Arriving in Sapporo: The Great Northern Adventure Part I

On Feburary 6th I started my much desired vacation up to Hokkaido for the Snow Festival and skiing! I began my day in Kobe, where Willy and I caught a cheap flight up through the discount airline AirDo. This was my second experience in a smaller Japanese airport. Their layouts are surprising consistent. They are structured like a long hallway, consisting of a lobby with the check in counters, and upper floor with shops and restaurants, a roof with a garden and viewing area, with a short security checkpoint and then a row of gates on the other side. The departures are incredibly simple and quick.

This flight was notable for me mostly due to the receptionist. We had a pleasant conversation about where I was going as I checked in. She followed up by writing a really nice note, which she had one of the cabin attendants deliver to me after takeoff. It even included candy and a small crane! This extra effort made my morning.

Arriving at Sapporo, I was pleasantly surprised to see we came into good weather. It was not all that much colder or snowy than Tottori. Wandering the city was very much equivalent to wandering outside in Denver during colder days in the winter.

I went to the hostel to drop my stuff off, where I met a plethora of other ALTs. There were over 60 of us staying at this one hostel together. I had made more acquaintances this day than I am able to list, but they are all interesting people! I joined a small group and briefly wandered part of the snow festival, getting a teaser of the event. We grabbed some stall food, and I had my first Hokkaido specialty, oyster. It was in a soup, which kept me warm as I wandered the park.

Some of the sculptures are absolutely massive. 

The sun had set, and having dinner plans, I started to head back to the hostel. On my way, I serendipitously passed the Attack on Titan snow sculpture right as a performance started. Suddenly the bombastic theme song of the popular television show (written by my favorite Japanese band, who I wrote about here) blared through the speakers. A myriad of lights were projected onto the statues, synchronizing dramatically with the music! The "titanic" figures came to life with the Colossal Titan's eyes glowing yellow as the music swelled to a grand crescendo.




That evening I went with the vast majority of the ALTs to a huge enkai, hosted at the Urban Sapporo Building. It was a yakiniku tabehodai, which featured all you can eat pork, beef, and Hokkaido's renowned mutton. I sat with the right group of people, since we all ate fast and managed to get through 5 helpings!