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OOOOHHH what an adventure we had at this years Yuki Matsuri, meaning "Snow Festival" in Japanese. A few things to preface this blog entry. I have a teacher at one of my travel schools who is originally from Asahikawa, Hokkaido. When I told him (way back in September when we booked the tickets) that I was going he called his sister on the phone and she was more than willing to show us around. When we started planning our itinerary we were not going to have enough time to make it up there. Second thing to take note of; my teachers kept tell me how it is soooo cold in Hokkaido and how I need to be careful walking because its very slippery. Last note; Japan has some of the best electronics in the world...right?

Yuki Matsuri!!!!!

Casey Lary
2006-02-20 15:07:48

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bragging about his timberlands, from Louisiana who tells me he is sorry i am from California, how he "will shoot me but he won't" and that he cannot disclose his real name so we had to call him "G." This is probably funny to no one but us...you will just have to see Jeff's impression someday. On the way home from the bar I totally ate it on the ice. We had been sliding around all day. This time i really fell, landed on my bag, and even being in the case the broke the screen on my camera. Now if any of you know me, I love my camera. So I guess my teachers were right, its slippery! so sad :-(.

Despite our late nights we managed to
Dance Dance Dance...wake up somewhat early and catch the second half of the superbowl. That afternoon we headed over to Odori Park to check out the main point of our trip, the Snow Festival. Before coming to Japan I knew that I wanted to see the Yuki Matsuri. They say to book tickets in advance. I booked this package deal the same time I booked my Thailand tickets. Even then we got the last of the tickets. There were 20-30 ft ice/snow scultpures that were so intricate it was incredible. One of the main ones this year was the Chronicles of Narnia in honor of the movie. Even the rope that connected the bears was made of ice. You definitely have to see it to believe it. There were about 10 big scultpures and hundreds of little ones. It was such a lovely sunny afternoon strolling through the park to see these incredible figures. My favorites were the Chronicles of Narnia and the big Buddha at the Tawain display. Another added bonus to this afternoon was seeing Japanese babies/kids all geared up for a big snowstorm. Absolutely the cutest things in the world! Such an experience!!!! Soooo worth it to come! Tonight
First snowbank of the night (thats me)we headed to the Kirin Beer Garden again for a tabehodai and nomihodai. The infamous meal at beer gardens is called Genghis Khan. It is lamb and vegetables cooked on your table on an open skillet. Like all the food we got in Hokkaido...it was freakin awesome. It's so cold outside that when you aren't outside you are inside eating! Not a bad lifestyel if you ask me :-). That night we went to see the scultpures lit up and then found this American bar that served none other than my beloved WHEAT BEER!!! Such a treat.

Our last day, Tuesday, we got up early and headed to the snowpark. This was japanese kid central. It was outside of the city. There were more sculptures, a cazillion tiny snowmen, a huge ice maze, and an ice slide. Had a great time here as well. At the airport I found out that I lost my paper ticket. As mentioned in the beginning, Japan has some of the best electronics, but no electronic ticket. I had to buy a brand new ticket and will be reimbursed 6 months later when the ticket is finally declared lost. It was only a mere $400.
Lisa hitting up the snowbankAUGH. Lesson learned: don't lose your plane ticket!

So what a trip. What we thought was going to be a great weekend turned into one of the best I have had in Japan. Despite two LARGE problems with my camera and plane ticket, I would not have changed a thing. Even the mess ups in the beginning just made it that more of an adventure. We had a great crew, met crazy people, great conversations, Sapporo is an INCREDIBLE city, great sights, great food....all in all fabulous!