Still catching up...

Okay, so last night I made it as far as leaving for Hokkaido. If you haven't read that post yet, you might want to. Or you might not. Chronologically it comes first though.


Entertainment on the ferry to Hokkaido.


Map showing the current location of the ferry (We were still just outside of Sendai, which is the red dot that the ship is next to. The red dot at the top of the map is Tomakomai, in Hokkaido, where we were going, and the one at the bottom is Nagoya.)


Karaoke on the ferry.


Me on the ferry.


The stairs on the ferry.


There was even an onsen on the ferry. I like traveling by ferry in Japan.


Attempting to take pictures of the sunrise.


Scenery from the train ride from Tomakomai to Sapporo.


Sapporo Yuki Matsuri! (Sapporo snow festival!) Sculpture based on an anime, I think. Or a commercial.


Penguins!


The words at the bottom say "Youkosou! Sapporo Yuki Matsuri e", which means "Welcome! to the Sapporo Snow Festival".


We had no idea what this was supposed to be.


So I took a picture of the sign for later translation. It says "Entry No. 4 - Charged with living life as ourselves - Alternative School Shibe". So we conclude that it is not actually supposed to be something we would recognize.


Sign reads "Ice Square".


Japanese people really seem to like Disney characters, especially Mickey and Lilo & Stitch.


Characters based on oden (a Japanese stew of sorts, with various different ingredients that you can choose from) and the television tower in Sapporo?


Doraemon! Japanese cartoon character, famous for having a pocket from which anything can be pulled out. The sign reads "Bullying Solution Pocket! - This is a pocket chock full of ideas on how to solve bullying. [I'll] give them to you too! - (Some society having something to do with kids who stammer, I think. I can't figure that part out)". Bullying is a big issue in Japan right now - there was recently a student who sent a letter to the government and the school, saying that if someone didn't do something to stop the bullying by a certain date, they were going to kill themselves.


Advertising for a place that specializes in Gingis Khan - a specialty of Hokkaido, which involves roasting lamb and vegetables.


This sculpture was really impressive.


So detailed!

Samurai Cat.


Posing with the Japanese girls we made friends with on the train!


Me and one of the girls whose names I can't remember...


Aquatic theme! This was much bigger than it seems in this picture.


Kind of hard to see, but this was Disney themed, with Stitch playing a prominent part.


Ice house.


Words read "Milk Land Hokkaido" (Hokkaido is famous for being where a lot of milk, butter, ice cream, etc. comes from. Kind of like Wisconsin.)


Full picture of the sculpture I was standing in front of before.


Probably one of the only chances a person will ever have to snowboard off a jump in the middle of hugely populated city.


Japanese castle. Also very impressive.


Dan and Zhou Peng , posing.


In the process of making a sculpture.


Americans posing in front of the Statue of Liberty.


Chinese in front of the Chinese Phoenix.


Igloos where you can buy alcohol.


Red words say Hina Matsuri (another Japanese festival which takes place on 3/3, and celebrates daughters, I think).


The next day, at another part of the Snow Festival - tubing!


Field of snowmen, all made be people who came to the festival.


The snowman Colin and I made. Sign says "'I wish I had a mouth.' Mmmm... (Kuchi ga hoshii...)".


Snow maze! We did girls vs. guys to see who could get through it first, but unfortunately the girls lost. T_T


Curling! My team (Teres, Colin, and I) won! Without much help from me though. I, apparently, am not very good at curling.


I liked this sculpture - the mice are cute.


I have trouble reading all of this sign. It is from the front of the Sapporo Beer Museum. I do know that it says something about beer made from wheat and hops.


Famous sight in Sapporo - lettering says 'Sapporo Beer'.


Everyone in front of the Sapporo Beer Museum.

Sign translates roughly to "Men, silently, Sapporo Beer".


My cheese and soup curry flavored ice cream cone. Surprisely, not as awful as it sounds.

See below for more great flavors. (Most of these aren't normal flavors in Japan as far as I know - this was the only place I saw them. Don't blame all Japanese for these.)

Squid and salt flavored.


Cheese, soup curry, and the more normal flavors of green tea and sesame.


Lavender, Corn, and then Black Beer and Apple.

On to Otaru!
The Otaru Snow and Light Festival!


Giant Snow flake.


Cave(snow)men.


Let's go camping!


Sign reads 'Grand Cross'. Unfortunately, this is where my battery died again, so I will have to get pictures from other people.


Glassblowing! We got to make our own cups! Colin was first.


The assistants attached the handle though.


Me, making my cup.


Switching poles so I can form the top of the cup.


For some reason this green thing with a bulging crotch is all over Hokkaido, like a mascot or something. I was very confused.


The musicbox shop and the steam powered clock outside of it.


Close-up of the steam clock.


Photo from the train on the way back to Sapporo.


There was nowhere to sit on the train, except the floor.


Was this the last time Chris ever visited my window?! Now I live on the 5th floor, and he lives on the 1st(still)! I believe that in this picture he is feeding my leftover curry to Stan and Randy, outside the window.

I will post this for now. Coming up next: the rest of spring vacation!