White lovers and soup curry

Hello! I am back!

So the weekend that I was saying I didn't have any serious plans wound up being very busy and a lot of fun.

On Friday, after school we had an Ikebana demonstration. Ikebana, if you remember, is the Japanese style of flower arrangement. You get a bowl of water with a small spiked pad that you sick flowers, branches, and leaves into. It isn't very difficult to do, the difficult thing is to make it look good. For my Ikebana I had to use these sticks with these puff ball things, flowers, and some leaves. I think mine turned out pretty good at the end.

So after Ikebana a couple of friends and I went out to a restaurant for soup curry and then went to karaoke for a  little while. It was a lot of fun and for soup curry I increased my spice level to level 7, the highest of our group. It was pretty spicy, but really good. 

Saturday became what everyone called a "Steve Event." That was because it was my idea and I had to go through all of the fun of organizing it and figuring out how all wanted to go. So we wound up going to 白い恋人パーク-->しろいこいびとパーク-->shiroi koi bito paku -->white lovers park. Shiroi koi bito is a famous chocolate that is made in Sapporo. We went to the Park which was like an old fashioned town with small houses and mechanical people. There was also a bunch of museums that we went to that should the history of the company, how the chocolate is made, and other neat things. We also got to see the factory and the people making chocolate which was pretty neat. It was basically like Chocolate World at Hershey Park, only bigger and better.

There was also a point were all of the mechanical people in the town came alive and started dancing and singing. A ton of bubbles were also released, it was pretty cool and a lot of fun.

After enjoying the park we all went to a near by field and played frisbee for a while. It was a great time and everyone had a blast playing. We all were exhausted afterwards.

Once we were all tired of playing frisbee a lot of people went home. But Me, Daiki, Euna, Yosuke, and Charlotte were hungry so we went to Sapporo station to eat Ramen. The place Daiki took us was this huge floor of only ramen shops. It basically look like an old fashioned town where the shops only sold ramen. I don't know how you chose which one to eat at, but some how we did. The ramen was really good and I was stuffed afterwards.

Sunday of course involved eating even more food. Mal, Euna, and I were invited to go over to my friend Daiki's house. Yatsu also came as well as Daiki's friend, Gaku. At Daiki's house we played some Japanese PS3 games and also watched some movies. Then it was time to cook. Today Daiki was going to teach us how to make soup curry. We have all come to really like soup curry so being able to finally figure out how to make it was great. It doesn't seem to hard to make, but it does take a while to cook everything. You put a ton of vegetables in the soup, you have to cook the meat, and you also have to make the soup as well as adding the amount of spice you prefer. It turned out very good and was delicious. We had a great time making the soup curry and hanging out at Daiki's house. I got to meet his mother, father, and younger brother as well which was nice. We probably stayed at his house for about 6 hours. We had a lot of fun.

Monday was back to school where I had three hours of Japanese followed by three hours of Japanese culture. Then it was back home where I ate regular curry for dinner. Too much curry is never a bad thing I guess. I forgot to mention earlier that on Saturday my Okaasan left for Taiwan with some friends for a trip. She came back Tuesday afternoon. So it was just me, Otoosan, and Daisuke at home over the weekend.

On Tuesday I had school again, but after school it was time to celebrate Yatsu's 20th birthday. We went to a Chinese Food tabehoudai, all you can eat. It was a surprise party so Mal, Euna, and I, 5 of the Korean international students, and 8 of Yatsu's other friends all got to the restaurant early to surprise him as Daiki brought him to the restaurant. It was a lot of fun. I got Yatsu some of the chocolate from the Shiroikoibito park. The Chinese food was also very good, but we ate so much. We had to do stretches at one point so we could eat more. The people that we sat with, Yatsu's friends, were a lot of fun. Yatsu seemed to have a great time and was a little embarrassed.

After the party some people went off to karaoke. But I could not go. Instead I went home to welcome Okaasan back home. She told me all about her trip and showed me pictures. She also brought me souvenirs which was really nice. She got me a stuffed animal pig, and a fan that has my name painted on it.

Today is Wednesday, my day off. It is unfortunately raining today so I can't really do much. But I do have a conversation exam that I can study for at some point today.

Well that is all for today.

Stephen

The Great Dam Adventure in the Snow

Hello everyone! Sorry it has been a while since my last post, I have been quite busy the past couple of days.

Anyway, I thought I would start off with some pictures of the snow that we got last Tuesday night. I am not sure how much we got exactly, but it did stick and build up quite a bit. It was very surprising to see this much snow and it wasn't even Halloween yet. The house on the right by the way is my house.

The snow actually stuck around for awhile, as you will soon hear about later, and it is possible that we may get even more snow by the end of the week. So, in other news, I had a kanji exam on friday. There were two parts, one part you had to write the kanji for different words, and the other part you had to write the meaning for various kanji's. I didn't think it was too hard, but I was still nervous. Luckily I some how managed to pull of an A on both parts of the test!! So to celebrate I had a super fun busy weekend.

Friday after the exam I went to the American Culture class and carved pumpkins. It was a lot of fun and I got to show Japanese students how to carve a pumpkin. Our pumpkin was the general face, but we put ears on the top to make it fun. All of the pumpkins were pretty neat and creative.

Friday night, Hi-C, the International Club, threw a Halloween party. Everyone was encouraged to dress-up if they went. My friends believe that I look like a Pokemon character, Brock, so all I had to do for a costume was wear brown clothes and jeans, and spike my hair. Unfortunately my hair was a little to long to spike, so it kind of turned into one big spike. The party was a lot of fun. I hung out with my friends and we just had a great time goofing off and playing around in our costumes.

Jump to Saturday- Today me and my friend Mal were free and wanted to do something so I asked my friend Shun where a good place to go to in Sapporo would be. He told me to go to the Okaru Ski-Jump. So Me, Mal, two other international students, Eric and Tom, and my friend Yanbin, all went to Okaru. Shun could not go because he  had to climb Mt. Shukudai (homework). Anyway, the ski-jump was near Maruyama Park, so first we explored to park a bit. We went to Hokkaido Shrine where a lot of little kids were going to for their birthday. It was pretty neat to see the Shrine and all of the little kids in their traditional outfits.

We then went to Maruyama Zoo, yes another zoo. But this zoo we got to go into for free because we were international students. The zoo was smaller than Asahiyama, but there were still a lot of neat animals and some that we did not get to see at the other zoo.

After the zoo we took a short bus ride and then walked to Okura Yama Ski Jump Stadium. This was a stadium that was used when the Winter Olympics were held in Sapporo. It was pretty cool to see and we got to ride the ski lift to the top and see all of Sapporo.

After going to Okura Yama, me, Mal, Eric and Tom went to one of the largest subway stations in Sapporo, JR Eki. Here we went to the Pokemon Center and an arcade. It was a lot of fun and we played a bunch of different games. We then walked around the city a bit before meeting some other friends and going together to our friend, Yosuke's, birthday party.

Sunday was also a very busy day. I had to get up at 6:30 in order to meet up with my friends. We then took a bus to Houheikyo. Houheikyo is a pretty famous place for its natural onsens and it's large Dam. It is also somewhat higher up, so there was a lot more snow here than where I live. When we got to Houheikyo we originally thought that we would be able to take a  shuttle bus to the dam. However the shuttle did not run on sunday's, therefore me had to walk. . .a lot. . . in the snow. . . and in the road. But it was a lot of fun and we all had a great time.

Eventually we reached the Dam. It was really neat. We got to walk along it and explore it a bit. It was alot of fun. The area we were at is where a large part of Sapporo gets their water. The area was also really beautiful.

So after going to the dam we hiked back along the road and then went to an onsen. An onsen, if you remember, is a public bath that is created from natural hot springs. This onsen was an outdoor onsen where you could enjoy the mountain scenery while bathing. It was really nice and really relaxing. After the onsen we had Indonesian curry for dinner, which was very good. It was then time to take the bus back. It was a very long, but incredibly fun day.

On Monday it was back to school where I found out I passed my kanji test! Today, Tuesday, was school again, but at lunch I at with my friend Kimura, the second guy from the left in the Dam sign group picture. We had a lot of fun and found out that we are interested in a lot of the same things. He also wants to get better at english so I help him with some of that and he helps me with Japanese.

Tomorrow is Wednesday and a holiday, but I would have had no classes anyway. We are going out for curry with the BCA group, my study abroad program. Then it is back to school for the rest of the week. I don't really have any serious plans for this weekend, but on Sunday we are thinking about throwing a birthday party for my friend Yatsu.

Anyway, thanks for reading this long post. I will try to write more frequently. Until next time.

Stephen

My japanese birthday and snow, lots and lots of snow

Hello everyone! Sorry I have been absent for a little while, I had a pretty busy weekend. It was my birthday on Saturday and I had a blast celebrating it in Japan.

To start things off, on Friday night I finally met my third host brother. Daisuke, the oldest, lives at home. Yusuke, the middle child, I met last month. Now I finally met Kensuke, he came home for the weekend. He was pretty nice, and he understood some english so he tried to talk to me in english sometimes. He also went to Okinawa recently so he brought back some Okinawa omiyage, souvenirs. He gave me these two small clay dogs that are popular in Okinawa and are often seen at the entrance of shrines.

On Saturday the fun times started. At 12 my host family threw me a party at my Okaasan's English teacher's Mexican restaurant. Okaasan, Otoosan, Kensuke, Mal, Euna, Daiki, and Yatsu all went. There was so much food there and it was all delicious. We ate so much. There were tacos, chips and 7 layer dip, grilled chicken, jalapeno chicken, and pizza. We also got crepes and Oreo cake for dessert.

After stuffing ourselves, my friends surprised me by giving me some birthday presents. Mal and Euna gave me a back of different goodies. I got a bus pass case, a cellphone case, cellphone charms, a gold medal, and confetti poppers. Daiki got me some new gloves and Yatsu got me new indoor slippers to wear in the winter (in Japan you normally wear indoor slippers in the house instead of shoes you would wear outside). It was really nice of them to buy these things for me.

We then left that party, went home and rested for a little while before Me, Mal, Euna, Daiki, and Yatsu met up with 16 of my other friends and then went to a restaurant, Biz Cube Dining. This was a nice Italian type restaurant that my friend Shun helped reserve for my birthday. The food was really good and everyone had a great time eating and talking with each other.

After dinner me and about 10 of my friends decided to go to Karaoke. We went to a near by Karaoke place and sung for about 2 hours. We had a lot of fun. This is probably a good time to give everyone a glimpse of what Japanese Karaoke is really like and why it is so much fun.

After Karaoke the party was over and it was then time to go home. It was a great birthday and I am happy that I got to celebrate it in Japan with all of my new friends.

On Sunday my birthday was over, at least in Japan, but the parties were not. Sunday night I went with Daiki, Yatsu, Yukina, and 4 other Korean students out to dinner and then to a Halloween party. The party was put on my college students from many different colleges in or near Sapporo. It was a lot of fun. There were different dance groups that preformed, Bingo, and a fashion show.

On Monday it was back to school. This first half of the week is a little busy and at the end of the week I have a Kanji exam. Anyway, on Monday I ate lunch with my friend Yannbinn. He is Chinese, but lives in Japan and speaks Japanese fluently He is really nice and want to explore Sapporo with me and my friends. I have a feeling November is going to be a pretty busy month.

I was going to talk about how the yukimushi, bugs in Hokkaido that are associated with the coming of snow, have been popping up a lot and that this could mean snow is coming. But instead I will just say that it snowed, a lot, and it isn't even Halloween yet. The snow started in the morning and didn't really stick or anything. It was mainly just big, wet, cold snow and it was pretty windy so going to school was not fun. However as I am writing this, it seems like the snow is starting to stick somewhat and build up. Tomorrow could be a pretty interesting day if it keeps up.

Anyway it is supposed to get somewhat warmer later in the week so the snow probably won't be around too much longer. On Friday there is going to be a Halloween party at Hokusei that I am going to with my friends. Then on Sunday I am going to go to a dam with some friends and take a tour and then explore the near by valley, apparently it is very beautiful in the fall. After the dam tour we will go to an onsen and then head home. It looks like this weekend will be a lot of fun, but first I have to pass my kanji exam.

International Camp!

So this weekend was extremely fun and tiring. On Saturday most of the international students and a lot of Japanese students took buses to go to the International Camp. The Camp is a two day event  filled with activities.

Our first stop was an Ainu Museum. The museum itself was an old-fashioned Ainu village. The Ainu by the way are the indigenous people of Hokkaido, kind of like the Native Americans, the Ainu even have a similar history. At the village we got to watch different forms of Ainu entertainment and we got to make our own mukkuri, an Ainu instrument that you make out of bamboo and play by pulling a string near your mouth to make a twanging noise. We also went around the village and took tons of pictures. There were real bears and Ainu dogs there too, in cages of course. But it was still neat to see there.

We then went to an Onsen hotel for the night. The hotel was at Noboribetsu, a famous place for onsen. An onsen is a hotspring that you go to to bath and relax. They are apparently very good for your skin and hair. The way you use it is you first go to a changing room where you take off your cloths and go to the onsen with only a washcloth. You then go to a fountain of water and dump some water over you before you go the the washing stations. The stations are basically a bucket you sit on under a shower head. Here you wash with soap and shampoo. Then it is time to enter the onsen. There was an indoor onsen and an outdoor onsen, and also a jet-massage pool, a cold water pool and a sauna. I tried all of them. It was a great time and very relaxing. I went with my friend Daiki and he showed me how to do everything. After you are done onsening you go to a shower and cool down and then go back to the changing room to dry off.

I went to the onsen once before dinner. Dinner was a huge buffet with all kinds of western and Japanese food. After dinner I went to Daiki and my friend Shun's room to hang out, and the party began. Tons of people came to the room and we all just hung out and had a good time. This went on all night. About 1:30 am I went back to the onsen with Daiki for a late night bath and then went to bed around 2:45. I woke up around 6 am to go back to the onsen one final time before going to a breakfast buffet and then heading out.

Our next destination was Noboribetsu Date Jidai Mura (a samurai village). It was basically the Japanese version of a Renaissance fair, with Samurai and Ninja and an ancient village. It was a lot of fun. There were tons of shops and attractions to go to. There was a ninja maze which was a building with slanted rooms and movable walls and other neat tricks. It was a lot of fun to go through. There was a haunted cat temple with a bunch of demon cat puppets. We saw a couple of ninja shows while we were there too which were pretty neat. Some of my friends even got to dress up like a ninja. We were only at the park for a few hours, but it was a great time.

We then took the buses back to the school and then it was time to go back home. Of course I had a Japanese exam to study for the next day, and all I really wanted to do was go to bed.

The exam actually wasn't too bad. This week should be pretty relaxing, I don't have too much homework or many quizzes to worry about. Plus this Saturday is my birthday so I have something to look forward to.

Well that's all for now.

Stephen

One Crazy Week

So this week was a very long and tiring week. I guess it was mostly because I was coming off a long four day weekend and jumping right back into school work.

Anyway, on Monday I went to Odori with Daiki, Yatsu, and Yukina and tried soup curry for the first time. It was actually really good. You get a plate of rice and a bowl of really spicy soup. You scoop the rice and dip it into the curry and then drink the soup. There is a level of spice you can chose for your curry. There is a 1-10 level with minus below 1 and infinity above 10. Then there is a whole other scale of dangerous levels. I got 6, Daiki got 8, Yatsu got one of the dangerous levels, and Yukina got Minus. No matter what you got, it was still really spicy and we went through so many tissues, but it was so good.

Tuesday started the craziness of the week. I guess the teachers were not happy that we missed two days of school so this week everything is jammed together. I have so much homework due. I have an Exam on Thursday and two quizzes on Friday as well as a ton of homework due everyday. It was not fun.

On Wednesday I studied a lot, but my the end of the day I was worn out. So to take a break I went out with some friends to a Thai restaurant and then to Sapporo TV Tower. The tower was like a smaller Tokyo Tower, but still pretty neat. We were able to go up and see the whole city at night.

The exam was my first conversation exam. I had to sit with the teacher and she would ask me basic questions and I would answer and then we would build off of those questions with others. I actually think this went pretty well. I knew everything she was saying and tried to answer the best I could. I guess one thing I can say is that my listening and speaking of Japanese has improved since I've been here. I guess I am getting used to it. After the interview I then had to do a roleplay with a classmate. We both got parts and had to act out different situations. For example planning a friends birthday or being a teacher and helping a student. I think this went pretty well too.

Luckily it is now Friday night and the long busy week is over. Tomorrow I go to an onsen, a Japanese hot spring, on a school trip and then on Sunday I go to Edo Wonderland, a type of Japanese Renaissance Fair, but with Samurai and Ninja. A lot of my friends are going so it should be a fun time. I will be sure to take a lot of pictures.

Be back later.

Stephen



And the fun continues. . .

So. . .where to begin?

Well, last Wednesday I went to a karate class with my Okaasan's English teacher, Mary. It was a small local dojo. I got to watch some of the kids practice and even got to learn a few kick moves. It was pretty fun and I think Mary is going to take be back another time.

This Friday and Monday I do not have school because they are both school holidays. So with nothing to do on Friday, I went to 三井，Mitsui, a nearby outlet shopping mall. I went with my friends Mal and Euna and my Japanese friends Daiki, Yatsu, and Yukina. We had a lot of fun wondering the mall, going in stores, and trying random things on. We also went to a Cold Stone in the mall. They still sing even in Japan, but the people seem a lot happier. I guess in America the people usually only sing when they get tipped, but in Japan you don't normally tip so the workers just sang all the time.

We were probably at the mall for about six hours. We just had a lot of fun together.

(Yukina, Euna, Mal)                                                         (Daiki, Me, Yatsu)

Friday night I went out to Karaoke. . .again. I guess one things you have to get used to in Japan is that Japanese people love karaoke. It is a lot of fun.

On Saturday I went to the Daigakusai, school festival. I saw some friends participate in a cheer dance and a fashion show. I also got to watch a tea ceremony and try to make my own tea. The festival was a lot of fun. Each club gets to set up its own tent or table and they can do different activities or sell things like food. One club ran an origami crane folding table, one made and sold mochi bacon (rice wrapped in bacon and cooked), and one made and sold takoyaki (octopus fried in batter). The clubs basically were free to do what they wanted and ran most of the stuff themselves.

After the festival I went out with a lot of my friends to celebrate my friend Tiena's birthday. We went to the same restaurant we went to for the welcome part a few weeks ago, Potato Circus, a yakiniku. A Yakiniku is a restaurant where you can cook your own meat and vegetables on a mini grill. It's basically like a do it yourself Japanese steakhouse. I had a lot of fun there hanging out with some Americna and Japanese friends and learning a lot of new Japanese sayings. For example: sho shu riki  toile dai suki. I am not completely sure what this means, but the second half means love the toilet. My friend says it is the most popular phrase in Japan because it rhymes and is funny. I also learned the Japanese word for shut up. Me and my friend Mal were trying to say it to each other, but we both couldn't say it correctly. Basically we just had a lot of fun the whole night.

Sunday was my relaxing day. I didn't really do anything, it was raining. So I mostly stayed inside and did homework.

Tomorrow I am going to Odori station, a big subway station, with Mal, Daiki, and some of Daiki's friends. Daiki has become my designated tour guide. He is now in charge of showing me the best places to go in Sapporo. He has done a great job so far.

That's all for today!

Stephen

A Hike and a Hakama

So this weekend was not only fun, but extremely tiring. All I feel like doing right now is going to bed. Luckily tomorrow is Wednesday, my free day, so I can relax.

Anyway, let me backtrack some. Friday night after class some friends and I met up with some Japanese friends and went to a Yakitori restaurant. Yakitori is basically grilled meat and vegatables on a stick. It was really good and there were so many different kinds. You could get chicken, asparagas, shrimp, and even mochi (some kind of rice thing). After Yakitori most of us went to Karaoke where we sang together for a few hours. It was a pretty fun night.

On Saturday I went with some of the same people from last night on a hike. We walked from Makomanai Station to Geijutsu no mori Art Park. It took us about 2-3 hours to get there, but we made various stops along the way. We explored an alcove in a rock wall from an old quarry, we stopped to eat lunch, and picked up some gelato along the way.

Eventually we made it to the park. We explored the area a little and went to a neat museum before going to a field and playing some frisbee. It was a lot of fun. After a few hours of playing frisbee and hanging out in the park we made our way back home. The hike was really a lot of fun. I made a lot of new Japanese friends and got to explore a different part of Sapporo.

On Sunday me and my friend Mallory went to an undokai, a mini olympics that was put on my our neighborhood. It was mainly for elementary and middle school kids, but I got to compete in some of the events. I competed in an obstacle course thing, tug-of-war, some thing where you have to go around and collect vegtables, and a relay. The weirdest thing about the undokai was that instead of getting trophies or cool prizes, you got groceries. I won a bag of sugar, a bag of flour, seran-wrap, curry sauce, and vegtables. Needless to say, my Okaasan was very excited. Below is a picture of me and Mal with our winnings.

On Monday it was back to school. I've got a bunch of quizzes and homeworks coming up so it should be a fun time. Today, Tuesday, I ate lunch with my friend Daiki and I met his girlfriend Yukina. After lunch I went of some of the other International Students to try on Kimonos, or Hakama for men. It was a pretty neat experience. You start with an under robe, and then put on a belt, then you put on another robe and some more belts (by the way the people tie these belts super tight). You top it off with a kind of cloak, a pant/skirt thing, and some sandels. Once I got it all on and got used to it it was actually pretty comfortable. Trying on a tradtional Japanese outfit was a lot of fun and it definitly makes you wonder how people could have put things like that on everyday. Below are some pictures!!

So as you can see I have had a lot going on these past few days and it doesn't look like it will be letting up anytime soon. I am going to a karate class tomorrow with a friend of my Okaasan's, Friday I am going to go to the outlets with some friends, Sunday I have a host family BBQ, and then on Monday I am going to a museum with my Okaasan and a friend of hers. I just keep getting busier, but I am still having a blast.

Stephen