A
friend from Australia graduated from UNSW last year, just like me. Unlike me,
Nina studied commerce, and will be commencing her job at a firm in Sydney
around June. Until then, she is in Sapporo, Hokkaido, on short term mission
with OMF. I thought I'd make the most of this golden week break and drop in for
a visit before she left. Selina also came to visit in the same period. This is
the document of our Golden Week adventures.
(Note, I don't show pictures of others on this public blog without
express permission. I've included links to these pictures which have other
people in them on Facebook (kudos
to Selina for taking and
uploading them all!), so if you
have permission to view them, you can.)
Departure
and Arrival
Strange weather
Sapporo
wasn't as cold as I expected. Everyone kept saying that the weather there is
not receptive to visitors outside summer, but I walked around with a shirt and
a jacket (two layers) and it was quite comfortable. Upon initial observation,
it appeared all the snow had melted from the roads, but I saw quite a few piles
of snow around the place which suggested they cleared the snow manually.
Something
very strange was that the cherry blossom trees in Sapporo had not yet started
to bloom by the end of Golden week this year (which was when I was there).
Japan has a unique obsession with cherry blossom trees, which they commemorate
with an annual celebration called Hanami.
I'll get around to writing more about Hanami at a later time, but the main
feature that makes the cherry blossoms beautiful to the Japanese is its
brevity. These trees flower once a year, and the flowers drop off in four or
five days. Flowering season in Tokyo is supposed to be early April, so I should
have arrived in Japan on time (April 1) for the peak flowering period. But due
to strange weather patterns, the cherry blossoms well before their usual
time, so it means I didn't make it. This time in Sapporo, the cherry
blossoms didn't bloom till after their expected season. Very strange weather patterns -
I'm disappointed I didn't make in time for hanami this year :( There's always
next year I guess.
Sapporo beer museum
The
first stop on tour guide Nina's itinerary was the Sapporo beer museum. We had
the visit placed on the afternoon I arrived, but due to the arrival time of my
flight, by the time we got there, the museum had closed :(
We still got something out of it though. Sapporo is famous for Genghis Khan. Not the war general; he's Mongolian. In Japan, ジンギスカン (jingisukan) is lamb BBQ on a hot plate.
There
were a number of specialty Genghis Khan restaurants at the Sapporo beer museum,
so we went there for dinner. The service there was really good - they gave us
plastic bags to cover our coats and bags. Why, you might ask? Let's just say I
didn't want my bag to take BBQ lamb back home as a souvenir. I enjoyed our
Genghis as thoroughly as our clothes smelled of lamb at the end of the night.
And no better compliment to the succulent lamb than a hearty pint of Sapporo
beer. And Nina, thanks for your generosity in shouting us - you really didn't
have to, and we are deeply indebted to your hospitality.
Visiting Hokudai
The next morning, Nina showed us around Hokkaido University (北大 hokudai), where she had spent most of her
time in Sapporo. I didn't know Hokudai had such an interesting history. It's
best known as one of Japan's national universities, but I don't think
it's widely purported
that its founder is a Christian. According to Nina,
the Christian staff workers at Hokudai told her that apparently one of William
Clark's demands was that he be permitted to teach Christian theology on campus.
His article on Wikipedia certainly suggests he fought very hard to have the study of thelogy approved in what
would have been a country largely unacquainted with Christianity, and the
current motto of the university, "Boys be ambitious", was quite
possibly originally "Boys be ambitious for Christ". I'm certainly
impressed by the missionary efforts of Clark, and what he achieved inspires me
to be ambitious for Christ also :)
Taboo numbers?
I
noticed something very strange about the room numbering on my floor. What I
discovered takes superstition to a whole new level. Level 6 to be exact.
(because that's the level I was on when I recorded this video).
Sapporo International Church
On
Sunday, we all attended Nina's regular church together, SIC. It was a service
conducted in Japanese, with real-time English translation provided via an
earpiece for those who wanted it. The pastor was actually a Korean OMF
missionary, and not a Japanese native, which is really surprising, since
Japanese churches usually preference Japanese pastors. I suppose it shouldn't
be too surprising, since this church is more internationally orientated. Aside
from a very slight accent, his Japanese was native anyway, so that wasn't an
issue.
The
sermon style was also quite different to the customary three-point sermon from
a reformed evangelical church. It was difficult finding one major theme that
ran through the sermon, though. I guess I'm not used to that sort of preaching
style yet. It would also have helped in retaining the anecdotes if I had
understood more Japanese.
Mount Moiwa
We
took a ropeway up Mount Moiwa, a 531m
high mountain with an excellent view of Sapporo city.
Sapporo Ramen
We
tried the ramen at the most renowned ramen shop in Hokkaido. How do I know that
it was the most renowned? Well firstly, this shop has been running now for
three generations. Secondly, both the owners and their huge flashing sign
outside say that it is. But most interesting of all, was what was on the wall
inside the shop:
(click to enlarge)
These
are signatures from renowned people who have come to eat here. They are almost
all Japanese though, so you might not be familiar with many, but I reckon most
people know AKB48 (rightmost framed canvas, middle row). I also recognised Aqua
Timez. You might be able to find another artist you recognise. The restaurant
owners told me that they have more signatures from visiting celebrities than
they have room in the shop to display. I believe them.
Between
the three of us, we tried their salt butter ramen, soy sauce butter ramen, and
miso butter ramen. Personally, I liked the soy sauce butter ramen best. But I
just simply love ramen full stop ^^
Marimo
Some
friends here in the dormitory asked me to bring back Marimo as a souvenir. At
that time, my response "was what on earth is a marimo…?" It turns out
that they are apparently quite well known. Have you seen or heard of these
before?
According to
Wikipedia, aside from Hokkaido colonies are only
found in Iceland, Scotland and Estonia. Also according to Wikipedia, they are
considered a type of plant. So apparently they will grow bigger, but only
apparently about a millimetre per year. I guess we will see, assuming my one
doesn't die before that.
Trick(ed) art museum
We
heard that there was a trick art museum exhibit being hosted in Sapporo,
specially for the Golden Week break, and I was interested. Selina had to catch
her flight, so we said goodbye to her first before Nina kindly acted as guide
one more time. What we didn't consider, was the waiting time to enter the
exhibit. I thought the exhibit might be popular, but to be honest, I didn't
expect the wait to be 90 minutes long. It seems I wasn't the
only one who was shocked by the wait time. Since there was about 3 hours
before my flight back to Tokyo, in order to allow for the train back to the
airport and check in time, we thought better than to risk missing the plane.
Slightly unfortunate, but on the flip side, we got to have Okonomiyaki instead
:D
This
was my first time eating Okonomiyaki, and it also happens to be my first time
making it too. Nina learned how to during her time in Hokkaido, so she taught
me how. The flipping part was the hardest, but more or less it remained intact.
It wasn't too shabby, if I say so myself! By not going to the trick art exhibit
(which is available in many places anyway), we got to eat a hearty lunch, and
have fun doing it :) An exchange worth making.
Interesting street architecture
Despite
less than two hours remaining of my time in Sapporo, the eventfulness doesn't
end here. We happened to walk in the opposite direction to the train station on
our way back, and did so for 10 whole minutes. Why did it take so long for us
to realise? Well here's a screenshot of the street layout of the centre of
Sapporo. What do you notice?
The
streets are virtually all at right angles to each other. The grid-like street
architecture is further accentuated by the street name designations -
"kita" means north, "nishi" means west, "minami"
means south, and "higashi" means east. It was pointed out to me by a
friend back in Tokyo that it quite resembles New York street architecture (and
naming).
Anyway,
we were supposed to go to Sapporo station, so making our way to the equivalent
grid co-ordinates of 7 North, 1 West, but instead we went in the opposite
direction (i.e. VERY north). The street names don't change very much, so it
didn't dawn on us till we got to somewhere around 20 North. A note of caution
for anyone going travelling in either Sapporo or New York.
Needless
to say, it took us quite a bit longer to make it back. I ended up taking the
last train I could without being late, and checked in at the airport 1 minute
before the check-in counter closed. Human failures let us down again, but God
was good to us as He has been always.
----------------
Big
thanks to Nina who organised the whole weekend, despite her busyness both
before and after our visit. Prioritising being a good host over (a long
overdue) sleeping in, you showed great hospitality :) Praise God also for your
willingness to serve Him in a foreign country, sharing the good news of Christ
with those who don't yet know Him. God bless in your future ministry, wherever
God takes you :)
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