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!