To me, "Christmas" means spending time with family. It means eating a Christmas dinner of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, veggies, and cranberry sauce. It means opening presents on New Years Eve after dinner. It means being in that all-encompassing festive atmosphere during the Christmas holidays and having warm memories of Christmas from my childhood.

This being my first Christmas in Japan (I was in Vietnam last year) I was pretty excited to see how the Japanese spend their Christmas. But in Japan, what does "Christmas" mean? Two Things: KFC and Christmas cake. Christmas in Japan is more of a novelty holiday, like St. Patrick's day or Valentines day back in Canada. They aren't really "holidays" per se (since it's not a national holiday), but it's one of those fun holidays where it's fine if you don't actually do anything for it. In Japan, it's somehow become tradition (I have a feeling through clever marketing) to eat KFC for Christmas, which is the closest you can get to proper turkey in Japan. I'm not sure where the Christmas cake tradition came from but it's normally a strawberry-flavored sponge cake that's eaten between lovers on Christmas Eve. There's an old saying in Japan that if you are older than 25 (the date of Christmas Eve) and still unmarried, you are a "Christmas cake" meaning you get old and stale the longer you leave it past the 25th! This year I celebrated Christmas Eve Japanese style. I went snowboarding at amazing Asahidake (2 days after opening) for untouched, waist-deep powder. Amazing! That night I made a stop by KFC intending to get some fried chicken but got a huge line-up instead, so I just got a picture with the Kernel and left empty-handed. I ended up getting cold, fried chicken after a stop at Seicomart (a convenience store). I wasn't intending to, but how could you pass up that Christmas packaging! I also picked up some other things for a complete, well-balance Christmas dinner:

Mmmm.. Tim Tams, Cheeza, canned coffee, hot chocolate, and gyudon. I wanted to get some Christmas cake but that stuff is hella expensive, so I opted for pastries instead. Also, for the record, the beer wasn't mine. I ended up hanging out with my friend Nicole and watched How The Grinch Stole Christmas while she wrapped last-minute presents and listened to Christmas reggae music. It was probably the most bizarre Christmas Eve I've ever had! It was justified because the next evening, on Christmas Day, I went to my friend Caroline's house where she had ordered in turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce... a proper Christmas dinner! I hadn't had turkey in over two years so I stuffed myself like I was going into hibernation. Overall, not what I was used to but a fun Christmas nonetheless. I'm still undecided where I'll be having Christmas next year, whether it's in Japan or back in Canada.. Hmm, どうしようかな？

Also, a little belated but, Happy Christmas everyone!

This is my 100th blog post. w00t!

I wonder why no one's told me to shut up already?..

I had my first semi-harrowing adventure in Japan after going on a backcountry snowshoeing trip gone bad. The 13 of us - 11 JETs and two guides - who signed up for the "Hokkaido Backcountry Xmas Party" trip had no idea what was in store for us. We were looking forward to a short, breezy snowshoe trek to a rustic cabin where we'd settle in for the night and have a Christmas party. The next morning we'd hike a slope next to the cabin for a few hours of pristine, untouched powder. Little did we know how the trip would actually turn out.

We started out the day at a small parking lot at the head of the trail just before 11:00am. The trail we were taking was a "shortcut", supposed to only take 3 hours, leading up to the cabin from the back side of the mountain. It had been snowing the day before, coating the ground and trees under a blanket of thick, white snow. Fifteen minutes after setting out we reached a fork in the trail and decide to follow some tracks and take the right fork after consulting a map. We walked for an hour and a half before realizing the tracks in the snow stopped. Our guide went on ahead, came back and said "Do you want the bad news or the bad news?" We had hit a dead-end and took the wrong trail! So after a break, we packed up and double-timed it back to the fork where we should have taken the left path.

It was another hour and a half by the time we made it back to the fork. We'd been snowshoeing with our heavy packs for over 3 hours by now and were already exhausted. For some of us in the group it was the first time ever snowshoeing so it was tough going. Being weighed down by our over-night packs and snowboards strapped to our backs, it wasn't quite a walk in the park. I wasn't accustomed to the exercise (after a 2-month hiatus from the gym.. which is entirely my fault) so my legs were seizing up by then. We got back to the fork, it was 1:00am by then, and we were basically back at square one - except a lot more tired.

When we headed down the left path things got a bit more difficult because there weren't any tracks to follow, which means we had to break the snow. If you don't know what breaking snow means, just imagine doing a stair-master on the highest setting for a few hours. It's hard work! Luckily we had 13 people to rotate amongst to break the snow. It was slow going, maybe 10-15 meters every minute, but we were slowly making progress. We were still in a good mood despite the huge detour but were hopeful we'd make it to the cabin soon so we could relax for the night. After about an hour and a half, during one of our breaks, our guide says, "Honestly guys, it's probably about another 2 hours from here." We were even more exhausted by then, we'd been walking in the snow for over 4.5 hours and it was slowly starting to get dark. We were not very happy. But we continued to trudge on, gritting our teeth through the pain and hunger and forcing our bodies to keep going for just a little longer.

About an hour later we stumbled upon some good news - snowmobile tracks! It meant we didn't have to break snow anymore. We followed the snowmobile tracks for a couple hundred meters before we were told to stop so our guide could consult the map. Even though it was easy-going, we weren't entirely sure these tracks lead to the cabin. We stopped on the trail and waited for our guide to decide which direction to go. It was slowly becoming apparent that we were lost and didn't know which way to go. It was 3:30pm by now, and in case you didn't know, the sun sets at 4:30pm at this time of year. He told us to get out our headlamps, which some of us didn't have, and said we'd probably have to use them. We stood around talking, slowly losing our confidence in our guide, stewing as he used a cellphone to consult Google Maps to find the cabin.

I'll just remind you here that this hike was supposed to take 3 hours, we had been hiking for just under 6 hours, we were exhausted beyond belief, hadn't eaten a proper lunch, it was getting dark, we were lost in the middle of a forest, some of us didn't have proper gear (headlamps, emergency blankets, even our water was running out), and our guide had no idea which direction to go. Needless to say, we were not only frustrated, we were pissed off. Some of us wanted to go back to the car and call the whole thing off but survival dictated that we stick together in a group. The worst thing to happen would be for 1-2 people wandering off and finding them the next day in the snow.

After 20 minutes of deliberating, our guide finally decided where to go - another 3 km off the snowmobile trail, still another 2 hours away. This was when we pretty much mutinied. We weren't going to break snow in the dark in a direction we weren't even sure the cabin was in. The trek was already a complete failure so it was safer to go back to the cars since we knew which direction they were in - back the way we came. After a few minutes of deliberation he finally made the call we were waiting for, "Alright guys, let's go back to the cars and decide what to do from there." Geez, finally! He should've made the call hours ago when he knew we were lost and saw some of us barely being able to walk.

The hike back to the cars from that point was all a blur. It was pitch black out and all I could see was the halo of light in front of me from my headlamp. I was hungry and beyond exhaustion but I was fueled by the prospect that we knew where we were headed and not by thoughts of reaching the warm cabin (which I had given up hours ago). I had already pulled by groin and was forcing my leg muscles to continue walking for the fact that if I stopped, I probably wouldn't be able to get moving again. I stumbled over the uneven snow in my snowshoes, focusing on one step at a time, and lost track of the time within my thoughts. I was faring better than some of the others in the group who were less fit or less experience than I was. They had to rely on huge doses of painkillers or the support of others just to get through the muscle pain they were experiencing. I'd never been in the situation where I had to keep going for the sake of survival. I can't say I like it very much.

Once we reached the cars it was 6:00pm, a full seven hours after setting out. Some of us collapsed on the ground in the parking lot from exhaustion. I hugged my car. The nightmare trip was over. We packed away all our gear and changed while we waiting for our guide to come with the slower members of the group. He admitted afterwards that he messed up, and gave me and another JET money cover the cost of gas for coming out to the trip. Later on, he also offed us the option of doing the trip again for free or getting a portion of our original payment back. I opted for the latter. We all went to an onsen afterwards to soak our aching muscles and wash away the memories of the day. It would've been good exercise... if I was in the right mindset for it (my friend Nicole said we probably burned over 4000 calories), but all I was really looking forward to doing was reaching the hut and snowboarding the next day. We never did reach the cabin, but mistakes happen. And now I know how hard I can push my body. If anything, this whole trip was more of a test of mental toughness, and something I think everyone should go through (though not necessarily voluntarily) just see where your personal boundaries are.

In the end though, it was an adventure :)

A few weeks ago was the annual Gather-all-the-Hokkaido-JETs-in-Sapporo-and-party weekend - otherwise known as Mid-Year Conference. Last year we (meaning HAJET, of which I've wholeheartedly become a part of) decided to hold a Winter Ball during Mid-Year conference, which turned out a big success. This year we tried to double up on that success and hold the event again.. with an 80's twist. Eighty-two awesome ALT's and Japanese got glittered and glammed up to have a bit of food, fun, and three hours of all-you-can-drink. The 80's music was pumping aplenty, Ross had his prom-style photo booth set up, and we also set up an Arts & Crafts silent auction to help raise funds for HEC. I had the sleepless task of organizing and running the auction but I'm glad to say we raised over $700 for HEC!

I recently had the good luck to visit something I've been dying to do since coming to Japan - stay in a Love Hotel. These types of hotels are scattered all throughout Japan (even in small, seedy towns or where there's demand) and are infamously known, as the name suggests, for making love in. What makes them even more conspicuous is the ability to rent them by the hour, so you can quickly get in an get out. Prices usually go for 2000-6000 yen per hour ($20-$60), or you can stay the night (after a certain time like 11:00pm) from around 6000-15000 yen per night ($60-$150). So Love Hotels not only attract couples looking for privacy, but poor backpackers looking for cheap accommodations on par with hostels.

One of the reasons Love Hotels are so popular are because many of the rooms are themed! I'll admit, that's one of the reasons I wanted to go. You can get rooms decorated as doctors offices, subway carriages, dungeons, castles, outer space, underwater, cosplay, Hello Kitty, mirrors, glass, Egyptian, to anything in between. A lot of the rooms (depending on the price) also have things like saunas, massage chairs, rotating beds, flashing lights, jacuzzi's with built-in TV's, karaoke boxes, and flat-screen TV's. By the time I got to the Love Hotel it was already after 2:00am and a lot of the rooms were already taken, so I settled on an outdoor-themed one with wood paneling, and a ceiling with silhouettes of branches and what appeared to be a dead squirrel. Mm, romantic. Another amazing feature about Love Hotels is that, Japan being a sexually discreet country, everything is automated! You don't meet a single person the entire time you're there.

Here's a quick "How To" if you ever want to visit a Love Hotel:

- Rooms are chosen from a panel at the entrance with pictures of all the rooms. A lit panel means the room is available, and hourly and overnight stay prices are listed. All you do is press and hold the button until the light goes off.
- Enter the room but don't be alarmed when the door locks behind you. It's to keep you from buggering off without paying!
- Relax. Take a bath, watch TV, and enjoy the complementary toiletry. Don't forget to take advantage of the sex toy vending machine.

There's a panel in the wall with a clock showing you how long you've been in the room and the price listed near it. The more hours you stay, the more you have to pay, so when you're ready to leave you:
- Look for the pneumatic tube and plastic container (yep, like those ones you see in the movies!)
- Fill out the form next to the tube with your info, time you entered, and time you will leave.
- Put the form into the plastic container along with your money.
- Load the container into the tube, press the vacuum button, and off it goes!
- Wait a few minutes, they'll unlock the door, and you'll receive the container back along with any change.

Overall, a relatively painless experience. If you happen to make a mistake or don't know what to do, you can call the front desk (there is one, you just never see the person working there.. but I'm pretty sure they can see you 0.0) and hope they speak English. They'll come to your door looking down and shame-faced and will explain to you how to go about paying. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures because I had forgotten my camera, but hopefully next time I'll be able to provide pictures. In the meantime, go look up "Love Hotels" on Google Images to see more of Japan's quirky (yet awesome) culture.

Snow has finally hit Japan! Well, northern Japan at least. It had been carpeting the mountains for the past few weeks but it's only just recently reached the ground (without melting). We got 20cm of snow in one night with a forecast for a whole lot more. Look!

So yeah, I'm pretty excited because it means my love Yuki-chan is back and I can ride her all Winter. No you sickos, "yuki" means snow in Japanese, and yep, that means snowboarding! This year I'm especially excited because I've decided to squash the travel bug that's been nagging at me for the past year and stay in Hokkaido for Winter vacation. First, I've decided to become more financially responsible so I'm cutting down on my overseas trips. Secondly, this is possibly my last year on JET *sad face* and thus, possibly my last chance to get carve up Hokkaido's sweet, fluffy powder. So, I've booked off days for my holidays and have an unadulterated, unprecedented 24 days off for Christmas vacation! That means over 3 weeks of wandering the island in my trusty Shuttle, 24 days of traveling to whatever ski hill I fancy, and 576 hours of potential snowboarding (barring lack of sleep and ski hill hours of operation). I already have a backcountry snowshoeing trip planned, a trip to some ski hills for opening day, and a few days in a cabin in Niseko... oh man, I'm drooling just thinking about it :P* I apologize ahead of time if my blog becomes a snowboarding travel blog over the next few months.. but I don't plan on doing much else!

Happy Winter! Let's have enjoying snow!

What do you get when you combine ghosts, pirates, vampires, samurai's, street fighter characters, Jack Skellington, Bat woman, cross-dressing maids and Care Bears blended together for a few hours of all-you-can-drink at an izakaya topped with karaoke? The best Halloween ever! This year, I spent an awesome 4-day weekend with good friends under the neon lights of the Susukino district in Sapporo.

The Saturday night Halloween started out at an izakaya with a good mix of foreigners and Japanese, some experiencing their first Halloween celebrations ever. Of the 35 people there, I only knew five or six costumed faces and the rest being friends of friends with someone there, making it the perfect chance to mix, match, and meet new people. With the drinks and food flowing freely, our three-hour izakaya swiftly ended before it was time to head to the nijikai at a local bar. The night air was chilly on the way but I was comfortably padded from the cold in my Care Bear costume/pajamas, making a perfect heater for those who didn't dress in one-piece costumes (namely.. everyone). After making an obligatory showing and staying long enough to socialize, a few of us made our escape and headed for the nearest purikura booth for mandatory Halloween photos and costume-themed crane games. I didn't have any luck getting a Care Bear keychain :( We finished off the night with an hour of karaoke at a Halloween-themed karaoke bar (year-round, not just because it was Halloween) named "Thriller" and sang the spookiest songs we could think of.. like "Time Warp", "Monster Mash", and the song no Japanese Halloween karaoke is complete without... "Thriller"! There aren't that many Halloween songs, are there? It was past 3:00am when we finished, our costumes were coming half-off, and we were all tired so we said our goodbyes, went home to crash, and slept late into the afternoon.

The rest of the weekend was spent with Eliza and Saul playing in playgrounds that would never have passed safety inspections back home, going to my first maid cafe (which was surprisingly a letdown and just full of cigarette smoke and overpriced drinks) and cat cafe (which is a place you pay to go pet cats... weird, no?), the Shiroi Koibito Park (which was not unlike Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory with it's quirky miniature houses, bubble fountains, and random displays and statues), and a few hours at Leisure Sport where you pay for all-you-can-have-fun (!) playing arcade games, riding mechanical bulls, doing American Gladiators-type courses, shooting hoops, and jamming on a drum kit in the music studio. What made the weekend so great was just being able to spend time with awesome friends and hanging out in the big city for a change. It'll be a tough Halloween to top next year!

I remember when I was kid and going out trick-or-treating, trying to compete with my brothers to see who could get the most pillow case full of candy in one night. Some years we'd have a good haul and have to drop a full pillow case back home to grab an empty one, and other times my mom would drive us in the van with the side-door open so we wouldn't need to walk from house to house. Those were the good days. I wasn't so much into Halloween for the costumes or spookiness of the occasion. At that age, it was aaall about the candy. I remember one time when I was 12 and didn't have a costume so I cut two wholes out of a bed sheet and voila! Instant ghost costume. It kept slipping and wasn't very easy to wear, so taking my laziness to new heights I took off the bed sheet, bundled it in my arms and said "I'm a ghost but it won't stay on," when I was asked what I was, which was still good enough to receive the candy! I had fooled the system.

Nowadays, I can't quite go out trick-or-treating anymore but since being in Japan where Halloween is still a novelty, I can bring trick-or-treating and Halloween to Japanese children. Last year I was a mummy, but this year I decided to go with something a little different - a green Care Bear costume (which will double as a snowboarding outfit in the Winter ;). I've worn it a few times driving around in my car after I'd bought it, at the bar in Obihiro, and to teach some Halloween lessons at my schools. I also wore it yesterday for the Tokoro Kid's Halloween Party.

This year we had a small group of 20 kindergarten and elementary kids attend. For some of them, it was the first time they'd ever experienced anything as strange as Halloween. They came dressed up in their costumes, some looking like they were unsure what everything was about (like a little boy in a suit jacket and knee-socks), but was balanced out by all the other little witches, frogs, fairies, and the grim reaper with his inflatable scythe. There were events such as Halloween Twister, Halloween Bingo, a Halloween relay and... Halloween donuts-on-a-string (to substitute for Bobbin' for Apples). If the sugary donuts weren't enough to get the kids into hyper-mode, the night was topped off with a ghost pinata full of candy that they had to bust open with a baseball bat. I'm just glad we didn't have to deal with the kids after that.

After spending a few weeks teaching about Halloween, showing pictures of Halloween costumes from back home, and doing endless Halloween activities, the exposure has made me start to really enjoy this holiday. Back in Canada, I'd become indifferent to it after wearing costumes for Halloween since I learned to walk. But being in Japan and seeing it again through the eyes of an adult has shown me that it's not so much about the candy, but about dressing up and just having fun. Now I think it's fun to dress up for Halloween, and fun seeing the little kids enjoying themselves, and even funner running around in a green Care Bear costume handing out candy to random Japanese strangers on the streets! Ah, who knows, maybe I am still a kid.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Just when I thought my hiking was done for the season, I got an invite to hike another mountain with my friend Georgie a few days ago. This time of year, mid-Autumn, has already seen us with a light dusting of snow on the lofty mountain peaks so we decided to tackle a mountain slightly closer to the sea, Mt.Nikoro, at a breezy 829 meters. It was a short, brisk hike taking us three hours to reach the peak and back. Georgie's 50-year old Japanese friend, Kazumi-san, led our little group of multi-national ALT's directly up the mountain on the steepest path he could find, making it feel more like a military exercise than a relaxed hike through the forest.

The charm of Mt.Nikoro wasn't the beautiful, winding path that hugged the mountain or the gorgeous Autumn-colored trees, but the old Japanese man named Kisaku-san who has rightfully claimed the mountain as his own. His story, as told by Kazumi-san, is that he's a 75-year old man who lives near the mountain and climbs it every single day of the year, rain or shine. He also likes to take pictures of other hikers he meets on the trail and puts them on his self-made website. Kazumi-san knew of him from previously hiking the mountain so we timed our descent to run into him as he was on his way up.

When we met him, he was overjoyed at seeing such a mixed group of people. We had an Irish, an American, a British, and a Canadian.. not quite what he was expecting, I imagine. He took our picture, jotted down our names and info, thanked us profusely and then gave us his business card, told us about his website, and continued to tell us how happy he was. We definitely made his day! Check out what he had to say about us on his website (in Japanese): http://8805.teacup.com/nikoroyama2/bbs/1619.

If you ever come to humble Mt.Nikoro near Kitami in Eastern Hokkaido, look for Kisaku-san - the Old Man of Nikoroyama.

I'll be honest, I don't like zoos. They're depressing. A couple of weekends ago I paid a visit to the Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa. A few friends from Takikawa wanted to visit the zoo so I met them there with my friend Nikki. We walked around on an emotional low (I wasn't the only one to dislike zoos) to see the animals on exhibit in their cages, like glass displays of exotic pets. The most saddest polar bear I've ever seen was in a walled enclosure made of fiberglass rocks, like you'd see on a movie set, with a regurgitating waterfall for ambiance. To add to insult, they planted two separate trees to give a fake impression that somehow this was nature! I watched the polar bear, yellowed with age, walk back-and-forth from wall to wall with its head tilted to the left, probably waiting until next feeding time, and imagined myself living there for 15 years. A virtual jail! I'm not gonna go out and join PETA or anything, but how can you enjoy looking at owls and hawks that can't fly, or gorillas surrounded by concrete and steel, or a lone snow leopard in a giant bird cage?! I'd rather watch them on TV than see them at the zoo, thank you very much.

Sadly, by going there, I was helping to prop up this animal Guantanamo Bay. Not only did I pay to get in, but I bought a lifetime membership :P Seriously though, how do they get away with charging 800 yen for a single entrance fee and 1000 yen for a lifetime membership? Well anyways, I bought a lifetime membership... probably because I'll go back there in the winter when they let the penguins walk around, heehee, but then that's it! I'm throwing my membership in the fire.. or using it to pick the locks on the animal cages. I did like the Red Panda though, I want one (=^.^=)

In my little corner of Eastern Hokkaido, my town is being turned upside-down in a once-in-a-lifetime historical event. Gappei 2009! Today, my town has officially merged with the next town over to become the new Town of Yubetsu, complete with speeches, ribbon-cutting, and a flag-raising ceremony. With two towns of less than 6,000 people adjacent to each other, it made financial and demographical sense to become a unified town. With it, though, comes the upheaval of transferring town halls, re-electing mayors, assigning public employees to different departments, reallocating duties, changing addresses, designing a new flag and logo, and moving desks around. It's a bureaucratic fireworks show! With all the chaos going on, there are a lot of unknowns about how the two towns will deal with being one and I'm just a poor little ALT all caught up in the mix. The upside is that I currently have an awesome new desk.. but no supervisor. Luckily, my job and the schools I teach at are the same for now but come April Madness next year, that could change too.

Sayonara, Kamiyubetsu :(

After trekking across Hokkaido, I had two short days of unsuccessfully trying to get back into work mode before it was the sweet, sweet weekend again. A new ALT, Tim, decided to throw a party (we called Sausage Fest '09) in his Eastern town of Teshikaga - conveniently located between the Big Trio of Lake Kussharo, Lake Mashu, and Lake Akan - and had planned a hike up to the peak of Mashu-dake on Saturday afternoon. Not one to pass up a hike (even though I just finished a 4-day trek) I decided to head out to Teshikaga on Friday night with Mr. New Zealand (Simon Daly) and Nikki (from my previous roadtrip).

The hike was short and sweet compared to my Daisetsuzan hike, along a nice forest path rather than over boulders and stones. It was a 4-hour, 14km round trip around the crater rim of Lake Mashu, which is called Kamuito, or "The Lake of the Gods", in native Ainu. It's a caldera lake inside a volcanic cone with numerous signs forbidding eager tourists to enter the lake. It's also one of the deepest lakes in Japan and one of the clearest lakes in the world. It was windy but sunny and cloudless, giving us a perfect view of the mysterious, deep, blue lake. The hiking path starts on the Western edge and winds along the lake's cliff edge before ascending up to Mashu-dake that hugs the Eastern edge of the lake. From the rocky peak at 857m next to scree slopes and loose cliffs, we had a panoramic view of the lake, the surrounding countryside and lake Kussharo in the distance. Standing on the peak of a mountain gives me sense of accomplishment for the physical, and ofttimes mental, struggle to reach the peak. The reward? Being able to look down on the world and appreciate the awesome power of nature.

I love being high. I've become a mountain addict.

I wasn't really big into hiking when I lived back in Canada. In Calgary, a mere hour away from the Rockies, I only ever went to the mountains to snowboard. Since coming to Hokkaido - the outdoor mecca of Japan filled with easily accessible hills and mountain - I was immediately drawn to take up hiking as a hobby. Like my friend Eliza said, "[In a Scottish accent] I twig you like the outdoors a wee bit." I've hiked quite a few of Hokkaido's mountains over the past two summers but I had yet to tackle the biggest mountain range of them all - Daisetsuzan.

Last weekend presented us with a five-day weekend consisting of three consecutive national holidays (the Japanese really know how to celebrate), dubbed Silver Week. Taking advantage of all this free time, I signed up for a guided multi-day trek in Daisetsuzan. Our route started in a gorge on the Eastern side of the mountains and ending at an onsen town on the Western side, spanning 40km and topping numerous mountain peaks - namely Kurodake, Hakkundake, Chudake, and Kaundake. There were nine of us in my group: five ALTs, two ex-pats, one Japanese woman, and our Kiwi guide, Leon.

Loaded down with our 20kg packs, we started the trek at Sounkyo Onsen with a ropeway gondola and chairlift ride that quickly brought us up to the 8th stage. After our first taste of the spectacular early-Autumn forest colors spread out below us, we began our steep three-hour ascent to the peak of Kurodake. The night was spent at a hut thirty minutes from the peak, packed with others taking advantage of the long weekend. The sun set at early 6:00pm, taking the day's warmth with it and leaving us in the unforgiving shadows of the mountains. The night was cold and sleepless for those of us who opted to stay in tents outside rather than in the warmth of the hut. The night was crisp and clear, displaying an amazingly rare glimpse of the Milky Way splashed across the night sky. I tried, unsuccessfully, to capture the moment with my camera.. but no picture can compare to being atop a mountain and closer, however minuscule, to the stars.

We spent the next three days trekking across the mountainous high country, making our way from peak to peak, only stopping long enough to rest and take epic photos on rocky outcrops. We stayed in huts for the remaining two nights, arriving before nightfall to make dinner as the sun went down, relying on our headlamps to avoid bumping into each other in the dark. The weather decided to cooperate and greeted us with warm sunshine and cloudless skies for each days' hike. Every morning we would rise with the sun and eat a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and coffee before setting out. We trekked over 16km for two of the days, walking over barren, rocky landscapes and scraping through knee-high brush, guided constantly by the towering peak of Asahidake on our right. We dropped down into river valleys, crossed withered glaciers, climbed up dried river beds, forded streams, and scrambled over boulders, continually working towards the next distant peak.

The last day of the trek saw us leave our lake-side hut near Kaundake for the long trek out of the mountains. The gradually sloping ridgeline we followed gave panoramic views of the river valleys and Asahikawa in the distance. As we dropped below the tree-line we began to navigate through overgrown underbrush, low-hanging tree branches, mud ponds threatening to swallow our boots, and along conveniently placed boardwalks through marshy wetlands. Once we reached the forest, the hard rocks underfoot began to be replaced by soft foliage and fallen pine needles. The path broadened out and I was able to change my focus from my footing to the amazing colors of the trees overhead. We were walking through a majestic forest awash in the reds, yellows and golds of Autumn. A few kilometers from the end of the hike, we stopped for a break at a lookout platform across the canyon from the misty Hagoramo Waterfalls. After a short hour descending down steep switchbacks, we finally arrived at our destination - Tenninkyo Onsen. The dirt accumulated on our bodies from the previous four days of trekking across Hokkaido was quickly washed off in a long, relaxing soak in the onsen, bringing to an end an amazing four days experiencing the wonders of Japan's outdoors.

Check out my album for more pictures of Daisetsuzan, and check out the Japan Adventures website for info on upcoming hikes around Hokkaido.

Since coming to Hokkaido, I've had an insatiable desire to see every square inch of the island, which has led me to develop a small fascination with Hokkaido's 道の駅 (Michi-no-Eki). Translated as "Road station", or "Rest stop", they're kind of like train stations for automobiles. The usually funkily (is that a word?) designed buildings have information about the area and are complete with restrooms, a souvenir shop, a restaurant, and most importantly, Michi-no-Eki magnets.

There are 92 Michi-no-Eki's strategically placed all throughout Hokkaido, forcing one to visit the far-flung towns and regions of the island just to buy these ¥250 magnets. In some cases, there is no other reason to visit! Each of the magnets has a cartoon picture of the region's mascot or a stylistic depiction of the its main attractions. Aibetsu, for example, has a superman-esque mascot with a mushroom-shaped head and an 'A' on his chest. Ashoro is apparently famous for feet. My town is slightly more normal and has a tulip mascot in honor of our yearly Tulip Festival.

I've been able to collect 32 magnets so far on my various journeys throughout Hokkaido, and I still have a long way to go.. literally and metaphorically. This was inspired by a previous ALT - Nik - who boldly managed to collect all 92 magnets during his four years in Hokkaido. I'm determined to complete this task in two years. My goal is to collect them all as a testament to my time spent here in Japan, my devotion to see all of Hokkaido, and my slight OCD obsession with these kinds of things. My future fridges are destined to be decorated with tangible memories of the sights and sounds of Hokkaido. Wish me luck and safe travels.

My magnet collection