillsides of Biei before we took off for Daisetsuzan where we found a wonderful campground with soft grass and trees perfect for hanging our hammock. In Daisetsuzan we explored and onsed (hot springs) and climbed a mountain. It was stunning. Honestly, I need pictures here, I can't describe it.
That was it, my summer hols, in a very long and wordy nutshell!
posted by lucky at
11:33 am
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