Okinawa day two

On day two, we woke up bright and early and headed to the Okinawa Aquarium. It was a pretty nice aquarium. I liked the big tank with the whale sharks and huge manta rays. There was also a crab with arms longer than mine. We didn't have time to see the manatee enclosure, next time. There was another flower festival at the aquarium. We all liked the tako the best.
We ended the day with a trip to Pineapple World. I bought lots of pineapple chocolate, mochi, and candy for omiyage.
I feel very fortunate to have been invited on this trip.

This week, I only had class on Monday and Tuesday because the students are testing the rest of the week. So I decided to take another trip! I leave for Hong Kong on Wed and will stay until Sunday. More blogs to come!

Okinawa day one

Towards the end of the school year (which is in March), some teachers at the schools take a grade level trip together. I was lucky enough to be invited on the 8th grade teacher’s (from Fukko) trip to Okinawa this weekend. Yes, it was a very short trip, but they did a great job planning, so we had a very busy time. For many of us, it was our first visit to Okinawa. There was only one teacher who speaks English, so she busily translated as much as she could. I hate being left out of conversations, so I thanked her for her hard work.
The flight to Okinawa, the southern most island(s) in Japan, is about 1 hour and 50 min there, and 1 hour and 30 min back. We left bright and early on Sat morning. The weather in Okinawa is quite tropical, and in many ways Okinawa reminded me of Hawaii. The first day was beautiful and clear – absolutely perfect. Sunday was bit cooler with on and off showers throughout the day, and more humid. Because of it’s tropical climate, there are many flowers, mostly hibiscus, and lots of fruit, mostly pineapple.
We rented a car, which was a very good idea considering our limited time there. First we went to a memorial dedicated to those who died in WWII. Then to Okinawa Land where we explored some caves. It was over 20 degrees Celsius and very high humidity. As we entered there was a warning for people with heart trouble and such. I’ve never really explored a natural cave before with all the stalactites and stalagmites. It was quite damp with water dripping everywhere, including my head. They made it a little gaudy with Christmas lights in a few places, but overall it was really cool. In one spot we stopped to take a group picture, and after the flash, a small bat flew by. Two of the women teachers screamed. I was laughing until I remembered all those water droplets on my head and hoped to god it really was water.
After that we went to the castle. It was quite different than the castles in Japan, as I was reminded that Okinawa isn’t really Japan. The castle and all the buildings were red. It was very beautiful, and we just happened to go during a flower festival so there were large figures made of flowers. We didn’t go in the castle – no time! – but we walked around the grounds.
That night we went shopping in the downtown area. They have this really beautiful jewelry made of black and cobalt blue pieces of glass. I bought a bracelet and earrings. For dinner we went to a restaurant that served Okinawan food and had a couple singing Okinawan music. I was a bit afraid when someone ordered for me asking if there was anything I couldn’t eat. Trying not to be too difficult, I said “Just nothing strange,” which is actually no help because my idea of strange is different than most Japanese people. But I went in with an open mind! So the first dish was raw onions, the second was a really good pork stew, a few different salads, sashimi, tempura, a whole baked fish, noodles, sausage, an egg, tofu, and spam dish, and a few more that I can’t remember. I tried everything, except the whole fish because it was looking and waving his fin at me. Ok not really, but I don’t like whole animals served to me. The basic idea of Okinawan cooking is similar to Japan’s, but the ingredients are a little different. Many dishes included spam, and spam was sold in many of the stores. The most common vegetable in the dishes was goya. I had never had it before and it looks like a cucumber covered with bumpy growths. It was very bitter, and I didn’t really like it.
And of course I have to tell you the weird thing I ate. I knew it was a kind of vegetable, so I thought it wouldn’t be too bad, but when Hirata-sensei had to pull out the dictionary to translate, I knew I was in trouble. So it turns out I ate a loofah. Yes, the one you wash your body with. Of course this was prepared before drying it, so it was soft, but still, I ate a loofah! Didn’t like the taste of that either. And now we can add vegetables to the things that scare me in Japan.
Finally, we made it to our hotel, which was a really beautiful resort. I shared a room with one of the teachers who said she was glad I came because then she would have had to sleep by herself which would be scary. We slept with the foot light on anyway :)

Niseko Ski Resort

oops! forgot to post this one!
Since we had so much time in Hokkaido, we decided to try out some snow sports. I left Otaru VERY early in the morning to catch a train to Niseko. The night before I had asked the hostel owner if he could call me a cab for 5:45 am the next morning, and when I got up, he was all dressed and ready to take me to the train station himself. That was so nice of him! Just another typical example of random Japanese kindness. It was snowing quite hard that morning, and it was so beautiful. The scenery on the train ride was amazing, although I did fall asleep again.
Niseko is a famous ski resort in Hokkaido, with many runs. I decided to try snow boarding for the first time. Since I was the only beginner, I was put in the kid’s fenced in area. There were three other children (all under 7 years old) who were beginners also, two kept arguing with their teacher, and the other just ate snow. This was probably the 80 thousandth humbling experience I have had in Japan. But at least I had the “magic carpet” (conveyer belt) to take me back up the small hill. I had my lesson for a few hours, and it was really fun. It is difficult to get up with a snowboard strapped to your feet, and I outweighed my instructor by a bit, so I kept pulling him down with me. Luckily, I only fell a few times. After my kiddie lesson was over, I went straight to the hotel and got a 65 min massage. It was a perfect ending!
Sorry, no pictures of me falling in the snow, but here are some I took of the mountain and trees. I definitely would like to try snowboarding again.

Otaru

When I originally planned this Sapporo trip, it was a bit late, and I had trouble finding accommodations. So I booked a hostel in Otaru, which is about a 40 min train ride from Sapporo, for a night. It worked out perfectly because on Sat night, they had a candle festival in the snow. It was SOOO beautiful. Luckily I was there right as the sun was going down and the candles were being lit, so there weren�t too many people. Later, it became too difficult to take pictures without strangers posing in them. This festival is not as well known or popular as Sapporo�s snow festival, but I like it just as much, if not better. The town is much smaller of course, and has a close connection with Victoria, Canada, which is like Britain. So the town had a European feel, including many chocolate shops, which gave out a plethora of samples. We were able to walk back and forth and get numerous samples until we actually bought their chocolate, then they just said thank you when we walked by. So of course we hid our bags and tried again. My favorite was a shop called LeTao that had dark chocolate pyramids that were tea flavored. So delicious! There was also a sweet shop that sold cream puffs with funny signs. (Some of my adult students back in Wakayama saw the pictures. They didn�t find the humor in them.)
Otaru has a special street where there are many sushi restaurants. We tried one, and it was pretty good. I had a tuna and salmon sushi. It was great, but I would prefer it without the wasabi. And in case you think you are misreading something, yes I ate fish, yes it was raw, and yes I enjoyed it. Maybe my taste buds are dying of old age, so I can try more things.
We also stopped into a tiny restaurant to try some fried potatoes (Hokkaido is famous for potatoes too). As we sat there, one of the cooks� grandmothers came in to get a snack too, and shared her sweet potato-filled pastry with us. That was delicious as well.
This town is also famous for music boxes and glass blowing. Both of which you can make your own piece to take home. Susanne ended up blowing some glass.
I really enjoyed this town.

Kid’s Snow Festival

Of course the most fun part of the festival was the kids section. It was about a 30 min bus ride, but it was well worth it! The first thing we did was go through a large maze made out of ice. Then we took a ride on a raft pulled by a snow mobile. I almost popped out on one bump when I wasn’t holding on because I was looking for my camera. It was great!
But the best part was making the snowman. We got all our equipment: bowls, wooden circles for eyes and rectangles for eyebrows, gloves, and a nice young firefighter who was volunteering at the festival. Everything you need to make a good snowman! Our helper spoke a little English, and was quite the gentleman. He carried my snowman safely from where we made it to the stage where we got our picture taken. Susanne’s snowman wasn’t so lucky. His head fell off while she was carrying it. But our helper tried his best to repair the damage.
And I don’t know if you noticed, but Japanese snowmen are made with two balls, not three like in the US. And in Sapporo, the snowmen have eyebrows.
We went on Friday, so I can just imagine how many snowmen there were by Sunday! It was lots of fun.

Sapporo Yuki Matsuri

The snow festival in Sapporo is quite famous throughout Japan, and draws a large crowd each year. Since I went early (Wed-Fri), it was not very busy and I had unobstructed views of the sculptures. There are three main sections of the festival. The largest sculptures are in Odori Park. The buildings made of ice are probably big enough to walk through. Different countries contributed to the festival. My favorite was the Japanese temple. They also had a large whale shark, Sponge Bob, penguins, a large head, and much more. Canada’s contribution raised some eyebrows.
There was also a Japanese boy band performing in front of one of the sculptures. The picture speaks for itself.

Ice carvings
In a different section of Sapporo, the “entertainment” district, there were ice carvings. They also had ice bars that served alcohol. I liked the Bailey’s Ice Bar. Only 200 Yen for a drink!
This are also has a street called “Ramen Alley” that is famous for it’s butter ramen. We found a place that was pretty good. Turns out that butter ramen is a miso, shoyu, or salt based soup with a large hunk of butter in it. Noodles and pork too. I tried the miso. It was really good.