~ Sapporo ~
Arriving at New Chitose Airport, I took the airport bus to the Renaissance Hotel stop. No, I was not staying at a fancy hotel; it was the closest stop to the couch surfer's house that I was staying at. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous. I made sure the couch surfer had reviews and had met real people who gave her good reviews. I got off the bus, not sure where to look, but a girl came up to me, "Sara?" I was safe! Tomomi was super nice, taking me to her apartment, which was just a short walk away. She was in the mood for sushi, so she took me to her favorite kaiten sushi restaurant. Because the place is so popular, we had to wait about an hour (even though we got there after 8pm), but it made the sushi even better. The first one that I ate was tuna beaten to give it a desired texture and then piled on top of the rice.
After our rigorous morning, we headed out for Sapporo. Tomomi's husband was currently traveling in the USA for work. (In fact, his job entails following baseball teams throughout Japan and nationwide.) He's current business trip is several months long, and Tomomi told me that the trip was a regular occurrence that she is now used to. She's not from Sapporo either; her family lives in Fukuoka, and she previously lived in Tokyo. As a result, she doesn't know the area and the people very well. If I were her, I'd be lonely living alone, but perhaps that's why she is involved with couchsurfing. Back to the reason I brought up her husband...Since her husband wasn't home, I was able to use his bike, so Tomomi and I biked everywhere. The river right by her house wasn't hard on the eyes.
There was an autumn festival being held downtown and I was lucky enough to be there on the last day!
We then went to the Former Hokkaido Government Office Building. The architecture and surrounding shrubbery were beautiful.
We then headed to Sapporo station. I was able to figure out the best way to get to Biei (my next destination) from Sapporo. We also went to a department store and got awesome massages from massage chairs. By the time we left the station, it was dark out and a little rainy. We made a brief stop at Tokeidai (The Clock Tower), a symbol of Sapporo built in 1878, with the clock installed in 1881.
Remembering that we had forgotten to take a picture with a melon bear at the festival, we also ran back from a goofy photoshoot.
For dinner, she took me to her favorite soup curry restaurant. By no surprise, it is a much thinner, soupier version of curry, and the rice is served separately. I tend to love soup-like foods, so I preferred it over the traditional curry. There are many different types of soup curry (meat, vegetable, etc), but I got tempura with mine. Unfortunately, the tempura was awful, but at least the curry was good. You can also get coconut in the curry, which Tomomi elected to get.
The second day, Tomomi wasn't feeling well, so I explored the city on my own. While biking, I came across Nijo Market. Just a block, the tiny market is nothing compared to Tsukiji Market in Tokyo. Crab is a famous dish (although a local told me that locals do not usually eat crab!), so almost every vendor seemed to sell the tasty creature.
It was convenient that a giant river was right by her apartment; it made it easier for me to not get lost when biking home.
The next morning, I headed to Sapporo Station to take a bus to Asahikawa, Hokkaido.
~ Biei ~
After arriving in Asahikawa by bus, I took the train to Biei, Hokkaido, where I was going to WWOOF for the next to weeks. What is WWOOF? WWOOF stands for World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. WWOOF is an organization where the WWOOFer assists some host in exchange for accommodation and all meals. There is no exchange of money between the WWOOFer and host, as long as both pay the organization membership fee. The WWOOFer, all ages excepted, even kids if they are with a parent, work for about six hours a day. The host shares knowledge and skills as a result of working with them, in addition to culture and language. WWOOF writes, "Our mission is to provide a means for friendship between people, Host and WWOOFers. Some of the ways we do this include: Helping Japanese organic farmers meet others, Education, A stepping stone, bridging the city & country, Japanese culture at a grass roots level, [and] Promoting other WWOOF groups."
Hosts are all throughout the world, although I picked Japan. I specifically picked Hokkaido because I wanted an excuse to come to the most northern part of Japan. For some reason, I had an urge to come; perhaps because everyone said the food was delicious. I specifically came to Biei because a host responded and said I could WWOOF there.
My hosts ran a pension, which is similar to a hotel except both dinner and breakfast are served and the bathroom is communal. The family included a husband, wife, and their three children. They also spoke absolutely no English. When I got there, the guy didn't know how to work the wifi connection, so at first he told me I would only be able to use the internet for 20 minutes a day. I sort of freaked out. And when I did, he laughed! I should have known it was going to be a bad experience at that point.
I worked every morning beginning at 6:30 am to serve the patrons breakfast. I ate after them around 8 am. I was given lunch as a break and usually ate around 3pm. That is a seven hour gap. I was near death every day beginning at 1pm. I worked a dinner shift beginning at 5:30 pm, which meant I ate after the patrons at the earliest 9:30pm. The food schedule was brutal.
Additionally, the work sucked. If I ever did anything wrong, the husband, who we referred to as 'Master' (that tells you right there how egotistical he was), would freak out at me, yelling the proper method. I normally washed the dishes, set dishes out, swept, cleaned toilets, ...basic cleaning things. They hesitated from giving me any more interesting or complicated tasks, I think because they were too lazy to try to explain the proper method to me. As a result, my duties were always the least enjoyable of those available.
Furthermore, they would not make conversation with me. I would try to talk to them, and if I asked them a question, they would quickly answer. They made no contribution to the conversation. I guess technically it wasn't a conversation, and can be considered more me talking to myself. They weren't friendly but scary.
One good thing about the situation is that I could borrow their daughter's bike sometimes. I went on bike rides in the area, which was extremely rural.
Tourist spots were interesting groups of trees lined up in distinct patterns.
After two successful couch surfing experiences, I went online to see if couch surfers were in the area; I found one in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, the city that I took the bus to Biei from. Shintaro isn't compeltely clueless when it comes to English, but he is definitely not fluent. I think he is much better at reading and writing than he is speaking. Right now, he is studying at Asahikawa Medical University. He told me that since his mom has schizophrenia, he thinks he may want to study psychiatry, although he is undecided. Since he has a car, he picked me up (yet another scary point for me - getting in a car with a stranger) at Biei station and we headed to Asahikawa. Our first stop was a group of three art museums: the Snow Crystals Museum, Yukara Ori Folk Art Museum, and International Dyeing and Weaving Art Museum.
I had never been to an ice museum before. It was a cold, albeit beautiful experience.
After the museums, we went to a kaiten sushi restaurant. As usual, I devoured tons of delicious sushi, but it was the first time that I had toro maguro - soft, smooth, and perfect.
Hokkaido is famous for vegetable and dairy farms, so it's no surprise that the milk is particularly delicious. And what can you make from milk? Soft cream. Hokkaido is famous for having 'milk' flavored soft cream. After lunch, we went to get some.
I got caramel ice cream and milk soft cream; I couldn't pick just one.
Shintaro told me a lot about Japanese culture and we had great talks throughout the day. I am really glad that I randomly contacted him and we got to meet. I insisted on taking a photo together before we left.
One morning, I had a rough situation. The evening before, I couldn't take a shower because there was no hot water. After going for a run the next day, I wanted to take a shower before I went out with a friend in the afternoon. I tried to ask the cleaning lady about the shower, and she told me that during the afternoon, I couldn't use hot water. I didn't really understand, so we went downstairs and we talked to the husband. He confirmed that I couldn't use hot water and when I told him that I wanted to shower, he laughed! Upset, I walked upstairs.
Because I was still meeting a friend, despite the cold water, I decided to shower anyway. It was brutal, but I made it through. After getting ready and coming downstairs, the guy freaked out on me. He literally screamed at the top of his longs. Even at this point, I couldn't understand him very well, but this didn't stop him. Apparently, the cleaning lady told me not to take a shower; I thought she was just warning me that the water was cold. He was also angry that I went upstairs while I was talking to him, even though I thought the conversation was finished. He apparently also told me that I wasn't allowed to leave the house. I thought he was saying that I had to move out. Most of this conversation I did not follow, and I am only making assumptions from what another person told me when the wife talked to her. However, that translation comes from a person who doesn't speak English very well, so I'm not 100% sure what happened. If he did forbid me from leaving the house, I find that a bit strange; I'm supposed to be their worker, not their child.
After a traumatic two hours of screaming and crying, I was finally able to leave the house. I went to Blue Lake with someone who I met walking around Biei. I was definitely still shook up, but I needed to leave the house.
The lake is about a twenty minute drive away, and the drive is worth it. Because of a chemical reaction in the water, the lake becomes a brilliant blue.
I also met a crazy woman who lives out of her car. I don't know how she does it, but she loves the freedom. This is the woman who was my [poor] English translator during my bout of miscommunication with the pension owners. It was very interesting to get her perspective on life. She told me not to allow myself to be controlled by them, but to live on my own terms. Although I would be lonely always living alone in a car, she said that is why she loves her lifestyle. She doesn't have to live by anyone's rules but her own.
I didn't want to quit my WWOOF experience. The total trip was going to be two and a half weeks, and even though it wasn't what I had hoped for, other people have gone through a lot worse. What I was going through was nothing in comparison to what some have to live through everyday, so I felt I had to stick it out. However, she made me re-think my experience. If I could find another WWOOF host, why force myself to be their slave? They were not following the mission of WWOOF. They weren't sharing culture. I was basically their worker who they didn't have to pay. I decided to find another host and move on as soon as possible.
Before I left, I met up with Shintaro one more time. He brought his friend, Honami, who he knew from school. This time, they showed me around Furano, another tourist destination in the area. We first went to the Furano Cheese Factory, a large factory producing cheese and dairy products. An ice cream and pizza factory were also adjacent, and Shintaro and Honami indulged in both. I love ice cream, but for some reason I didn't like their's.
Then we headed to Furano Marche, a mix between a farmer's market, sweets cafe, souvenir shop, and food court.
I'm not sure if these had a special name, but they were filled with melon-flavored creme, red bean, and custard.
With an appetizer in our bellies (and a pizza and ice cream in their's!), we went for lunch. Shintaro got chirashizushi.
Honami and I got Shio Ramen. While I didn't like ramen at all when I first arrived, I have become accustomed to its strong flavor. It was the first time I had shio (or salt) ramen. In the future, I would get other types if I had the choice...
For dessert, we went to Furano Delice. Apparently famous throughout Japan, the dessert restaurant sells all kinds of custards and cakes.
Shintaro had been there before, and as a result of the delicious experience he had the first time, he took Honami and I there. It was actually Honami's first time going to the dessert shop as well! We ordered two custards, a chocolate cheesecake, and a regular cheesecake. Shintaro said that when he went the first time, he got an original cheesecake and custard; while the cheesecake was good, he said, the custard was 'world class.' I couldn't help but laugh at his description of the dessert. Honami's favorite was the cheesecake, while I enjoyed the chocolate one.
Our final stop was a wooded area with tons of little shops selling souvenirs and knick-knacks. It was cute, but we didn't spend much time there because Honami had to go back for volleyball practice.
Since we had to go to the their University to drop Honami off at practice, we also went to one of Shintaro's friend's meetings; I'm not sure exactly what type of meeting it was. While I was there, they read an article in English and someone had a slideshow presentation completely in English. However, we didn't stay the whole time because after they were going to only use Japanese, so I wouldn't have understood anything. I suppose it is a class that uses English to try to support their English studies? I went so that they could talk to me since native English speakers are such a rarity. Shintaro was then kind enough to drop me off at my next WWOOF host in the middle of nowhere. When we arrived, tempura was waiting on the table - so much so that Shintaro joined! We exchanged all contact information, and then he left me there for my next adventure.
~Asahikawa~
I arrived in Asahikawa excited for a new experience and was hoping for the best. Before selecting a host, I made sure to check the reviews on the WWOOF website; my next host, an older couple, had 16 positive reviews, so I assumed I couldn't go wrong. A half an hour drive from Asahikawa station, the farm was in the middle of nowhere.
I soon discovered that they actually fulfilled the WWOOFing mission as well; they are organic and actually share culture with their hosts.
In addition to organic vegetables, they also had ducks and chickens.
When I arrived, another WWOOFer was also also working there; I am going to guess that she was in her forties or fifties. While working with her, I got the chance to get to know about her. Her husband passed away, so she was currently living in Chiba Prefecture alone; she came to Hokkaido to visit her sister. Since she is also very interested in organic farming, she decided to WWOOF for a few days during her trip. She isn't fond of her current job, but in the future she was like to learn about coffee farming and start her own business; she is also particularly interested in furthering her Chinese language knowledge so that she can be fluent and eventually move to Taiwan. I loved talking with her and hearing about her interests and future; she also taught me a lot of Japanese and gave me an opportunity to practice. When she left, working by myself was pretty lonely.
During high school, every high school student takes some sort of trip to a foreign country or distant location. The Asahikawa hosts provide an opportunity for high school students to experience the organic farming lifestyle. While I was WWOOFing, four girls from Osaka spent a day at the farm. I got the opportunity to learn more about a Japanese high school experience, as well as hear some Osaka-ben and learn some Osakan phrases, from them.
Although pretty cold up North, I tried to go for a run after work everyday. One day, the sun was peaking through the clouds so majestically that I'm pretty sure it was Gram watching me.
The meals were very Japanese. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, in addition to various dishes, miso soup and rice were served. Every single meal, they ate miso soup and rice. I lie, when they had some sort of other soup, they did not have miso soup, but they always had rice. Everyone serves themselves the amount of rice they want; not accustomed to this obsessive rice eating habit, I rarely got rice. 1. I did not want to waste rice. 2. They severely frowned upon any sort of waste. They were very organic in that respect. For example, they rarely used soap when washing dishes because it is bad for the environment. Only if a pot were really oily would they use soap; when she saw me use it before I discovered this habit, she gave me a very angry expression. (After living like this and never getting sick, I have also become much less of a germaphobe.)
On my last evening, we made inari sushi and the build-your-own kind (whose Japanese name I forget).
Thus far, I would say that my description of these hosts is completely positive. However, in fact, I greatly disliked my experience. For some reason, they were very cold to me and treated me very differently from their other guests (WWOOFers and the high school students). It is difficult to describe how they treated me, but I did not feel comfortable with them. I tried to be around them, so as not to seem like I disliked them, but they seemed to want me to leave the room they were in. I always utilize my iPhone Japanese dictionary when I don't understand, and when I used it to check the definition of a new word that he explained to me, he questioned me; he seemed offended that I used my dictionary when he defined it, when I just wanted to verify that I understood him and also save the word on my phone so that I could review it in the future. I tried to explain this to him, but he was not pleased with my answer.
I thought perhaps I was just paranoid, especially after my Biei experience. However, on my last evening, a couple from Taiwan came to the farm. I had great conversation with the guy, around 28 if I remember correctly, who told me about his WWOOFing experiences and impression of Japanese people. This was their last stop before returning to Taiwan; this was also their first WWOOF host and after five other hosts, exhausted, they contacted this host again since they had become great friends during their first stay. The guy, Ahn, actually agreed with my paranoia; he told me that he could tell that they treated me differently but didn't know why. After a few hours of conversation, we basically concluded that it was a result of cultural differences. American and Japanese culture are on the opposite ends of the spectrum in almost every respect. I felt like I tried to follow their customs and habits, but having been raised completely differently, perhaps there were things that I hadn't even noticed. Ahn couldn't tell what cultural aspects I was messing up on since he wasn't there the previous few days, but for the future, I was going to be a lot more careful about every single thing I did.
By the end of this trip, feeling like the unwanted reject when I was just with the older couple, it was very reassuring and comforting to be able to talk to people that understood my culture before I went to my next host. It was definitely difficult emotionally to stay at the organic farm, but it was great exposure to a very different type of lifestyle. Ahn did give me one point of caution for my next host; every pension that they had worked at in Japan treated them like pure workers. By contrast, farm hosts tend to spend time with the WWOOFer and allow them to learn a little bit from them. My next host in Chiba was going to be a ryokan...I selected two ryokans initially, not because I particularly like that type of work, but because that type of work is generally inside. When I came to Japan, I came during Tokyo's summer and prepared for the most humid type of weather. I only had a zip-up jacket with a hood and some leggings because I planned ahead to go to Mt. Fuji. In conclusion, I wasn't prepared for cold weather at all. With this word of warning, I was definitely cautious of my next host.
On my last morning, my host dad took me to Asahikawa bus terminal because he had to go to Asahikawa anyway for deliveries. We had breakfast, he dropped me off, and I was on my way back to Sapporo for the day.
~ Sapporo Part II ~
When I arrived in Sapporo, yet another couchsurfing was waiting for me, Haruna. At this point, after meeting many people through couchsurfing, I do not find it scary at all. Everyone that I have met through couchsurfing has been some of the coolest, most interesting people. I have learned so much from them and feel like my travels wouldn't be as meaningful without them.
Haruna is just twenty and is studying at Hokkaido University to be a physical therapist. I creepily took the photo above from her facebook; it is her current profile picture. She is probably the best couch-surfing English speaker, and possibly one of the best English speakers in Japan, that I have met. While her grammar may not be as good as others, but it is still excellent. Additionally, because she is young, she has a very good accent. I am accustomed to Mr. Miyagi like accents, but hers was excellent. I even told her how impressed I was of her English-speaking ability. Since she was the closest in age to me, I also felt like I got along with her best. I really liked her personality.
She took me to her apartment, about a fifteen minute walk from the station. I was surprised how nice it was. She had a small kitchen, considerably large bathroom, and a third room that doubled as a bedroom and living area. The amount she pays per month would get you a much smaller, or terribly located area in Tokyo. After dropping off my stuff, and quickly checking the internet (I didn't have internet access the entire time I was in Asahikawa at the organic farm), we went to her school cafeteria for lunch. She told me Hokkaido University has more students than any other university in Japan. I was quite surprised. I was also surprised at the beauty of the campus. It was filled with trees and wildlife.
Because the school offers veterinary medicine, there were even horses!
When we got to the cafeteria, I was shocked to see the lunch options at a Japanese university. Rather than a sandwich, whether it be a burger, turkey, or wrap, most students lined up for some sort of noodle or rice dish, such as soba, tonkatsu, or ramen. There was also a salad bar, but the options were different than those that would be served at an American one. Next to the water machine, an unlimited hot tea machine, something I have never seen at an American school, was also at the dispense of the students. Haruna ate a pastry with creme and Japanese peanut butter (which is much sweeter and less healthy), as well as a plate with a variety of salad bar items, including a heaping pile of okra. I got udon with egg; surprisingly, in comparison, my meal seemed much less exotic.
Haruna has classes during the afternoon, so she took me to the international center. I got a few maps and decided that I would go to Shiroi Koibito Park, the chocolate factory of a famous Japanese dessert company. I heard different times for how long it would take to walk to get to the park, plus usually when I ask, Japanese people overestimate the commute (Japanese people are much lazier and sport-resistant). Further, the map I was given made it seem deceivingly close.
An hour an a half jog later (I soon figured out that a walk would not be fast enough), I arrived at the theme-park-esque park owned by Ishiya. And thank goodness it was beautiful and worth that long commute.
Outside, a rose garden and beautiful architecture greeted patrons.
I made it inside just in time to see a candy demonstration.
While the girl did easy tasks, I felt bad for the guy who was practically working out pulling the candy over and over.
It was a strenuous effort.
And the final step...
There were many different sections of the factory, one of which was a small cafe that served desserts and soft cream.
Pictured next is the company's flagship product. White chocolate is wedged between two thin butter cookies. I brought a souvenir home from Japan but have not tried it yet.
For some strange reason, there was a toy museum on the second floor. Although interesting, I don't see the connection between the chocolate company and the toys. Perhaps Ishiya produced the toys? I didn't even try to read the signs.
The cookie factory and museum was also on the second floor, but I didn't want to spend $20 to make my own cookie; I would rather eat a cookie someone else already made (and is probably a lot more delicious!) Directly adjacent to the factory is the Consadole Sapporo soccer team, the local J-league soccer team, practice field.
This time, aware that it was an hour and a half away from Hokkaido University, I'm not sure why I didn't just take the train. Regardless, I jogged back home to a huge appetite. When I met up with Haruna, she was with one of her friends from class, Mariko. Mariko's English is worse than my Japanese, but she recently has grown an interest to learn.
When I spoke to Haruna earlier in the day, we had plans to have soup curry for dinner. When we met up, I asked them if they would teach me how to make Japanese food instead. It prolonged the time to wait before dinner, but it was delicious! They showed me how to make some sort of sweet potato dish with soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, as well as tamagoyaki. It seems so easy, yet I would probably fail if I tried to make it; I'm also not sure where I can get all of the ingredients - hopefully Chicago has them all! We also made make-your-own sushi. It has a special name, but I still can't remember. Some of the toppings included salmon, saba, egg, and cucumber. Saba may have become my favorite fish.
I only spent one evening with Haruna, which I was definitely disappointed about. Like I said, I loved her personality. She understood Japanese culture, but she seemed so American. It was unfortunate that I wasn't able to spend much time with her. Hopefully, I will see her in Chicago in the future!
