today money bought me happiness

and no, i'm not mistaking happiness for mere enjoyment. today really made my hike way out here to the japanese boonies seem less of a waste of time than it thus far has been: i was really getting tired of seeing all sorts of cool stuff i could be doing, but having it closed either because it wasn't yet april or because the winter was too warm. there's nothing more downheartening than doing what i seem to love most (travelling) and having all the gems of the places just out of my reach. until today northern japan has been largely like this.

i'm in abashiri, in the north of northern japan, and this town came through for me at the eleventh hour. at first i was really pissed because the ice-breaker cruise i was psyched for was pointless due to there being no ice (bloody warm winter), but later today i was able to don a dry suit and go for an 'ice walk' (apparently there was ice in this one bay where it was too shallow for the ice breaker to go). this meant scrambling over the drift ice, which toppled and see-sawed beneath me, swimming around in near-zero degree waters, try to not fall off my chunk of ice (don't i look like a super hero in this photo?--->>) as waves come crashing in, and jumping from floe to floe doing my best to stay above water (and occasionally not - whereupon a just slid in and bobbed around for a while). if you've ever watched the MXC skit where people have to run across a pond on rocks which may or may not give way, resulting in hilarious bails - that's just what this was like. some of the pieces appeared small, but turned out to be enormous, while some were just the opposite and dumped me straight into the sea. i got to give my waterproof camera a good test drive, and it performed admirably.

this is where it got really good: hearing the sound of all those huge chunks of ice crash against each other was impressive - such deep, throaty thwocks coming from all around me as i heard the waves rolling in had me grinning from ear to ear. i got to hop all the way out to the edge where the ice stopped and the open ocean began (also where the waves made the ice chunks especially tippy) and gaze out over the bay, with the snow-capped mountains in the distance, and not a single manmade sound to be heard. talk about an ideal setting, one that i'm not likely to encounter again. there was also a tiny island nearby made of crazy hexagonal formations of volcanic rock that i was able to have a quick scramble over. when my guide said it was time to head back to shore i made sure to take the longest way back i could think of. i was actually sweating by the end of it after all that swimming and hopping around.

the rest of the day was spent at museums that were actually worth going to: i got to see the old prison that abashiri is famous for (it's apparently noted as being especially cruel due to the harsh winter cold), and it actually had english information plates. man those old time criminals had to do a lot of manual labour in flimsy grass shoes. the gift shop there featured all sorts of things made by the inmates, so i thought that made for a pretty cool souvenier.

the other museum of the day followed today's ice theme: the museum of drift ice. apparently the sea of ohkutsuk (in which i was just swimming) is the planet's southernmost sea where salt water freezes. it happens here because, if you look at a map, it's enclosed by islands (making water circulation happen much slower), and it's also apparently relatively shallow (and thus less heat is able to get trapped beneath the surface, causing the water to drop in temperature faster). i thought that was kinda cool. certainly explains why there was ice in the bay and not out where the ship sailed: there was a rock shelf about 4 feet under that stretched way out from the coast. by the way, in the above photo i'm holding a frozen towel which the museum staff hand out soaking wet just before you head into the minus-17 degree room. they recommend you twirl the towl around like a lasso, and it turns out like this. good times. side note: the seal is stuffed, and suffering from a vandalized arm...

so with that i leave you to ponder: with all the opportunities money opens up, might it just be that, spent properly, money can buy happiness?

genghis khan is delicious

a hokkaido speciality, when the japanese think of 'genghis khan' they think lamb meat. you cook it yourself over a grill with veggies, much like yakiniku. on my days in sapporo i got to experience the genghis with a rockin dude named matsuhiro that i met at the hostel. he just got back from bali, and is soon off to sudan where he is going to volunteer his dentistry expertise. rock on man. long live the khan.
by they way, note the grease-spattered bibs. they even had us put our stuff in plastic bags - guess they know it's a messy affair.

the ainu

well, i didn't get to see the volcanized houses: closed after all. so were the walking trails at the to of the volcano. and the ainu museum at the bottom. and the glassblowing lessons. all available in april. bugger that.

so instead of spending the day there, i hitchhiked my way to the train station (buses don't run till, you guessed it, april) and went to shiraoi, where there's a whole ainu village set up. for those who haven't heard of the ainu, they're the indigenous people of northern japan, and like most indigenous people they too got served by the more technologically advanced culture encroaching on their turf. one difference though: the japanese didn't put them onto reservations. instead, they usurped full control over their trading (previous to this the ainu did a lot of trade with the japanese, as the only other close civilization are soime remote russian islands) and limited what tax funding they could receive.

this village turned out to make the whole bunk day worthwhile: there was a talk about traditional ainu ways and language, followed by traditional dance, song, including their musical instruments (one of which is like a jew's harp). all of this took place inside one of their huts, made as it has been for ages. there were legions of salmon drying in the rafters, a fire in the pit, and all around the bamboo-straw (i have no idea what the real name is) thatched walls and roof. very cool. afterward i paid another 500yen and took a lesson in how to make said jew's harp-like instrument (called a mukkuri). although we did use modern chisels to carve it..... afterward there was a museum full of english explanations (when the native language isn't even japanese, it would seem you get a world of options - chinese, korean...) and plenty of old articles, like a dugout tree trunk boat and tools. it really is amazing how similar the culture is to native north american trends: they're animistic, and base a lot of respect for each other and nature on the belief in the presence of a spirit in all things; their decorative pattern resembles the haida ovoids (though it tends to include a single coninuous strand weaving its way around the pattern); they depend much on hunting & gathering salmon and forest plants.... i also scooped a book with english/japanese translations of some of their traditional stories. it's such a potent way to learn about a culture through its legends: they always expose most encouraged values, daily activities, religious beliefs, specialized activities and language... it'll make a great alternative to the book of old japanese stories that i've been working through.

tomorrow i intend to take the long bus up north to abashiri. let's hope it's open before april.

professional snowballing

yes, indeed it exists, and those involved are trying to make it an olympic sport. one of the few things not happening in april, instead i missed seeing the tournament by a week. but, i did run across the macabre-looking field on my way to the mountain mentioned above. here's what they're all about: http://www.yukigassen.jp/english/index.html

my wallet hurts

i'm beginning to figure out how to live cheaper in japan. key points: 1) wherever there is one, sleep at a manga kissa (those peculiar but convenient as hell comic cafes where you can rent a little cubicle for any length of time - i've got one rented for 8 hours right now - in which you can use the net, play games, watch movies, sleep, read from their enormous comic library, and also available is food, showers, and everything!) - or instead, for sleeping arrangements just take the night bus (night trains are rare); 2) take buses instead of trains whenever possible - they're always cheaper, and often take the same amount of time as trains; 3)using this one discount ticket i managed to find (seishun juhachi kippu) you can use one multiple times in one day, but only on the slooooooowest trains, thus the way to do that is stop partway along your journey, see some stuff while taking a break from the train, and continue on. 4) of course there's hitchhiking - i've been getting promising reports from other people about hitchhiking success, so i'm keen to get that rolling - and it's a superb way to meet people and practice my japanese.

and about using my japanese, though i find i don't speak it as frequently when i travel (often i'm just walking around alone, and i don't have family and friends to go home to at night), i am finding that my kanji (character-word) recognition is improving. having to read so many signs and place names is really helping. so, that somewhat assuages my fears that hanging around so many international hostels and walking around by myself would lead to a disuse of my freshly learned language. sweet.

winter woes

note: if you're going to travel japan in the winter do a lot of preparation. for example, despite that hokkaido is all about the winter (from snow festivals to sub-zero miniskirt fashion) so many places are simply closed; and when i do research whether somewhere cool is actually open, i arrive to find activities truncated to walking around the outside of buildings covered in snow-protection straw coverings, instead of being able to enter and try archery or see a martial arts demo. the most irksome thing is that since transport is cut to a minimum it's not unusual to wait an hour or two for the bus or train. kind of frustrating, but i'm rather making it out to be worse than it is: i've been able to try woodcarving, tour the old sapporo beer factory, check out plenty of local foods, and if today's preparations come to fruition, tomorrow walk through a village warped and twisted by a volcanic eruption in 2000.

it was really great to walk the snow-covered streets of sapporo where winter truly comes (unlike vancouver where, this bizarre year aside, winter is just a longer, rainier autumn).i really do long for a good ol' ontario snowbank in my back yard.
i've got another 5 days of the glorious snow till i flee to where winter never really comes: okinawa. from furthest north to furthest south, to where hopefully things aren't closed for the bittersweet season.
in the mean time, i'll probably keep ya posted in all the free time i've got at train & bus stations!