Sapporo, Again

Well, I said I would write about the snow festival part - which was really interesting, so I will - but I also find myself wanting to write more about the other stuff, like the fact that people in Hokkaido look different than the people in Tokyo. Their faces are a different shape, almost, and many of them had more prominent upper lips. Their skin was also paler. I just found that interesting. This type of thing is definitely one of my greatest lessons from living here - despite the fact that all Japanese people have almond-shaped eyes and dark hair, there are vast differences in their other physical characteristics. That probably sounds naive, shallow or perhaps just ignorant that I failed to recognize it before, but it's still so different than the States, where you get used to seeing people from every spectrum of the rainbow. It's a slighter gradient of different here, versus the "oh you have dark brown hair, I have light brown, she's blonde and he's a redhead" thing we have in America. Do you get what I'm saying? Because in my brain it's totally clear and I'm feeling like it's one of those things that gets muddled in translation. Oh well, I'm leaving it in here because this is my blog and I can say whatever I want. Ooooh, that's fun!

Moving on.

The snow sculptures are huge. It looked like they packed snow into big forms, maybe 30 feet high? I've always been a poor judge of height, distance, etc., so add a 10 foot margin of error onto that. Anyway, most of them were still squared off and flat on the back and then just the front and sides were carved out. It was somehow funny to me that most of the sculptures have corporate sponsors. There was the AIG sculpture, the Nissin Noodle Cup sculpture, the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium sculpture, the Hokkaido Milk Land sculpture, etc. With exception of the aquarium and Milk Land, the sculpture had nothing to do with the sponsor. The aquarium was fun because it was a whale shark, manta ray and dolphin carved out of snow. Having seen the big tank here, it was funny to see it in snow. Very realistic, I must say! So you can get the idea, here are a couple of photos:

We also enjoyed the ice sculpture part of the festival. They suffered a little on the one day of warmer weather, so details had melted on many of the sculptures but we were still impressed. They looked especially cool our last night there - they were lit up, it was snowing, lots of people were milling about and hey, the ice bars were open. I highly recommend a hot milk and Bailey's on a snowy night. Yum! Lisa pointed out that it would've been even better with frothed milk, but we kind of think everything is better with frothed milk. Can't have it all now, can we?

This is the part of the post where I would also like to share pictures of Wyatt looking really cute in his snow gear (if I do say so myself; please reference paragraph one "this is my blog and I'll say what I want") but I'm having to withhold them. You see, my parents owe me pictures of their new digs and I'm having to bribe them. Sorry to all of you who are caught in the fray.

Lastly, a few more random thoughts I want to share.

1. Traveling with a 7 month old is different. Different than, say, traveling by yourself. And it's different to be based out of a hotel room than out of a home (like we were at Christmas). We made the best of it and learned a lot.

2. I think a big part of any culture is the food, and I'm really glad we sampled so much of the only-in-Hokkaido stuff. I'd like to compliment the people of Sapporo for making most of their local stuff sweet. Chocolate, cookies, corn chocolate, etc. Nice work. And I'm sorry I never tried your corn chocolate. It sounds very interesting.

3. I'm very thankful I don't have to bundle Wyatt like a little snowman every time we go out. Island life has its definite perks, like the fact that it's mid-February and in the 60s. Apparently we missed a week of really great weather while we were enjoying the snow. That's right, enjoying. While I love island life, I also really enjoyed the beauty of snow for a few days. I'd forgotten how quiet it gets when there's a foot of the white stuff on the ground.

4. For me, Sapporo is to Tokyo as Chicago is to New York City. Tokyo has seemed busy every time I've been there. Like the people are always in a hurry to get somewhere else and are quite serious. It's mildly frenetic. Sapporo is the 5th largest city in Japan (must Google to see what the other top 4 are) but seems more relaxed. Even at rush hour, there was no pushing or shoving through stations or on the train. There was more open space, the buildings were shorter, etc. And Odori-koen, the park where the snow sculptures live, reminds me of Grant Park. It apparently has activities in all seasons and just seemed like a natural gathering place, bordered by great shopping, good nightlife and a couple of historic buildings.

5. I am still amused that every city in Japan has its own ferris wheel (or two). Sapporo was no exception. I wonder if the locals really ride ferris wheels that much or if it's just a status thing.

6. I'm also still amused that apparently a city must also have a tower if it's to have any credibility. Sapporo's looks like the Eiffel Tower and has a handy-dandy clock on it. It anchors one end of Odori-koen so you always know what time it is while you're strolling.

7. We saw some cool snow. The heavy downfall, big white flakes were pretty, but the more interesting kind was the snow that looked like - I kid you not - dippin' dots falling from the sky. Only not flavored or colored. That kind of snow pelted us twice during our visit. I've never seen anything like it.

8. I'm embarrassed that I haven't learned more Japanese. C'mon, I've lived here for 2+ years and know about 5 phrases. Pitiful and a completely wasted opportunity. Will this be my one big regret from our time here?

9. Japanese signs continue to make me laugh. These two were my favorites from this trip:

Check out the Boogie Woogie right in the middle!

No, I wouldn't be calm if smoke were billowing from my home, either.

I have a few more pics to share, but all involve Wyatt. And his photos are being held ransom, you know. Hopefully that issue will resolve itself soon!