Again under assignment from Dad, I revisited Hokkaido University after a hard snow. It was cold and treacherous, but well worth it.

Hitting both places I’ve been, as well as, places I haven’t I tried to make it new and refreshing. Anyway here’s my account of the adventure…

I started at Oasa (where all adventures start) and rode the train in Sapporo. I was in the back of the train and had a good shot at the train cockpit so I took a few pics of it. I’ll admit that I’m a nerd when it comes to stuff like trains and gadgets. Before coming here to Japan, I used to play this game called “Densha de Go” or “Lets go by train” which was a Train Simulation Game. After playing that game for a while I got into trains so, seeing a real train work just like the game was amusing!

Sorry… So at Sapporo Station I made my way outside towards Hokkudai (Short for Hokkaido University). I entered into the gates and before me was the same park I had taken shots of 2 months earlier. Everything was white and the leaves and sticks that fallen on to the snow were very visible. So when I arrived to Hokkudai, it looked like a peppered white blanket had been put down over everything.

Honestly the whole place looked a lot different then when I went earlier in the year. I went to park, Clark bust, and the rock formation. Then I went hiking around looking for new stuff to take pictures of. It was only in my exploration that I found a secret nuclear bunker where Japan is hiding their WMDs for the next attempt to TAKE OVER THE WORLD! Or maybe it was just the Chemistry building. You decide.

Last stop was the famous street where the trees go on an on. The last time I was here was in November and it didn’t look half as good as it did this time. The street you see was solid black ice. So if you took a running start you could probably slide for 5ft.

I headed home, but not after first going to hibachi camera (i.e. electronics shop) to check out all the new games and stuff. There they had a playable PS3 so I got a chance to play Ridge Racers which is REALLY fun! (Haven’t played the Wii yet, but when I do get it I’m planning on getting the U.S. release)

Anyway that was my trip… the pics say more then my words. Check ‘em out on the web album.

~J out

Snow started last night and didn’t end until this morning. So it’s up about 1/2 ft or 2/3 of a foot of snow.

here’s a pic of last night:

Here’s a pic of this morning:

Yeah… so… it snowed. This morning I awoke the sound of plow trucks shoveling snow and ice off the streets. The streets are full of black ice and snow pack. This of course isn’t totally rare for these parts. I guess getting a foot or two of snow is more or less expected for December. I love it! I’ve never seen so much snow in a single day… this is GREAT!

If only everyone could share the same amount of enthusiasm as me!

~J out

The first day of December… Wow! Where has the time gone? This is hardly a “reflection post” but It’s a shocker to think I have about 2 weeks left in good ole Sapporo.

The trip is planned and the dates and places are set. Here’s a quick brief of our itenerary:

Start: December 16th End: January 4th.
Two people: Christina and I
Cities we’re visiting:

Kyoto: 6 days
Nara
Himeji
Osaka: 3 days
Nagoya: 2 days
Ise:
Kamakura:
Tokyo: 7 days
________________
Total: 19~20 days (with two days reserved for transit)

Pretty impressive of me to plan all this: The hotels are being arranged, and JR tickets are being bought. Seems like this trip will happen after all.

For me, I’m sad to leave Sapporo and the friends I’ve made here, but on the other hand, I’m excited to get out and see the rest of Japan.

I feel that this will make a grand end to a great adventure.

On the Blog:
I don’t know if i’ll be able to blog on the trip. I’ll have the laptop and a wifi connector so I’ll try as hard as I can.

The future of the blog is also something I’m thinking about… I’m not quite sure what I’ll do with it. However that’s for another time and another place.

~J out