Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Winter Fest

ach, the snow! it was only a week ago that I have spent my time lazily on the shores of warm and fuzzy Since Hokkaido is way up north, the temperatures are as low as -10 Celsius degrees, but Okinawa... now all around me is the beautiful surroundings of the snow white Hokkaido. the view is, well, bloody amazing.
Back in Okinawa, I had the chance of meeting in my hostel the beautiful Kumiko Katsuya, who without any hesitation offered me to stay at her home in Hokkaido with her family, since she will be there as well. I still have some hard time digesting this generous offer made by an almost complete stranger, even now as I sit at her home, writing these words.
On the first day, she picked me up from the airport and we drove straight to her home... the sky were a bright blue, yet the land was already covered with a thick layer of snow, and the horizon was littered with towering mountains, all dotted with huge masses of shimmering white. Even I, the notorious nature hater, was struck by this intense exposure to a surroundings I had yet encountered.
She introduced me to her home, which is really big, even in Israeli standards and her family. Her brother, Go, was my age, yet looked much younger, although i did find out that appearance is not what it may seem... 5 minutes later, after I had categorized him as a silent nice geeky guy, he had introduced me his Hip-hop dance shows, and damn the guy can move. After a bit of chit chatting with the mother and brother (dad was at work (7:30 pm), we had decided to go to an Onsen (hot spring baths) nearby. Now, I couldn`t take any pictures inside the Onsen, since everybody were butt naked, but trust me when I say the following words: TRY IT! 3 seconds after you enter, you forget the whole embarrassing naked moment, even though I got many stares as the only hairy foreigner there. but it was great. Me and Go, Kumis brother, entered the hot spring that was located outside in the blistering cold... my body was immersed in heat while my nostrils breathed ice, and all the while looking at a mountainous view bordered by a small lake... gorgeous... and refreshing... and the conversation was not so bad either, even though Go didnt know much English and my japanese was made out of one word sentences.
Back in her house, Father and Mother greeted us, already ready to eat dinner. Now I was a bit scared at that moment, since I started imagining smooshy squids and half dead whales staring at me from my plate while the whole family anticipates my exulted delight... but to my surprise, the dinner was simple and delicious.
The day after, me and Kumi drove together to the winter Festival located in central Sapporo.

A small example of the snow festival


A miniature Snowboard Contest


Since Kumi lives in the suburbs, it was almost a 40 minutes drive, but the view was lovely and the company was lovelier. We spent some 4 hours touring the whole of the winter festival, while it was snowing, and it was a great experience for me... for Kumi i guess she was used by now to snow and the snow festival, but she had a good time too, im sure.























































































To sum it all, Im really glad I met Kumi... without her I imagine my tour was another lonesome, cold journey in a no gaijins land.

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