I have a whole week to catch up on. On Thursday evening Becca and I went to visit Kotaro-san again. He cooked a vegetable soup-like meal called Oden. It contains starch cubes called "konyaku" in it, which Becca describes as being eerily similar to artificial fish bait. However, I thought the Oden tasted fine--although Kotaro-san said it was not very good. It turns out he had forgotten to add some ingredient. He also cooked us pasta with tomato sauce (and ginger!). It was certainly an interesting combination. I still just find it so kind that he keeps inviting us over. I often tag along with Becca places, and so I really hope that he also enjoys my company. I am generally very quiet, especially because lately I haven't been able to speak very good Japanese, in my opinion. So this still prevents me from expressing as much as I normally would. We were supposed to watch a movie that evening, but because I have class at 8:45AM everyday, and because it was already past 9PM, I unfortunately needed to leave in order to prepare for the next day. After we had finished eating and talking about music, Kotaro-san's roommates one by one trickled in. Towards the end, a friend whose birthday had been that day came over. I had bought some donuts for Becca, and so we divided them up and gave Kotaro's friend a whole one to celebrate her birthday. Then it was time for me to head out. It was very crisp that evening, and Becca and I biked home with chilled fingers. The fall is definitely here.
On Friday morning, I had my first Japanese grammar course at a higher level. As you may remember, I was initially put into a Beginner's course, and had a lot of trouble persuading the administration to let me switch, even though it was faaaaaar too easy. I was apprehensive about this course as well. Just like my first Kanji course the day before, because of the timing of the trip with my lab and the Germans and all of the rearranging of course levels, I had missed two days' worth of classes. (That is, one of the days I was still trapped in the Beginner's class, and the other I was on the road). As it turns out, the student that I sat next to in my first Kanji class is also in my Grammar class. She let me look off of the handouts from the days I had missed. Her name is Magali, and she is from Switzerland. Goodness, she is so nice and cheerful. Towards the end of class, I decided to mention to her that on Saturday I was planning to go to an orchard and that she was welcome to join us. I wanted to make sure she felt welcome, and maybe to have a chance to get to know her since she seemed so nice. I was very happy when she accepted my invitation! We exchanged contact information and I told her that I would check with Becca to see when we would be leaving. If I remember correctly, that afternoon I went back to Uniqlo where I had purchased my coat in order to buy a few sweaters since the weather has been becoming chilly. I found a few, and was rather happy to have actually located the store in the tangled mess that Sapporo Station. In the evening, I attended my Environmental Science course. The professor reminded us about the upcoming field trip opportunity, and I was glad when I asked if Becca could also attend, he seemed happy to have any who is interested come along. That evening after class was the Welcome Party for the new international research students (a.k.a. Diao and I). Although this was supposed to "welcome" us, I think it may have been more of an excuse for a bunch of guys to get together and drink sake. But nevertheless, the sentiment was very kind. Ogura-san met Diao and I at the lab, and then we found Professor Koike, collected some more students, and then headed over to a little restaurant/bar a short ways from campus. In fact, I have passed this restaurant many time while biking around the outside of campus. We collected more students as we went. There were red paper lanterns hanging outside of the small door of the restaurant, and it looked far too small to fit us all. It definitely gave off the feeling of a bar to me, and so this also made me a little nervous. But I was hopeful that because Professor Koike was attending, and because he cannot drink alcohol, there should not be too much to worry about. We squeezed through the tiny tables on the first floor, and the waiter led us to the back where there was a tiny, tucked away staircase. We took off our shoes and went up. At the top of the stairs there was a small room with a long, low table at the center, and some flat, square pillows to sit on. On the walls there were scrawled Japanese notes, which I think were items you could order (primarily beers and sake). Food kept coming and coming, and the table was soon filled up with small plates of fish, pickled vegetables, ramen salad, fried chicken organs, and fortunately a very thoughtful plate of vegetables that Professor Koike had ordered just for me. Professor Koike had some of the students introduce themselves properly, in both Japanese and English for a challenge. Because everyone was so caught up in chatting and drinking, they only actually got through half of the students. Diao and I were told to introduce ourselves as well. Since everyone else had been challenged with doing so in English, I decided to try my hand at Japanese. I think I did pretty well! At least I hope so. Diao, the Chinese international student in the same lab as me, who also arrived here about the same time as me and is also in two classes with me, sat next to me. She is too young to drink, though is not especially interested in drinking anyways. So we talked together quietly about how we wished Japan had more vegetables. She assured me that in China, vegetables are cooked in much more delicious ways than in Japan and that if I were studying in China I would have little trouble finding enough vegetables. I really enjoyed speaking with her more, and learning more about her. She is so quiet, but so sweet. I like to try to make her laugh, or think of funny stories. Diao and I decided that we would meet together that week to cook vegetables together. All in all, it was a very fun night, although my legs kept falling asleep from sitting so long in such a cramped space. Apparently most of the other students were headed off to a second party (and who knows, maybe even a third). Diao, Nana, and Mao (the three Chinese researcher students) and myself--the only four girls from the welcome party--all walked back to the Agricultural Building. I said goodnight to them, hopped on my bike, and Mao and I rode back to the International House. Mao-san lives in the couples building just a little ways from mine. Right now she is preparing for her Phd examination, and so she is so busy and stressed. I always offer to help her in whatever way I can, but so far she has not taken me up on the offer. Hopefully she will soon, because she seems like she has so much on her plate right now. I went back to my room, and checked with Becca a few more times to see about the plans for going to the orchard the next day. Becca also suggested that afterwards we could go to an onsen.
On Saturday, Becca and I first met just before noon briefly attend the Hiking Club's barbeque, which Becca had been informed about from a classmate. We met the classmate in front of one of the dining halls. It had just stopped raining and so we waited a little for things to get started then walked a short ways to the open grassy areas where student groups frequently roast meat, fish, and vegetables over little fires. There was a group of Japanese students in charge of the Hiking Club collected there and we introduced ourselves to them. We spoke with a few members for a short time, learned a little about where they go, and when they meet, then gave them our contact information to join the mailing list. Becca's friend Aki was going to meet us at the International House at 12:30PM, and so we could not stay long at the barbeque. We had to hurry off to get back to meet Aki in time. Becca ran upstairs to pack some towels. Then we headed over to the International House that is on the other side of campus, where Magali lives. We had a little trouble finding it by car, but then we connected with Magali, and spotted her waving, standing on the sidewalk outside the International House 23. We pulled over and she jumped in. (A taxi also swung over to the curb to pick her up after seeing her wave, but we got her first). The drive to the orchard was rather slow, because of traffic, and it sprinkled a little bit as well. Once we got a little ways out of the busy part of Sapporo we stopped at a small stand to ask if the orchard was nearby. We found it was actually very close--maybe only 9 miles or so away were I to bike. We turned at the sign for the orchard and wound up an extremely narrow allegedly two-way road, all the way seeing waving banners reading "strawberries", "apples", "grapes," etc. I was so excited at this point. Because of the rainy weather forecast, I had been worried that we may not go to the orchard, but as we pulled up to the parking lot amongst the trees and the beautiful mountains in the background the sun and blue sky appeared. The orchard was so lovely, and I was extremely grateful to be there. Magali was also very happy, because she had actually not yet had a chance to get out of the city to see some of the countryside. This made me even more glad that she was able to join us. We walked over to some of the workers selling fruit at the stands and asked if there was anything that we could still collect ourselves. We were told that we could still pick apples, or chestnuts. Becca and I were very excited about the prospect of picking chestnuts (we remain fascinated with them) and so we were given two buckets, and two pairs of tongs to go collect them from the ground around the chestnut trees. We followed the little paths through the orchard building frames, and then came to the chestnut trees. There were prickly chestnut husks all over, and so many chestnuts that had split from their husks lying on the ground. Far more than we could collect. We filled up our buckets and brought them back to pay. At the stand, I also became very excited seeing all the fruit and bought a handful of apples and a big peach. After the orchard, we drove to the onsen which was on the way back into Sapporo. It looked as though rain might be headed our way again. Next to the onsen is also another Ainu Museum, and Becca pointed it out. Knowing that I was very interested in going, she suggested that we might as well go! I am glad that we did. It is not very big, but there is a collection of Ainu related history and language books, a number of lecture rooms, art displays, and one big room with various cultural objects that you can actually touch and pick up. That is something I have not seen before in a cultural museum. It was all very beautiful, and I really want to go back to meet more with the staff and to learn more about what we saw. Especially, I would like to contribute to their book collection by offering to illustrate language materials. I have made it a rule that I will always illustrate books for language revitalization purposes for free, no matter what, if someone is interested. When we got to the exit, it was raining still. We headed into the onsen entrance. Like before, of course, onsens mean public bathing. But since the day had been somewhat chilly, I was looking forward to a warm bath. This onsen was much bigger and busier than the little one I had visited at the Ryoukan with the German researchers. So it was a little more intimidating to go through the locker room, get undressed, and then walk around naked in such a big space, with so many sinks and pools. This onsen also had an outdoors section, and we went out there to soak. There are little "pots" that you can sit in, and Becca and I soaked in these as well. They were so cozy. I especially enjoyed looking up at the darkening sky, and smelling the cool air. Afterwards, Aki and Becca dropped me off at the dorm, and then dropped Magali off as well. That night, I contemplated ways to cook my bag of chestnuts. Normally you might roast them in an oven, but we don't have ovens, so I am being creative.
On Sunday morning, Becca and I met with Magali to go with her to a Softbank cellphone store so that Becca could help explain the contract to her. When she first bought the phone, there were a number of questions she had about what all her contract entailed and so we had offered to help sort things out. Of course, I was not much use in this situation, and Becca did the translating. We wandered around Sapporo Station a little, ate lunch in the delicious smelling department store underground--I had my dear inarizushi and Becca and Magali tried out the infamous Mos Burgers. Mos Burgers is the Japanese equivalent of McDonalds, and somewhat of a "cultural" experience to try them. I opted out, because if I am going to eat unhealthy things, I want to eat desserts of course! After lunch we went to get dessert at Mister Donut (pumpkin honey doughnuts, our favorite). At 1PM we were supposed to meet Kotaro-san at the Station entrance and he surprised us when he found us at the Mister Donut. His roommates were all with him, and we all sat for a time, talked, and ate our doughnuts. We were headed to one of Kotaro-san's friend's rugby matches--his last rugby match, in fact, and the "state" level match game. We invited Magali along, but she was busy in the afternoon, so we bid her farewell and headed down to the subways. Kotaro-san and his entourage are all such interesting, nice people. It was very fun to join them, and to learn more about them. Becca has gotten to know them better than I, I suppose, because I was gone for a time with my field trip/German research bonanza. This is also probably because I am more timid. I really do hope they will see beyond myself shyness. I try my best to be outgoing, but I truly am a very introverted person. This is not necessarily because I am naturally shy anymore--I am just more reserved. Recently, I have been more aware that one of the reasons I am "shy" is actually that I have often had my feelings hurt quite a bit by becoming more open with people in the past, or letting myself become friends too easily. I have often been taken advantage of, or experienced rather inconsiderate actions from friends. So although I am so excited to meet such interesting people, it usually takes folks a little longer to learn much about me. I feel sometimes that, if someone does not reaaaallly know me, I seem like a rather generic, perhaps bland, quiet girl. Everyone in Kotaro's group does seem so genuinely considerate and kind, though, so I will keep doing my best. The weather was very chilly, and cloudy. We all got off the subway and walked to the rugby stadium. It was so much fun to sit in the stands and watch. Japanese rugby (or rather, rugby in general) is such a ridiculous sport. It sometimes seems to be just a big pile of men in short-shorts. Kotaro-san's friend, Hayashi-san, was playing. Everyone was so excited for him when he scored a point. Unfortunately, his team ended up losing very narrowly. Some of the players and coaches openly wept, and although it was very sad, it was also a little refreshing to see someone so dedicated and connected to their sport. It reminded me poignantly of my last track race. After that race, I walked off the track and onto the infield. Then I started to weep. Even thinking about it now makes me cry, because competing in track and field is so tied to my heart. It was a sorrow so strong that I could truly feel it in my chest (and still can). I felt that I could very clearly understand the feelings of the players, so bound to their sport and so upset at their loss, and their last game. It was also Hayashi-san's last game, since he is a fourth-year student. I thought a lot about this as we walked back to the station. After taking the subway back to Sapporo Station, Kotaro-san and his friends went to print out some pictures from the game to give to Hayashi-san. They also went shopping for sake, to throw him a little party to help cheer him up. It made me feel that Hayashi-san is very lucky to have a group of such caring friends. It was about 6PM, and of course already dark. I really wanted to get a run in that day, and was apprehensive about whether or not there would be out of hand drinking, so I excused myself and headed back to the dorm to go for a run. I felt very bad to leave them, and I did want to help them cheer up Hayashi-san, but I can only take so much activity in one day before I become a little overwhelmed by interacting with too many people. I changed for my run--it was by now rather chilly. I ran around the campus, and actually went rather far that night doing some extra loops compared to usual. Since I have been here, I feel that I have been very lazy about running. Many people who run here go very slow, and I also get so bored running on my own, that sometimes I lose my motivation to push myself. Remembering my dear track and field so much that day, perhaps, gave me some extra motivation. When I ran down the mainstreet in the center of campus, I made sure to go extra fast. It does make me happy to her people whisper "mecha hayai" ("super fast!") when I pass them. However, this is not so much because I am going all that fast as that everyone else runs rather slow. No joke. So even going my normal pace, it seems that I am going fast when in the U.S., I know that I am just average. Another reason is that, I feel, very few girls try to push themselves to run especially fast. Hopefully that is not true, and I will meet some more athletic girls who I may be able to run with. I got back to my dorm, then cooked the squash I had bought out in the countryside on my field trip. I only have a little tiny knife, so I actually ended up cutting my thumb pretty bad, but the squash turned out yummy anyways! I cooked some chestnuts and potatoes and added this to my rice as well. A pretty good dinner, I have to say.
On Monday, I fortunately did not have an early class. I woke up fairly early nonetheless to get things done. I had a list of more pressing things that I wanted to accomplish. After breakfast, I first stopped at a conbini to pay my water bill. I had thought this may be complicated, but it was very simple. I just handed the cashier my bill, handed them the money, and it was taken care of. Next I stopped at the post office to mail a birthday card. Then I decided to bike over to Aeon to finish some grocery shopping and get some vegetables to cook that evening with Diao. I also needed to buy foods for breakfast the next day. After groceries, I wandered to the second floor of Aeon to see if I could find some folders for my classwork. Upstairs everything was being re-arranged in the stationary section, but it also seemed like many things were on sale, so I got distracted in the fabric/craft section. I ended up buying some leather, beads, needles and thread to do some beadwork. I had seem some scraps of leather for sale at a shop in Sapporo Station, but it was pretty expensive there. Here, it was much cheaper so it seemed like a good opportunity. That afternoon, I attended one of Professor Koike's little lectures for us four international students. These are to help prepare Mao-san for her Phd examination, but the material is useful for all of us. After the lecture, Diao and I headed to a grocery store by her dorm to buy some vegetables to cook together. I was really shocked at this store because many of the vegetables were cheaper than at Aeon. I ended up even buying a pineapple!!! I was so excited. I didn't have much room in my bag, so I wound up zipping it into the front of my coat and carrying it there. Diao thought this was especially funny. At her dorm, they do not have kitchens in their rooms, but shared kitchen spaces for the floor. Diao cooked some breaded tofu and Chinese pancakes, and I made vegetables (fast becoming my specialty, as a vegetarian of course). The Chinese pancakes were especially delicious! I felt so grateful to be sharing cultures. We sat down and at the food we had prepared together, promising to do so again soon. It started storming a bit outside, and so my bike ride back was windy and rainy, but I was so satisfied and happy with the evening. I started some beadwork, and practiced the banjo to finish off the night.
On Tuesday morning, I attended my early Kanji class. Magali and I discussed further strategies for chestnut cooking. After class I met Becca outside the International Student Center. It was rainy outside, as usual. She had a number of errands to run, and I had a few things to get done as well. Firstly, she was headed to pay her first rent payment. This was something I needed to get done as well, so I was grateful to be able to go along with Becca. The rent is not paid at your actual dormitory, but at a building off of campus, in fact over by Sapporo Station. We navigated there, and were relieved when we found the correct building. Once there, we walked in and sat down a small desk in the corner where two workers met us and looked us up in their binders, and helped us to pay. They also mentioned that for the future we could now set up direct payments, if we had our bank books with us. As you may remember, Becca and I went through a whole debacle with the Japanese bank system. Our only option for an international friendly bank, as it turns out, does not issue bank booklets but only cards. This is somewhat unusual, and certainly inconvenient because anything procedural here uses a bank book. Becca and I were nervous, because this might mean that we could not set up direct payments, and we would have to come all the way over to the building to pay in person every month. I had foreseen this issue when we signed up for our bank accounts, but there was no other option. Becca amazingly managed to call our bank, speak with them in Japanese, and figure out what official names we had registered with, and so we were able to use our cards to fill out the forms and do direct payments. Thank goodness. She spent a long time talking with the bank on the phone in the hallway, while I sat akwardly at the payment desk with the two workers. Mostly we just sat and twiddled our fingers. A few times we sparked up short-lived conversations about where I was from ("oh! Minnesota! The Twins!" Japanese people seem to know U.S. geography by baseball teams) , how long I would be there, and about the landscape of Minnesota. I explained that bears in Minnesota are not particularly aggressive--black bears are generally timid and shy--and they laughed at this (as all Japanese people do when I mention it) because everyone in Japan is afraid of bears. Becca came back at last, as I described, and triumphant. Afterwards we stopped at Sapporo Station and got some desserts, had some really great conversations about racisms/minorities in Japan while eating desserts, then went to do grocery shopping. I bought some little things like cloves (my favorite spice) and cereal, then went to look at shelves. I have been wanting badly to buy a shelf for my room to maximize space. I found one that was perhaps a little wider then I wanted, but very cheap and made of wood. While grocery shopping, I always feel like I am made to feel that I am in the way, no matter where I stand or where I move. If I go stand in a completely vacant isle to look for something, somehow swarms of people appear around me. This usually happens everywhere I go, in the United States as well, but here in Japan I feel very pointedly that there is an understanding that as a foreigner, I am just always in the way even if it is actually the Japanese shoppers who are in the way. This may be me feeling overly self-conscious, but Becca and I conferred, there is a definite feeling that we are always in the way, even when we are definitely not. Even if we are standing in a completely empty spot, I just get the sense that people are thinking "move!" or "geez, that foreigner is in the way." And believe it or not, I have actually been budged in lines here in Japan more times than I think I've ever been budged in the U.S. It is almost as if, sometimes, people purposely go in front of me because, I can only assume, I am a foreigner. So much for politeness! A few times, waiting in line at the register, people have just snaked their stuff in front of mine, confusing the cashier who not realizing takes their stuff instead of mine, only for me to point out "ummm...I was here, I don't know what this crazy person is doing ringing up their stuff." The cashiers seem to have a similar sentiment to me, I hope. Of course, this does not go for all people here, and I do certainly hope that it is more of a fluke. When I got back, Becca went to her room to start baking a chestnut mousse cake! I went back to mine to assemble my shelf, to go for a run, and to figure out my complicated loan deferment form. I was successful in building my shelf, though I got a pretty bad blister. It is now sitting snugly on top of my fridge, and works perfectly. I went for a run, came back, cooked a dinner of spinach, chestnuts, and rice (I was rather disappointed when after waiting 40 minutes for my rice to cook, I opened it to find I had forgotten to add water!) with my delicious pineapple for dessert, then Becca came up and we drank milk tea together. I enjoyed chatting with her again.
On Wednesday, I had class, then I spent midday biking back and forth between the post office and my room trying to mail my loan deferment form. It has been a harrowing experience to try to set up my loan deferment to begin with, but the whole process of acquiring american stamps, putting extra addressed envelopes, then weighing the mail at the post office was so frustrating and troublesome. Finally, I was successful. About 1PM, I went to the lab to meet with one of the students to help him with some research at the Hitsujigaoka experimental forest just outside of Sapporo, where I had also gone to help with the German forest survey. We took to subway most of the way there, then Professor Koike picked us up and drove us to the forest. This was one of the first times we really bushwacked through the bamboo grass ('sasa'). I hadn't quite expected that, but I've learned well enough to dress for any possible circumstance. Professor Koike, in his professional clothes and rainboots, plunged right in. As usual, I had no real idea of what we were there to do. I ducked through the thick bamboo grass and stepped carefully through the tangled layer of tree trunks and plant stems on the ground. I felt bad for Diao, who was following behind me and who it seemed perhaps was not expecting such conditions. Personally, I love weaving through thick forest, and feeling the plants and branches glide past me (or sometimes not glide at all and smack me in the face). We came to a clearing, and there were trees strapped with little monitors to record water flow. They looked like heart monitors, to me. We went to another clearing after that, and then I noticed looking through the bamboo that there was scaffolding hidden a ways away, peaking through the gaps in the leaves. Professor Koike explained to us that this was one of their FACE experiments (Free Air CO2 Exposure)! This is one of the experiments that I hoped to help with, and believe that I will in fact be able to. The scaffolding was much larger than I thought, and went high up into the canopy. We climbed up a little ways (and I wanted to go all the way to the top), but Professor Koike did not want us to fall out. We got back with a little spare time before Professor Koike's guest lecture in my class so I went back to my room to take a little nap. The lecture was at 4:30PM with plenty of time, but I ended up accidentally waking up at 4:24PM! I couldn't believe it! I was so shocked. For a moment, I didn't know what I should do, because I thought I would miss the lecture. Then I told myself "GO!" and I sure did "go." I grabbed whatever was next to me, my bike keys, and then leaped onto Akaji (my bike). I took off as fast as I could go, whizzing past Becca on the sidewalk as she was returning from class and probably frightening many people on the main street as I zoomed past them. I made it to the building at 4:30PM exactly, then had to lock my bike as fast as possible, and ran up the stairs. Unfortunately, I was still about 2 minutes late and Professor Koike had just started speaking. But I was amazed that I had made it there in only 8 minutes! I have no idea how I did it. I also felt more relaxed when one of my labmates came in a minute after me. Phew. 
After class on Wednesday, Becca had invited me to come over to Kotaro's place. Since we had just gone chestnut collecting, Becca found a recipe for a cake that uses chestnuts AND doesn't use an over (since we have no ovens). As usual, it was already completely dark after class even though it was only 6PM. I talked with Professor Koike and my labmates as we strolled out of the building, then I bid them goodnight and headed to my bike. Becca was already at Kotaro's, and so I considered this an opportunity to test whether or not I could navigate on my own. Becca sent me the address, and I decided to try to find it without using my phone to help. The streets are a grid, as I mentioned, though sometimes it doesn't always follow it's own system, but I figured if I could crack the code it would be helpful for the rest of the year. The air was very crisp and cold, and breathing it reminded me of winter's nighttime air in Minnesota. At Kotaro's, they had cooked a creamy curry-like dish. It was cold in their apartment and for the first time they broke out their kerosine heater. It looked like a rather dangerous set-up, in my opinion--a big cage-like heater with a flame in the middle. But they are common in Japan, and I was happy for a little heat. The dinner was delicious, and I was so thankful again for how kind Kotaro and his friends are. After dinner, it was time for Becca's cake. I was so excited. It looked incredible! It was one layer of chestnut mousse, one layer of chocolate mouse, and a couple layers of think biscuit cookies. Kotaro and his roommate, Zenta, were so excited for it too. Zenta took a slice and instantly and emphatically said "UMAI!" (DELICIOUS!). It sure was. Becca was so relieved, because she had never tried the recipe before. It was some of the best cake I have ever had, and I consider myself experienced in the art of dessert consumption. We started playing a card game called hearts, which was the card game we had all learned the first time Kotaro invited us along. I think that he has really become addicted to it. We were waiting for their friend, Hayashi the rugby player, to come over because they wanted him to eat some cake too. He said he couldn't be there till 11PM and they threatened him that "it will be too late! The surprise will be gone by then!" They made it sound very urgent, which I thought was hilarious. So they managed to get him to show up just before 10PM. He is apparently the quiet one of the group, and he seems very nice (like all of Kotaro's friends!). They were all anxious for him to try the cake too, and also to finish it off themselves I think! He confirmed, it was delicious. Kotaro made us some coffee to drink (and some hot chocolate for me). Since it was getting late, Becca and I needed to get back. We have our early morning classes. Becca had walked to Kotaro's place in order to balance carrying the cake, but I had biked. It was also very cold and wintery outside. I told her let's just fill my backpack and hers with the cake pans, she could ride my bike, and I'll run!  Admittedly, this sounds like a weird proposition, but I figured heck I had missed my run earlier, it would get us back faster, keep us warmer, and it would be awesome. So Becca got onto my bike--a little tall for her so it was a bit precarious--I strapped on my backpack, and started jogging along next to her. Hayashi left on bike at the same time as we did, and I think he found our arrangement a little humorous. I'm sure I seem like a crazy person! But it was so much more efficient, and fun too. Wearing my backpack and holding onto it made running a bit strange. I told Becca I felt like a donkey, especially because I could hear the pots clanging in my bag. She said it made me look like an ostrich, which also seemed accurate. Anyways, it was a really great way to travel. We got back, and that night I did a bit more beadwork before bed.
On Thursday morning, I had my kanji class with Magali. The weather was so sunny, warm, and beautiful. My class gets done at 10:15AM, so I bought some bread for lunch at the campus bakery, then went back to my room and took a nap in the sunshine and worked on some emails. At 1PM I checked in with Professor Koike and Diao, because we were originally supposed to have a lecture at this time, but it was moved to 4:00PM. I came back to my room, changed, and went for a little run. I decided to try running down Oodori (the big mainstreet) because it is also a park. That wasn't especially successful, because it crosses streets often and so I was always having to wait for lights to change. When I returned, I finished up a paper and went to the lecture. Afterwards, at 6:15PM Magali met me on bike outside of the Agricultural Building. In fact, she showed me the way to the track! I've been searching for it, but simply could not locate it. By map, it was allegedly nearby, but had remained illusive. As it turns out, I've been running past the road it is on nearly every day! Our plan for the evening was to bike to the Indian restaurant that I love. I had never biked there on my own before, always with Becca leading the way, so I was apprehensive about finding it. I carried one of their business cards with their address written on it, and made some educated guesses. Because the restaurant is actually on the basement floor of the building, it is more difficult to locate. You have to find its tiny, tiny sign on a banner with many others, and you go down some small, tucked away stairs. Magali had never been there before, so was relying on me to find it. We came to the address on the card, but still had trouble finding exactly where on the block it would be. I tried to recognize the area, and it was all very familiar. I decided to take a closer look at a sign, and sure enough, recognized it! Then I saw the stairs, and knew we were in the right place. A success! I tried a new curry (garbanzo beans). Everything there is delicious and I love the comfort of being able to pick from so many vegetarian dishes. The quirky owner recognized me, and was happy to see me. He even gave us free lassi again! So kind.  We had originally invited Becca to come along, but she had a very stressful day and so had opted to stay home. So after biking back towards campus with Magali I bid her goodnight, and decided to circle over to Sapporo Station where there is a yummy homemade cookie-shop. As you probably know, I absolutely hate to navigate in Sapporo Station because it is a constant wave of people, and because the layout seems so confusing, with so many nearly identical buildings. I searched, and at first had a lot of trouble, but somehow or other relying on my gradually improving memory of familiar places, I made it there. I biked back to the dorm in a light rain, put a little beadwork gift in the bag, and brought them to Becca. She was skyping with her mom when she invited me in, so I was happy to meet her mom as well.
On Friday, I had my grammar class in the morning, and my Environmental Science course in the evening. The lectures in my afternoon classes are typically very basic and dry, but this lecture was about compouds (besides the general oxygen and water vapor) emitted by trees. I was so intrigued, and really enjoyed it. So I was in a great mood after lecture. I was supposed to have dinner with Becca that evening (ironically enough at the Indian restaurant!) but she thought she might be late getting back from a little trip. When my lecture was finished I was pleasantly surprised to learn that she was already back! I biked over to the dorm to meet her and her friend Aki, then we went to the Indian restaurant. I had just been there yesterday, but could not pass up a chance to go back! When I had left the evening before I told the waiter "Mata raishuu!" meaning "til next week!" as I try to go once a week. He was very amused to see me back again so soon. I tried his recommendation for a curry, and it was delicious. When we left he told me "Mata ashita!" as a joke, meaning "til tomorrow!". 

I have quite a few days to cover. On Saturday, Becca and I met the Japanese student who invited us to his apartment for Nabe earlier in the week. This time, he invited us to go along with him to the Sapporo Art Park to do pottery. He and a friend also hoped to attend a wood-working seminar. Becca and I met him at Sapporo Station. On our way to the subway entrance, Becca and I bought pumpkin flavored doughnuts from what is the Japanese equivalent of Dunkin Donuts, but one million times better. To reach the Art Park, we took the subway first, and then a bus. It took perhaps half an hour to get there. The weather was beautiful and sunny, but somewhat cool. It is slowly but surely becoming fall here, and the weather is gradually catching up to Minnesota (though I doubt it will get as cold as Minnesota). I wore a black dress with flowers on it that my aunt Diane (Didi) gave to me. I really love the dress and I was happy for a chance to finally wear it. During the subway and bus ride, I did my best to chat with our new friend, though I am generally shy. He is a very outgoing Japanese student, and very open. So far he has been extremely kind to invite us along. When we got off of the bus, we were in a very calm part of town. We crossed over a bridge, overlooking a stream, to enter the park. It is a beautiful place, with separate buildings for all sorts of crafts, such as furniture making, glass blowing, pottery, weaving, printing, etc. I was so envious of all of the artists that work there. I sometimes wish that I had just gone ahead and become an artist, or become one of these incredible craftspersons. The students we were with informed us, also, that Hokkaido's most renowned furniture maker was there today (we ended up eating lunch a few tables away from him and a whole group). We wandered a little at first, watched the glass blowers through the windows with awe, looked at the ducks in the pond and stream, and then located the building where guests can make some cups, plates, or bowls out of clay. We all we given a ball of clay, and a tray of tools, washclothes, and a brush to make a small object. The building we were in had a front desk, and other rooms with art exhibits. The sitting area had large glass walls so we could see the scenery outside and the daylight. We all had so much fun--at some point, we all could be heard chiming how much fun it was to be sitting together making cups. At first I did not really know what to make. I did not start out with a clear plan, but started slowly making a cup. Once everything was smooth enough, I thought for a while about what I could do to make it look like more than a generic clay cup. Everyone here is so obsessed with bears, and I really like bears anyways, so I chose to find a way to put bears around the outside. I was pretty happy with the result, although I do hope that it does not explode in the oven when they fire it. The park will finish it, and send it to us after a month or so. After that, we played around with some of the wooden toys and objects made by the craftspeople at the park. Then we headed over for lunch. The paths, streams, fountains, buildings, and woods around the park were all lovely. I was so glad to be there. For lunch I had tofu Udon. We arranged that for a while Becca and I should speak only in Japanese, and the students would speak only in English. We had a lot of fun helping the students with their pronunciation. The student who invited us, Kotaro, kept struggling and repeating the word "really" over and over again. Everyone was really amused. He tried so hard to get it right--and came a bit closer in the end. I needed to be back to the University by 2:00 because I had promised the Germans I would meet them to show them around Sapporo (show them what little I know, I should say). We made it back in time. I walked to the hotel lobby and I tried to figure out what I should show the Germans. I decided on Hokkaido Shrine, since I knew how to get there, and I figured it was one of the more exciting sites for a visitor to see. I had certainly enjoyed it on my first visit, except for the rain. Ironically, walking to the hotel it started to rain on me. Luckily, it stopped by the time we headed to the shrine. Earlier in the day, Nana had showed the Germans around Sapporo Station and the Sapporo Tower. We took a taxi to the shrine, for which I am thankful. I was not sure otherwise how to get them to the shrine in a timely manner. It is about a 2 mile walk from the hotel, and although that is not a difficult distance to cover, it is time consuming and it was already 2:30PM by that time. Remember, it gets dark here just after 5PM. At the shrine, I tried to show the Germans some of the rituals that I had picked up, like washing your hands and mouth before entering, or throwing coins, clapping, and praying. we were lucky to see to traditional weddings. I have seen pictures of the beautiful clothes that the bride and groom where at Japanese weddings, but I had never seen these in person. I think that (hopefully) the Germans were especially excited. They took many pictures, so I think that I made a good choice. Leaving the shrine, I walked us through the park. Then we started in the direction of the hotel, as best as I could navigate. Fortunately, they offered again to take a taxi back. I was spared having to navigate back. Besides, it was beginning to get dark. When we got back to the hotel, the Germans invited me to come along for dinner and asked me to pick a type of restaurant. As I have explained, I don't know all that much about Sapporo yet, but Becca had introduced me to Soup Curry, which can only be found in Hokkaido, so I decided to try to find a place. Luckily, there is a Soup Curry in Sapporo Station which is very close to their hotel. I was nervous again about being a guide when I myself frequently become lost. However, somehow or other I managed to navigate the confusing station, with all of its shops, towers, and turns, to locate the Soup Curry restaurant. When we arrived, there was a short wait for a table. During that time, we wandered to the floor below, which happened to be the Sapporo Pokemon Center! I had been meaning to locate this to buy gifts for friends, and so it was surprising to suddenly stumble upon it. When we came back up a table was ready. I was pleased with my ability to help them order their meals, and I was even more pleased because there is a Vegetable Soup Curry. They really enjoyed the meal, and I was so glad to have chosen well and to have guided them well throughout the afternoon. Since they were only staying for about a week, I felt it was important to use their time wisely. I dropped them off again at their hotel and headed back to the International House.
The next day (Sunday), in the morning I submitted my first Fulbright monthly progress report. Then I got to spend time with Becca and her friend Aki. About noon, we met to do some grocery shopping, then grabbed a quick lunch at Aeon. One of my goals for the day was to locate a nearby 100 Yen shop to buy some baskets and things to keep my tiny room organized. After dropping off our groceries, we first headed to Yodobashi Camera to see about a frying pan that would work with our finicky, frustrating single-burner stoves. You have to buy a pan that is categorized as very specifically as 'IH', and apparently it cannot be larger than 18cm radius. We have so far had no such luck located a pan of this size, and all other pans cause the burner to turn on and off. Frustrating indeed. From there, we met Aki and then went to Sapporo Station to find the 100 Yen shop. We passed through the basement level of the department store there, which is always filled with cases of desserts and foods. It all looks so delicious, and one day I plan to buy a few foods from there. Next we took a break at Mister Donut, to have another pumpkin doughnut. They are seasonal, and so we want to eat as many as we can before they are gone. One of my last goals for the day was to purchase a coat. I sacrificed bringing a coat with me to Japan for the sake of space in my suitcase, and to meet the weight limit for luggage. So as the weather has become more fall like, I've been left with only two sweatshirts to switch between. I wanted to have a coat that I could just take on and off as needed throughout the day. This took some work. First we went to the Japanese version of Gap, but here the clothes at Gap are actually very expensive. I was a little dismayed at the high prices, and how few coats they had to choose from. We found one that might work, but I wasn't particularly happy with it, so Becca suggested we try Uniqlo in the station, which is a huuuuge, cheap, clothing chain in Japan. It was so packed, and hot, in Uniqlo but they had a much larger selection and the prices were far more reasonable. It was a little stressful trying to choose a coat in such a crowded place, but finally I found one that was perfect. It reminded me of the coat my grandpa used to wear, and it is not to heavy but not too light. I bought it, waiting in a long, long, long line that trailed through the store. While we were in the station, the weather had apparently shifted from sunny to very rainy. Not trusting Sapporo's skies, I had packed my raincoat. We biked back to the International House. It was getting dark, and I still had one more goal on my list. This was to locate the student coop, where textbooks are also sold. I needed to purchase my Japanese text book. Becca and Aki stayed to have tea, and I went off on my own to try to find the coop. I biked down the main street to the other side of campus and searched and searched and searched for the North Cafeteria. The coop is supposed to be on the second floor. No matter how many times I circled on my bike, I could not find it. It was rainy and cold and dark at this point, and because it was a Sunday night, so empty on campus. I read all of the signs, but none of them provided any hint as to where the North Cafeteria might be. I learned that it was closed anyways on Sundays, and by that time of night. I was still extremely frustrated with the situation, because it felt like such a failure not to be able to locate such a simple place. I found it very upsetting, even more so in light of my most recent struggles with the Japanese Language department here in the the International Student Center. After my class on Friday, I knew right away that it would be too easy so I was frustrated to have been placed in such a level, and nervous because I needed the textbook to find the vocabulary list for the quiz on Monday. I returned to the International House feeling very angry. I am very fortunate, however, because I was able to contact a student that I had met before who is in the same class. He is from Germany, oddly enough. He sent me a copy of the pages in the textbook that I needed! It was so nice of him. The most ironic part, however, is that the translations were in German! It was good enough for me, though!
On Monday morning, I had my Japanese class. The professor was very kind, and very animated. I think that, if the class were not so easy, I would really enjoy learning from her! The quiz was very simple, and I had hardly needed to review to learn the words. This reinforced to me that I wanted to be in a higher level. That weekend I had emailed the professor, after speaking with her after Friday's class. After Monday's class I went to speak to her again. She informed me, to my surprise and great disappointment that she had spoken with the office and that it was not possible for students to switch to higher levels. Everything was decided by the placement test and unfortunately that was final, even though she wished she could help. This really took me by surprise, and I could actually feel the start of tears in my eyes. After working my hardest these past four years in college, and fighting desperately for the opportunity to research abroad it was such a huge blow to be told that I might have to "waste" my time sitting in a language class with material that I already knew. Helping with research in the lab takes a considerable time commitment, and so to give up that time for a class that would not help me improve is something that I did not want to do. However, with Fulbright you must participate in Japanese language study, and besides that I personally wanted so much to work hard to improve. This episode of my time here was one of the absolute worst so far. I asked her if there was anyone I could speak to, or anything that I could do. She said that I could speak with the department, but did not seem hopeful. With tears in my eyes, I wandered the hallway quickly to see if I could find the director but he was not in his office. Becoming overwhelmed, I even ducked into the bathroom to try to collect myself and wipe away the tears. It was so upsetting, and I felt it was not only unfair, but also so pointless and outright unproductive not to let students who were in too simple a class to change. After all, I thought, do professors really want to teach students things they already know? Doesn't the department want to help people learn, not stagnate? At 11AM, about 20 minutes after class, I was supposed to meet with Professor Koike and some students to learn a method for measuring leaf thickness and estimating the air space of a leaf. So I was extremely stressed after Japanese class, but had to rush off to the lecture with these fears still fresh on my mind. I tried to appear calm while attending the lecture, and though I tried to distract myself by listening very closely and focusing on the lecture. Afterwards, Professor Koike brought us to lunch in the cafeteria. I was very happy about this, but still stressed and wanted to go back to the International Student Center to start sorting everything out. Besides that, I had only learned about the lecture for that day a few hours beforehand, so it unfortunately conflicted with mine and Becca's lunch arrangement. After lunch, I hopped on my bike and sped back to the center. I was so overwhelmed by trying to figure out who in the large building I should speak to, and what I could do one my own. As I stood in the lobby, Becca popped in on her way to class and said that she had something for me, but was late for class and I told her to run along. On my own once again, I decided to go to the support desk, because there was a sign in the window that directed those who were confused there, and also because there was a sign that they spoke English. I wanted a place where I could explain my situation clearly, and not have to worry if I could not express the situation in Japanese. There were two Japanese students at the desk. I sat down, and started to explain my problem--first of all, my course is too easy, and I would like to switch up a level if possible, I explained. Second of all, I am only registered for a grammar course and a kanji course, and I would like to have more classes than this. I did my best to speak in the best Japanese I could. The student that helped me was very kind, and she called various offices to ask what I should do. She explained my request over the phone to the director. I listened to her side of the conversation as she spoke, and understood with a feeling of dread when it became clear that she was being told it would not be possible. Sure enough, after she hung up, she sadly told me this news. Apparently, the rule is firm about switching, and there have also been a huge number of students trying to switch up. I asked that if so many students feel they were placed incorrectly, then why continue using such an inaccurate placement system? At this point, I could no longer stop myself from crying. I thought again about how much work had gone into being able to come to Japan and how ridiculous it would be to take such a simple class. I tried to explain again and to plead my case. I told her how hard it had been to finally have a chance to travel abroad, and to receive the Fulbright. I tried to explain the purpose of the Fulbright, and why I wanted so desperately to improve my Japanese. The poor student felt so bad for me, and I felt so embarrassed to be so visibly distraught and upset. I used quite a few tissues. The student tried a few more times to call and ask again if anything could be done, and eventually received permission for me to meet with another professor to at least try to add a third class. Luckily, she was very considerate and let me go wipe off my tears in the bathroom while she waited. I felt so bad to make others worry. But she was so kind and sympathetic towards me. We went upstairs, and then I needed to meet with the professor of the class I wanted to add alone. The whole process of applying for these classes back in August, I should add, vexed me and I had not been certain even then of what classes to request or what they entailed. The professor looked me up in their system after I explained my troubles. As it turns out, the classes I had requested were all intermediate level but because of the poor results of my placement test I could not enter into one of them, and as for the other I was required to enter at the Introductory level. I told the professor, being careful to use only Japanese, that I had not felt confident at all about the computerized test and that during the test I had been extremely stressed and run out of time. You are required to answer 100 fill-in-the-blank questions in only 50 minutes. The questions had not been especially hard, but they had taken much longer than I had expected, and the clock ran out before I could even read them all. Thus, my score had been poor. Nonetheless, I was so puzzled why, after speaking long strings of Japanese to them even they would not admit that the Introductory course would be too simple. I pleaded and pleaded with them, at one point breaking into tears again, and finally they resolved to speak to the director about it. They were not in charge of the program themselves, but professors of other courses, so I understood that they did not have total control over the situation. Still, I was so angry that they would not admit that, as educators, their goal ought to be helping people meet their potential--not sticking to silly, inaccurate, placement tests without any flexibility. I thought to myself, don't they want me to learn? Still, I was grateful with them for speaking with me, and they seemed at least a little sympathetic like my class professor had been. They said they would do what they could, but did not seem particularly hopeful. Up until this point, I had not broken down into such tears about anything. Of course there have been times when I became a little teary while her in Japan, secretly or on my own, but never so hopelessly.
While I had been waiting in the professor's office, my phone had gone off. I called back, and it was Professor Koike and Sakuma-san from my lab. I had wanted to help with the Germans again that day, but because of my class could not go with them out to the forest site, and there had been no way for me to travel to the site on my own. I offered earlier to help when they came back to sample trees on campus. They had returned, and were wondering if I could help. I was so stressed at this point, but I got on my bike and rode back to the other side of campus where they were sampling. By the time I arrived, they were nearly finished, but I did my best to help. I brought the equipment back to the lab with them, then received a call from Becca. She was waiting by the bridge near the trees we had been sampling. I told her that I would be headed to my red bike, and so we met there. I felt so bad, because periodically through the day I had been sending Becca messages on my phone describing my frustrating situation. I knew I had probably worried her, too. Because I had not been able to find the bookstore/coop the night before, we were going to go find it together. We road back again to the north side of campus, and Becca was able to find the north cafeteria (tucked away behind the larger buildings on the main street) and the coop. We tried to find our textbooks, but I still did not buy mine because I wanted so desperately to switch classes. As we were leaving, Becca asked a cashier if she could use one of the microwaves, and I wondered what for. It turns out that, having heard about the hard time I was having with sorting out my Japanese classes, she had gone back to the department store from the day before where we had watched some bean-paste and chestnut filled snacks being made. The outside is made of a pancake like bread, filled with bean-paste or chestnut and shaped like a jumping koi. I had wanted to go back and buy some, because they looked so delicious. Becca had bought some and brought them to cheer me up! I was so happy for this. By this point, though I had tried my best, I felt so discouraged and beaten down. I felt as though even though I had taken all the steps I could, I was being treated by the department as though I did not matter. As though procedure was more important than a student's actual ability. We sat on the benches in the coop and ate them together. They were so good. Afterwards, we returned to our bikes. As it turns out, a bird had even pooped on my bike seat. That just made me laugh, because it was so ridiculous, and I showed Becca. We parted ways after biking back towards her education building and then I rushed back to the international house to change for a quick run. I had very little time before my 4:30 afternoon lecture with Professor Koike, and so even as I was running I was stressed and hurried. I got back, quickly changed again, and then walked quickly to the lecture. Listening made me more calm, and Professor Koike always prepares us tea and gives us chocolates so this made me feel a little better. Afterwards, we were to meet with the Germans to have dinner in the cafeteria. This was fun, and I was happy to see them again, and to spend time with the professors and graduate students. After dinner, we all talked for a long time. Then at last I made it back to the dorm, made some hot chocolate, finished up some homework, and packed my bag. The next day the German researchers, Professor Koike, myself, and four other students were all going together for a two-day field trip. Secretly, I was very stressed about leaving at a time when I was still trying to sort out my courses. But I felt obligated to go, had arranged to go before the whole Japanese course ordeal transpired, and anyways wanted to go along so badly. We were leaving at 8:45AM. I had sent my professor an email earlier in the week to warn them that I would be gone.
     Although I am still stressed, I am very happy that I was invited to go along on this field trip. On Tuesday morning, we drove towards Mt. Youtei. I had been planning eventually to bike there from Sapporo, as it is only about 40 miles away. We stopped at many beautiful places along the drive to take pictures of the hillsides, changing trees, and landscape. During the drive, Professor Koike explained at great length about the aesthetic choices of Japan, and Japanese forestry. We stopped at a parking lot and road stop where Professor Koike bought us breaded, friend whole potatoes, famous to that area. In the distance, we could see the cloud-covered peak of Mt. Youtei. Professor Koike explained that this is Hokkaido's version of Mt. Fuji (though it is not as tall). We passed through beautiful countryside, and came closer and closer to Mt. Youtei. It is very interesting to see flat, farmland, with small wooded areas and then suddenly a forest covered mountain, with a crown of low clouds. Nearby, we stopped at a wonderful stream, with cups for drinking the cold, mountain water, some small Japanese landscaping, bridges, and ponds. We had lunch, and I ordered vegetable curry. Myself and one of the other students also bought some squash and vegetable at the store--they were so cheap compared to in Sapporo, because they are so close to the farms!! I was very excited by this. We all piled back into the small car (we fit 8 people inside) and headed off to the next, yet-to-be-announced site. We passed the large Lake Toya along the way, near active volcanoes. Professor Koike showed us to a tiny, tiny town and old highway that in 2004 had suddenly turned into a pound after a small dome formed from the volcanic activity under the road. There were wooden trails here, and to either side we could see little spots of steam in the grass.There were some abandoned buildings around the pond and steamy spots. In the distance, we could see the steam.
Next we headed to the Ainu Museum at Lake Poroto. I was excited to go here, because I have read and heard quite a bit about the Ainu--the original people of Hokkaido. Today there are still folks of Ainu descent, but the Japanese government and society does not speak very much of the history of colonization and forced assimilation. As a result of forced assimilation, Ainu culture and language nearly disappeared, but I know that some are working to teach the language and maintain their culture. I am not a big fan of museums displaying native cultures, because they are often incorrect, or run by non-native curators and owners. In the United States, many such museums also display cultural or personal items that were taken from the tribe or original owners. I am not sure who runs the Ainu Museum at Lake Poroto, but I am going to ask around. When we arrived, unfortunately there was also a highschool field trip group so it was rather busy. The "museum" itself has large scale replicas of Ainu houses, with various rooms and purposes. It is on the shore of the lake. Many people were taking pictures of the staff wearing traditional clothes. Outside of a presentation building, there was a staff member standing by the door and hoards of people would come up and take pictures with him as though he were a statue. I was really frustrated by this. I don't know how the man felt--I am sure he is more than accustomed to this from working at the museum everyday. Maybe he does not mind, who know--he seemed unamused by it all, but put up with it. I was embarrassed when the group I was with wanted to take a picture. I find it so rude that all of the visitors to the museum just assume you can take pictures, as though the worker was just an attraction. It makes me a little upset to be in such "museums", also, because I start to think about so many of the unsolved hurts in the United States, and the history of forced cultural assimilation and destruction that has taken place in so many places within what is now called the United States, as well as around the world. I was also upset because there were three or four caged bears on display. Bears need so much space to thrive, they seemed so miserable and I wanted nothing more than to let them free. I don't know how they are treated after hours, but I can only hope that they are shown a little love and respect. If I can find a way to help them, I hope to. But I doubt that there is much I can change, and from what I heard from Becca, the museum itself does not quite know what to do with them either. They were apparently just given to them. We listened to one presentation by individuals in traditional dress, explaining the purpose of the building we were in. They also showed us some Ainu songs, instruments, and dances. While I am here, I hope to learn more. As I have perhaps mentioned, along with studying ecological effects of global warming, I really want to learn more about the relationships that different cultures have with the plants and forests around them. Obviously this varies considerably on the individual level, yet I feel that many cultures have unique ways of expressing their relationship with the earth. From Professor Koike, I am gradually gaining an idea of some of the Japanese tendencies towards the earth. I am very curious about Ainu opinions as well, especially since, as Vine Deloria Jr says, a society's religion and culture is a reflection of the shapes of the land in which they live. Since the Ainu are the original people of this land, I hold their opinion in high regard.
Finally, just after darkness fell, we made it to the Ryoukan (inn). We were served a multiple course Japanese meal. Much of it contained seaweeds, meat, and fish. The meat was a disappointment for me, but I found some things that I could eat. The Japanese student sitting across from me definitely enjoyed the meal, because I gave her all of my meat! My favorite part were the prunes (maybe they were plums? No one knew the difference in English at the table so I took their word). Fruit here is very expensive, and so it was an excellent dessert. We all went to our rooms (two to a room) to go down to the onsen (bath). All of the women go to one bath, and the men to another. I was a little frustrated, because I had never been to an onsen before and the Japanese student really did not care to explain. She was more interested in just getting in the onsen herself. So there was never any explanation about anything. There were four of us girls, one Japanese, two Chinese exchange students, and me. I was really apprehensive to ask if we would have to change out of our clothes together. Of course the answer is yes--and the baths are communal, so you better be comfortable naked! I wasn't too excited about this, but it's a cultural experience, so I just tried to act calm and unconcerned. No one else seemed nervous at all and in fact no one even said anything about it. It was as though it were completely normal (which of course, it is here). Luckily, from my indoctrination in cross country, I'm used to communal showering and so it wasn't too bad. Still, I wish folks would have stopped to give me a heads up about what you're supposed to do, what soaps you're supposed to use, etc. You first enter into a lockerroom sort of area, where you get undressed. You take your tiny washcloth with you into the bath room, where the big bath itself is located, as well as low sink/shower nozzles and stools along the wall. You sit on the little stool and scrub yourself clean. The bath is not for cleaning, it is for relaxing, and the shower is for cleaning. Then you get into the water, just like a naked hot tub. The water was alright, but the bath was indoors and I would have really preferred to go to an outdoors onsen. If it's indoors, I'd rather just take a bath on my own, thank you very much! But it was a good experience, and one that most people should probably have when visiting Japan. I wondered how the Germans felt about it! After the bath, we changed into the comfortable yukata and all met in Professor Koike and Sakuma-san's room to eat snacks, watch TV, talk, and for the others drink some sake. Everyone has been pretty respectful to me and has not pressured me to drink thus far, so that is good. Professor Koike himself cannot drink very much, because otherwise he becomes sick and his face turns bright red--this is a fairly common condition in Asian countries, actually. It was fun to talk with everyone, and on TV we ended up catching a Brazil vs. Japan soccer match. Brazil won, of course.
On Wednesday, we all woke up relatively early to have breakfast at 7:30AM. The breakfast at Japanese hotels, I think, is very yummy. Actually, I like breakfasts at most hotels (maybe primarily because I love breakfast). We all sat together and ate, and watched the little birds at the birdfeeder outside the window. When we finished, we had some time to wander around the garden and trails, then go down to the lakeside before we met up again at 9AM. We bade farewell to the ryoukan about 10AM. Our next stop was what Professor Koike called a "primeval" forest. He explained that for about the past 300 years, it has been left more or less un-managed (although I must point out, there is still a road that goes through it, and it appears quite a few campers that come to spend the night). But most Japanese forests are fairly closely managed, so it was interesting to see a less tampered-with condition of forest. Still, because global warming, and global pollution reaches all ends of the globe, there is not a single place on earth that is not somehow effected by human actions. All the earth is connected, and all actions have reactions, whether they are big or small, noticeable or more discreet. I think of it similar to how Thich Naht Hanh explains it: I am the earth, and the earth is me. Therefore I am you, and you are me. Everything flows into everything else, and therefore you must respect all things. I think the name of the forest station was Bifue Forest Station and campsite. Along the lake shore, we saw dark ominous clouds hanging around the mountains and the air was chilly. The forecast was for rain in the afternoon and bad weather. Next we headed to the large ecology research forest in Tomakomai. This is either the largest, or among the three largest research forests in Japan. They have an annual budget, if I understood correctly, of about 1billion dollars. We met with the director and then they drove us to see one of their experiments. I have to say, I was so incredibly excited when I saw it. If you look at my pictures, you will understand why. The experiment they showed us is similar to some of the global warming research experiments that I have been an intern at through the University of Minnesota up north. Plots of forest or plants are artificially heated underground by cables, and above ground by lamps (at the U of M) and in this case since they were heating whole sections of forests, coiled around large trees! To monitor changes in photosynthesis, temperature, etc. they do so with a giant crane and cherry basket above the forest canopy!!!!! I was so excited--in fact, just over a year ago when I had been doing research for where I would like to study, I read about this same experiment and it was one feature that drew me to Hokkaido. I never thought I would get to take a ride in it! One of the researchers explained the experiment, and then brought out some harnesses! Professor Koike handing me one, and four of us at a time put them on. We were going up above the canopy in the crane basket! Myself, two Japanese students, one of the Germans, and the researcher got into the small basket, hooked our harnesses to the rails in case we fell out, and up we went! This was absolutely amazing, and a highlight of my time here so far. The researcher explained some of the procedures and measurements they take as we went up, and circled around. I told him how envious I was of researching in such a way, and he said that perhaps I could come help! I don't know for sure if he was serious, but I intend to try! I think he was amused with how excited we all were. The stormy weather was just about to arrive, and so it was pretty window, and the skies were grey, with little raindrops starting. That made it all the more fun. We came back down, and then the other four members of our group including Professor Koike loaded into the crane basket. We watched them climb up into the air. After this, we went back to the station, then headed out for lunch. It was about 1:30PM already, and we were aiming to arrive back at campus by about 3PM. That, I knew, was not about to happen. If you have not gathered by this point, I will tell you that Professor Koike often neglects to explain the itinerary of a day, so over the past week I have often had little idea of where or when we are going places. I just hop in the van with the researchers, and learn as I go! It was very similar with this field trip. We would pile in and out of the van, going to unexpected places throughout both days. It certainly kept things interesting! After lunch we came back to the station and Professor Koike gave us a tour of the Forest Museum on site. It has the largest wood-identification and sample display in Japan. Simply amazing--there were boards from every single tree species, with cross sections from all directions, and all sorts of samples neatly arranged around the walls of the whole room. Students come here to learn the characteristics of all the wood, and then are tested by being shown unlabeled samples and trying to identify them. I wish I could spend a month in this place learning to identify everything! There was also a door that lead into a small office specifically designed for the emperor's use when he visits. After that, we at least started the trip back to the university. On the way, we dropped off the Germans at a hotel next to the airport. It was their last day in Japan, and they were flying back to Munich early in the morning. I will miss them, because it was fun getting to know them. I hope one day to go visit them, and maybe they can show me the Mosel river.
When I got back to campus, it was raining. I went back to my dorm and made some dinner. Later, Becca stopped by and I gave her a little charm that I had bought at the Ainu Museum--the shopkeeper went to great lengths to get me to buy it, and told me all about the meanings of the symbols, but I remain dubious. Then I showed Becca the surprise that I have wanted to share with her for a couple of days. It is my newest acquisition--you will have to look at my pictures to guess what it is!!! I managed to find an inexpensive one, and had it delivered here by takkyubin on Sunday. I hope to keep learning it in secret, so please do not tell to many folks yet. I want to become mediocre before then. There is a bluegrass group that, with any luck, we will be able to receive some lessons from in exchange for English lessons.
Today I finally was able to attend my Kanji class. The teacher from her emails came off as rather mean, so I was nervous, but in class she seemed to be a nice, middle-aged lady. I think I will learn a lot, and enjoy it. I only wish it wasn't at 8:45AM! Oh well. Actually, all of my Japanese classes during the week are at 8:45AM. Then I don't have lectures in general until 4:30PM. I sure hate waking up early, but it does give me a lot of time during the rest of my day to explore and get things done. It may come in useful for getting research done during the day, too. Well, I am off for a run.

On Wednesday, two German researchers named Thomas and Matthew arrived from Munich. They are here to complete a forest survey in the areas around Sapporo, sampling Sakhalin fir trees. The experiment analyzes tree core samples to look at tree ring growth forests in and around large cities around the world. From what I've gathered, they have done sampling in places like Capetown, Hannoi, Berlin, Santiago (Chile), and Paris. Lucky them! My advisor Professor Koike agreed to assist them in completing this project. Curiously, the University of Munich is the sister school of Hokkaido University. Professor Koike is also incredibly interested in German forestry, which has many connections to Hokkaido University, which started as an agricultural school. For about one week, Professor Koike, myself, the Germans, and a few other Japanese students have been performing this survey. We had, as I mentioned before, all gone to dinner on Thursday evening. I should mention that it was a rather amusing experience to observe the German researchers first experiences with real Japanese foods. Of course, there is always the chopstick trouble for those who are unaccustomed. The restaurant we went to was chosen by Professor Koike, and it serves more or less traditional, typical Japanese foods. This includes a lot of seaweed, pickled vegetables, and fish, fish, fish. The fish are often served whole, after being roasted or cooked with their skin, fins, and heads intact. This is a surprising experience for most. It is a very tedious process, in my opinion, to pick through the tiny, tiny bones and I'm not particularly a fan of eating fish in this way, although they taste very good. In general, in the United States I only eat wild salmon, and not especially often. One of my main reasons for being a vegetarian is because of the environmental consequences of widespread meat production. Fishing practices are often dubious at best with the exception of the well-maintained example of Alaska/British Columbia wild salmon where populations carefully monitored. So when I can avoid fish, I do, since it is difficult to know the source. Still, Professor Koike was such a kind and helpful host, I could not refuse. He actually has gone far out of his way already to help me find vegetarian options. That evening, Professor Koike arranged for me to meet the German researchers the next day at 8:30AM at their hotel lobby, just outside of Hokkaido University, to show them the way back to the Agricultural Building. It was somewhat of a shame, because on Wednesday I was supposed to attend the International Student Orientation, which I ended up missing for the forest survey. (Oh well!) I felt very bad for the researchers because the airlines lost their luggage! This included all of their experiment equipment. I think that their bags have been located at last and they are being sent here, but for three days now they have not had any of their things. How awful! I tried to help by translating at the hotel front desk to see if their luggage had been found. They are both perhaps in their 40s, and nice people. One is a bit sterner, and speaks German quite often. I was happy that I was able to navigate without any mistakes from their hotel to the agricultural building while escorting them. To be honest, I am still very bad at navigating here, and it would have been embarrassing while showing them around! While they have been here, I have tried to answer questions about life in Minnesota, learn about Germany, and also share what I know about Japan (this has involved quite a bit of translating). I asked them if they knew of the Mosel river in Germany, and they did. It is apparently very beautiful! The Germans speak German of course, and also acceptable English. I speak English and acceptable Japanese. Professor Koike speaks Japanese, pretty good English, and a handful of German words. I have done my best to be a go between. Needless to say, it is a bit difficult to balance all of these languages going on at once! But also extremely interesting. As part of the Fulbright Program, I must say that I have been happy to have such an international experience. It has really reminded me of one of the main goals of Fulbright, which is to foster international cooperation.
After reaching the Agricultural Building and our lab, Professor Koike was running around (as usual) to prepare equipment. He would pop in and out of the lab. At this point, I had still not been told much more than that I was to pick up the Germans and bring them there. I did not know at all what the next step would be, although I was gathering that it may end up in the woods. That morning, to be safe, I wore hiking clothes, because in my experience you just never know with forest sciences where you will end up. Sure enough, after waiting at the lab for a short time, Professor Koike called us outside and there was a van and a few more Japanese students getting ready to set out. I still was not sure if I was supposed to be coming with, since I was technically supposed to be at the student orientation. We all ended up hopping into the van (one student road in the back of the van with the equipment, bouncing all over!). I didn't know where we were going, but we were headed someplace!! Sometimes you just have to go with the flow, I guess! That is really how I have felt about traveling to another country--just accept things as you can, be open to new and unexpected things, and do your best to enjoy it. It was definitely unexpected to be in a van headed to an unknown destination with a group full of ecology-folk. (Believe it or not, this is not the first time such a thing has happened to me, although the Germans were a twist.) I watched out the window as we left the Hokkaido university gates, and watched to try to piece together what the plan may be. Professor Koike and the students often spoke in quick Japanese, so it was difficult for me to catch it all. I deciphered that we were headed to a 7/11 first, and also to find an ATM there. At the 7/11 we bought lunch foods to bring with. I bought a poncho too, because the skies looked a little grey. I tried to help read the labels on foods for the Germans and to give suggestions. Professor Koike charged me with this duty, as well. We all piled back into the van, and off we went again. We went farther and farther out of the city, and passed the Sapporo Dome. Since I had read the summary of the Munich University research, and knew about the survey, I felt that maybe we were going to a forest on the outskirts of the city. Eventually, we reached the woods at a site around a place called Shirahatayama. This was about a 45 minute drive from the university. There was a chained off road, some parked cars, and a closed information center. We all got out of the van, and Professor Koike and a student wandered around and searched for phone numbers to call to find out how to gain access to the road. As it turns out, we were at the wrong entrance. We all got back in, and drove to another center a little ways away. There, Professor Koike ran ahead to the visitor/information to find managers who could give us a key to enter the road. Normally, visitors park in the parking lot and walk in, but since we were researchers Professor Koike wanted to drive the equipment in. In the meantime, the only other girl student and I hurried over to the bathroom because unlike the guys, it's unfortunately not as discreet for us to use the bathroom out in the woods. This was my second encounter with the squatting toilets--these are porcelain holes in the ground, usually in a stall like a regular toilet would be. When we ran back, Professor Koike was headed back too, and he gave us all some pamphlets from the visitor center. A tiny park service truck came down the road, and they were going to escort us to the site. The roads, by the way, are all tiny, bumpy, rough, and don't really seem like they are supposed to be driven on. They look like hiking paths. There were huge bumps and holes in the ground. I took a picture as we went, of the assumption that we would soon be crashing into a tree. We were jostled all over the place, and the van jolted all over the place, stop and go. We reached a gravel parking lot. We all got out again, collected the equipment, and I followed along. Everything was a confusing mix of Japanese, German, and English. Because I was somewhat of a go between, I was made the record keeper, since I had the best chance of understanding everybody. The data sheets were labeled in German, so that was extremely confusing at first. Most of the times people told me measurements in English, but at the same time many of the students spoke only Japanese, so I would translate this, look at the German data sheet, and record the numbers in English. In addition to taking the cores of the tree rings, we measured the size of the canopies, start of canopy, dbh, and total height of about 20 trees per site. I gradually started to get a hang of things. We paused to eat lunch, retrieving our food from the van, and sitting in a circle in the grass next to the woods and the parking lot. At this point, I was actually very pleased to be there. Lunch was like a picnic, and everyone curiously had picked their own unique items for lunch. I often fall back on inarizushi as a lunch option, because it is sold at conbini and 7/11 along with sushi rolls, sandwiches, etc. I bought this, and a banana. For whatever reason, the Japanese students thought that it was odd to eat a banana, and also odd that I liked inarizushi. Professor Koike, who loves chocolates and sweets, brought some chocolates and cookies for dessert. Then we got back to work. In the distance, we could hear crashes that sounded like thunder, but apparently it is actually military testing nearby! Afterwards, we returned to campus by about 4:00PM.
Since it was Wednesday, I had a class to catch at 4:30PM. I asked when and where I should meet the next day, then hurried off to my class still in my forest gear, and looking a little like I had hiked to campus. My course at 4:30PM is unfortunately rather boring, and since this class is taught in English by a Japanese professor, it is somewhat hard to follow and also very dry--straight from the power point. Moreover, it is directed towards undergrads, so it is all extreeeeeemely basic information. Oh well. After class, I met Becca on the main university road. We had been invited to have dinner with a Japanese student who we had met at the International Student Potluck. We were supposed to meet him at a conbini next to campus. He had a rented car, for a trip he and a group would be taking that night to a north-eastern city, and so he and his roommate picked us up. He had also invited us on the road trip the group would be taking, but both Becca and I are busy during the week-- Japanese undergrads are notorious for skipping classes, and that was what he and his friends were doing. It was tempting to go, but obviously we could not, and furthermore especially this week I have the forest survey to keep me busy. Yet again, I wasn't sure where we were going. As it turns out, we were going to have Nabe ('hot pot') with his two roommates. This is something that is very common in Japan, to invite friends over to eat Nabe. It is one of the few times Japanese young people invite folks over to their homes, it seems. The apartment was a little far from the university, and the entrance was somewhat hidden. The door was almost like a vault! Anyways, their apartment is very big, even by American standards, and very cheap too because it is farther from campus. They all seem like very nice people. I was so surprised that when Becca and I mentioned that we are vegetarians, they actually cooked the whole Nabe without meat! That was really kind of them. Even in the U.S. where being a vegetarian is more common, I feel like people rarely are that considerate. Japanese students also drink all the time, and in large quantities, so I was nervous that everyone would be drinking. When asked if we would like anything, we declined and here too they were all very respectful and did not drink alcohol themselves for the most part! This is very rare, and I was so surprised by their consideration again. We sat around the table as we waited for the food to be ready and listened to American music (of which they had a respectable collection!) and talked. When I am in new situations, especially new social situations with people I do not know, it can be especially tough for me to understand Japanese. Furthermore, young people in Japan usually use short forms and slang, and tend to speak less clearly, so I had a lot of trouble understanding everything. I had even more trouble speaking, because I was already nervous and a little sheepish, though I did my best. The student who had invited us there speaks good English, so he was helpful. I was admittedly disappointed in my lack of ability to converse and understand more fluidly. I think it will come with time, but I was really frustrated with myself not to be able to speak naturally, say the things I want to, and to always ask people to repeat things. Becca is so good at speaking, I felt a little, well....stupid by comparison. But she is always very encouraging to me. (I also felt a little silly, because I was still wearing my forest get-up). We starting playing a game of cards called Hearts. Becca explained the rules to everyone. For folks who don't know, I am notoriously bad at picking up card games. I have to relearn games almost every time I play them, even games that I know well. So the combination of trying to pay attention to Japanese and to learn the game got to be a bit much for me. For the life of me, I could not figure out the rules of the game. Whenever I played a card expecting it to go one way, it went the other way completely. The goal is not to end up with a lot of hearts, and I kept ending up with piles. It didn't matter how many times the rules were explained, they just kept coming in pieces that I could not put together into the larger picture of the game. I felt so confused, and frankly unintelligent. I didn't want to give everyone the first impression that I was so unintelligent, but hopefully with time I will redeem myself. Fortunately, Becca let me team up with her. Soon, the roommate cooking the Nabe brought it over to the table. It was a big, thick potluck pot with broth, tons of vegetables, eggs, and tofu. It looked amazing! I have always been told that Japanese men do not cook, but Nabe must be an exception. There was also the obligatory white rice. It was sooooo good. I wish that I had more than one gosh darn burner in my dinky dorm so that I could cook yummy things like this! I was so impressed. I kept thinking, goodness it is kind to invite us over for such a good meal. Afterwards, we stayed until about 10PM playing card games and talking. I tried my best to answer questions about the United States. Overall, I was so impressed and appreciative by their kindness and consideration. They invited us to come back, and I hope that I can get to know them! My goodness, they were nice to have us over.
In the morning, I met the researchers and students again at the Agricultural building at 8:45AM to head out again. The forecast was rain all day, and rain all day it did. We went back to the area around Shirahatayama, although a different site. Everyone here has nifty jumpsuits, but me. I of course know how to dress for a hike, but since I wasn't able to pack everything I wanted, I don't have all the clothes I would normally use. Nonetheless, I felt that I was dressed well enough for whatever weather in the forest. By comparison, I seemed ill-equipped. I had my thick jeans, hiking boots, rain jacket, hat, and that is about all I need--I think it may be that I am just accustomed to dealing with things like rain and not minding getting a little wet. Everyone here really suits up for the woods--in my opinion, all of the forests we have been in so far are easy to access, and relatively open, as well as close to the gravel roads. So although everyone seemed to be concerned that I was under-dressed, I thought everyone was over-dressed! When you don't have a heck of a lot of money to work with (which is my default position), then you learn to deal with what you have as far as luxuries of hiking. I do wish that I had waterproof pants with me, though. I might try to find a camping store here in Sapporo. The underbrush and plants do get your legs wet. But it was nothing to worry much about. To make sure no one worried, I put my poncho on over everything. I was the record keeper again. It can be very troublesome, because multiple people continue to tell me measurements at the same time, for different trees. The rain was especially problematic for writing on the paper data sheets, but I kept the clipboard in a big plastic bag as I wrote. Around lunch time, and just as we were getting in the van to go eat, it really began to rain hard. We went to the little visitor center to eat. We were all pretty wet. The staff at the center (all wearing nifty jumpsuits of their own!) let us eat in the building, in a room with pictures of mushrooms, birds, and wildlife, as well as a table in the center of the room and some wood stoves. They even started up the fires in the stoves to warm up the room! I ate my delicious inarizushi again, and an apple. Professor Koike shared more chocolates with us for dessert. He is incredible! The rain outside was coming down hard, and I was so grateful to be inside with the little fires going. The building was built of logs, and reminded me of hiking centers at parks in the United States. Some of the students and I crowded around the stoves to dry off as we waited. The staff shared pickled mushrooms with us. The woods we are surveying are filled with elderly folks out collected bags and bags of mushrooms, and the staff also collect their fair share. A few times the trees have rustled and I thought perhaps a bear or raccoon would emerge, only to find an elderly mushroom hunter or to hear the ringing bells they carry. If I knew which mushrooms were safe, I would do this too! Anyways, the rain showed little sign of slowing. Professor Koike decided we would return to campus to survey some of the trees there. Once we got back to campus, the rain had slowed, although there were still dark clouds in the south where we had been. By this time, it was already the afternoon and I was admittedly getting a bit worn out with the rain, and long day. The patch of trees we worked on are also just under the bridge that I take every day to cross the street from my dorm to the university, so I had the feeling of being so close and yet so far from being done. Worse yet, those who forged ahead first forged straight into a nest of bees on the ground. Students the day before in a field class had apparently also had the misfortune of disturbing the bees, and so today the nest was especially agitated, even though they are usually fairly calm. Luckily they were not susumebachi, which are the terrifying "sparrow" wasps, so named because they are literally the size of sparrows. One sting sends you to the hospital, two stings and you're a goner. One of our students got stung as he fled. It seems that many Japanese people have not been stung by your run of the mill bee before, and such was the case. In the U.S., I feel that most people have been stung a few times in their life. Poor guy. He was concerned, and from what I could understand of the conversation in Japanese, he had never been stung before so didn't really know what to do with it. They took him to a doctor as a precaution. The rest of us were leery about doing any more work in the area, to say the least. I had watched one bee chase the student pretty aggressively out of the woods and follow him out, so I was not excited to go forward either. We stayed clear as best we could, and no one else was stung, but things really seemed to take a loooong time. The skies were grey, it was still chilly, and it sprinkled on and off. It gets dark here early, and I was anxious also because I really wanted to have some daylight left to myself. Finally we got done, and helped unload everything at the lab. While in the building, I picked up my library card which was finally ready and rather solemnly trudged back to my dorm. I still managed to squeeze a run in, although it was dark. Fortunately, because of being active all day, my legs felt good and although it was just past sunset the cool weather turned out to be very pleasant to run in that evening. Afterwards I went to the grocery store, bought some vegetables, searched unsuccessfully for rain pants or a jacket, then returned to cook dinner. It was already getting rather late. I cooked up some carrots, potatoes, peppers, mushrooms, and brown rice (a rare commodity). My tiny cooking space and single burner made preparing everything a bit of a hassle, but I was pleased with the result and happy for a warm meal after being so cold all day. (I was also excited because I found wheat bread at the store very randomly! Bread in Japan is as white as snow, and in my opinion this isn't even worth eating because it doesn't give you anything healthy. I had given up on eating bread here! I doubt I will ever find wheat bread again, so it was a real miracle!) I felt much better after a run and a meal.
Today I had my first Japanese language class at 8:45AM. I explained to Professor Koike the day before that I would have to come late to help with the survey since it was the first class, and he was definitely understanding. He sent me directions for how to take a subway in the direction of the site we would be at today, from which point he would pick me up, and that I should go there after class. I have been extremely disappointed about the results of my Japanese placement test, which apparently landed me in the upper level of the Introductory Courses! I was so upset when I first learned these results. I have not been studying for four years only to end up in an Intro Course. I had not been happy with the process of the computerized, fill-in-the-blank Placement Test, and had run out of time anyways because I thought there were 50 questions when actually there were 100 questions (something I figured out with only about 20 minutes left). Based on the syllabus and the levels of the other students, I am sincerely hoping that I will be allowed to move up to a more challenging level. I already know all of the grammar that we are scheduled to learn for that class. The professor seems extremely nice, however, so I am hoping things will work out. I spoke to her after class, and attempted to show her that I can at least speak well. Nonetheless, I am still frustrated about it.  I find myself recently doubting my language ability, even though I know that I can do so much more. Because of this, after class I was still stressed, and nervous anyways about trying to get to Sapporo Station quickly on foot. I ended up walking the wrong way, and so it took even longer. I just hate having to get places quickly, and under stress. I did not want to make Professor Koike wait, or to end up wasting a long time getting to the station to go help. I want to do my best to contribute. Still, I was rather overwhelmed with going straight from class and rushing to find the station (which is actually pretty far from the building of my Japanese class). Finally, I made it there. I was told to take the Touhou Line all the way to the last stop (Fukuzumi). I absolutely despite navigating within subway stations here, because it seems as though you follow signs through a labyrinth of unpredictable, crowded, and easy-to-miss turns. However, I found the entrance to the line at last, got on, and at last had a chance to sit and calm down. I started to feel better knowing that I had gotten myself to the right line and was on my way. I got off at the last stop, then had to deal with the mess of navigating up to the surface level, and guessing the right exit. I ended up going out the wrong door, and just resolving to walk around all of the outside of the building to get to the right spot instead of going back into the station. I had good timing, and I heard someone from a car across the street shout "Jamie-san!". It was Professor Koike and Nana-san (the graduate student). They pulled over and as I learned everyone was just heading to a restaurant for lunch. Because the restaurant the main group was headed to served mostly meat, Professor Koike was so incredibly considerate to take the two of us to a separate restaurant. From what I gathered, he lives nearby, and it is one of his favorite places. The building is a brick, European-style, with a desserts shop downstairs. This explains why he likes the place so much! Upstairs they serve meals. Professor Koike is always so helpful picking out a meal. The one I chose had delicious rice and chestnuts! I am still so fascinated by chestnuts, because in the U.S. they are expensive and hard to come by. The American Chestnut tree was decimated in the past century by a fungus. In Japan, they are everywhere and you can collect them all over! This is so incredible to me! I stop and look at them every time! I think Professor Koike was amused by how excited I was by a meal with chestnuts, since they are so normal to him. Professor Koike talked to us more about some of his work, and many forest science topics. He has done so much! Afterwards, he picked out desserts for us! It was such a wonderful lunch, and I am so appreciate to Professor Koike for all of his kindness, and willingness to share and explain. When we went downstairs, he showed us all sorts of types of delicious desserts, and bought a bag of various chocolates to bring back to share with the others. I am so lucky to get to work with him! He had to head back to campus after that, and a handful of us stayed to finish up. The site today was closer within the city, at a research site, plantation, and arboretum that is part of the university. The work was quicker, since the trees are all in neat rows with no underbrush. There were mushrooms all over on the ground, and I wished again that I knew how to collect them. I think that today especially I amused the students by understanding conversations in Japanese on and off. We got back to campus at about 4PM, and I headed off to my class at 4:30PM. This is the same class that I had so much trouble locating on the first day. Now, it is not so difficult. The subject material was rather basic again, but it seems that it will at least have a wide variety of lecture topics. Afterwards, I got back to my dorm and promptly fell asleep! It was a little unexpected! When I woke up, I ate dinner and believe it or not took a bath! The tiny bathroom has a shower head and little tub, and I managed to fit into it. It was pretty cramped, but nice to relax. Tomorrow, I plan to try to show the German researchers around the city in the afternoon. In the morning, Becca and I are meeting a student to adventure for a while.

On Sunday, I woke up somewhat lazily. I ate a calm breakfast, looked again at a map, and set out. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and a welcome contrast to the rainy mess of the previous day. (I'll have you know, I packed my umbrella with me anyways). The goal for the day was to find Mt. Moiwa. It is only about 4 miles away from the International House, and a remarkably simple bike ride. All I had to do for most of the ride was turn right onto the main road outside of the dorm called Nishi 11, and ride. (Though, as you will learn, as I came closer to my destination things become a bit more complicated.) Having GPS really does make me feel more comfortable, because no matter what I have at least some idea of where I am. I do still want to find a regular old map of Hokkaido, though, because I'm old fashioned. Anyways, as I went farther and farther, at first I found myself riding through a more well-kept looking part of town. This is where the road I took crosses Odori (Oodouri) Park and the street Odori which is at the center of Sapporo. This part felt much more like a business or down town area, although as far as I can tell Sapporo is composed of multiple "downtowns" that flow into each other to form a mass of city. I enjoyed the warm sunshine and fair weather as I rode, and my bike rolled along smoothly. I passed a number of car dealerships, as well as a few bakeries I hope to visit, and some second-hand shops. The traffic along this street, as on most Sapporo streets, remained fairly constant. As I became less certain of my route, I stopped more often to look around. I even made a pit-stop when I found a 100 Yen shop (dollar store). It had two floors! I found many useful things here, and also bought a bag of caramels for the road.  I got back on my bike, and eventually I came to a large traffic bridge. Suddenly in the distance mountains and hills came into view. I stopped my bike and stared. At this point on my map I knew that my route started to curve, and was no longer a straight shot. There were a couple of roads that appeared to me as though they would lead to Mt. Moiwa. I kept an eye out for traffic signs towards Moiwa. I found one that appeared correct and headed that direction. The straight part of the ride had been very flat and easy, but getting into the small-town part of Sapporo after the turn, the roads began to climb upwards. There were so many houses on the tree-filled sides of the hills. The atmosphere really changed to that of a small-town. At this point, I was no longer on the correct course, but a few streets off. I tried to correct for this, but generally came to dead ends so just followed along the general curve of my map route. This brought me through little neighborhoods. The hills were definitely steep, similar to roads in San Francisco, so I would struggle slowly up, then come to a flat street, then turn and climb slowly up again. I loved seeing all of the beautiful homes here. Many had wonderful gardens. I knew I had certainly taken a wrong turn when I ended up on a road next to farm fields, and folks out hoeing the ground. Still, the roads were calmer and I was happy to see fields. I re-checked my route, and figured the road I was on would reconnect eventually with the direction I wanted to go. The road started to climb again, and I met all the forks and turns that I had seen on the map. I was on the right track. And goodness were the homes and gardens tucked away on the hill BEAUTIFUL. I saw many older folks out in their gardens. I cannot describe how envious I was--I wanted to stop and ask them how they liked living where they did, or to express how lucky I felt that they were to spend their days in such a peaceful place. The roads were uncannily like the incredible landscapes of Miyazaki films, to be honest. Not to be cheesy, but I felt as though I had stepped straight into films like Spirited Away or Ponyo. If you have seen these films, you know the sort of roads and landscapes I mean. I can best describe them as storybook peaceful. Despite the difficult hills on bike, it was such a blissful atmosphere. I came to places with gaps in the trees, and I could see mountains in the distance, and look down on the small patches of town. Sapporo was on the other side of the hill, and so the view showed no sign of the dense city behind me. At some point, I began walking my bike--the steep climb was too much for me and my bike, and walking was calmer anyways. Curiously enough, as I walked along I noticed something that looked like a teepee in a gravel drive. I came closer, and sure enough, it was a teepee! Right there overlooking the mountains! All I could think was 'eh? What is this doing here?' The route that I had meant to follow was actually a toll road for cars to drive up. The way I took to finally reach the toll booth and been far better than had I gone on the actual road (though it took longer). When I finally came to the toll, coming from my back-neighborhood route, the men in the booth were surprised and distressed. I asked them how much it would cost to enter past the booth on bike and I was told that bikes certainly couldn't enter here. It was cars only! I was so close to the top, though! I showed the worker the map on my phone, and he informed me that to get to the summit I would need to go back down the main toll road--a steep, curving ride down--and there was a place that was part of the winter ski area, near the ski jump I had seen much earlier, where I would need to park my bike and go on foot. I really wish he had just let me go by on bike! I was so very near to the top. Anyways, the ride back down was of course simple. I glided easily down, and enjoyed looking at the homes, and incredible view as I did. When I reached the bottom again, I recognized the turn. I had passed it long ago. It was at the start of the bridge where I had stopped initially. I back tracked in the direction of the city, and found the correct turn. It was next to a little canal, and wouldn't you know, there was a small rack to park bikes and a sign. A youngish Japanese woman had just walked down the road back to the bike area, wearing climbing clothes. She was looking at the sign, and so I asked her if the narrow paved road she had come from lead to Mt. Moiwa. She was very helpful, and I asked her if it was worth the climb and how long it took. She said certainly, and that you can see all of Sapporo. However, she confirmed what I suspected, which is that it would be starting to get dark by the time I made it to the top and back. As I have explained before, it gets dark here earlier and earlier. I told her that I would go look around a little, and then return tomorrow. I don't especially like being out after dark here, unless I am with others. Since I was on my own, I decided it would be wiser to return with more daylight after scoping it out. The little road that climbed steeply up, through thick shade from the trees also had a small drainage creek running down it. Creeks, rivers, and streams here are mostly directed through cement canals, and this one was no different, though it was still peaceful. There were also some homes tucked along this road. I came to the top, which ended at a hiking station and the foot of the ski area, and a parking lot. I resolved to return. All in all, I enjoyed the day--though I wish I would have found the actual hiking trail sooner! On my way back, although it was getting dark, I remembered a small Tibetan/Nepalese/Indian restaurant that I had seen the day before, and to warm up I stopped there for dinner. I was proud to be able to navigate there. It was a truly tiny place, with pictures of His Holiness (the Dalai Lama) and Mt Everest on the walls. I ordered spinach curry and chai. There were only two workers, a cook/waiter and an old lady server who sat watching local TV while I ate. She seemed like quite a character. As you should all know by now, I love spinach curry and naan so it was a delicious end to the day.

The next day (Monday) there were no classes, because it was some sort of national holiday. I am not quite sure what. An imperial birthday, perhaps? In Japan, it seems to me that there are far more holidays than in the United States. They pop up all over the place, quite unexpectedly for someone like me who has not lived here long. I was happy for the free day, though, and the chance to make it up Moiwa. The bike ride was especially simple now that I knew the route exactly. I lucked out with the weather again--it was all blue skies, pleasant temperatures, and sunshine. I parked my bike and walked back up the paved road. After wandering around near the parking lot, I asked an old couple where the path to actually hike was located. They pointed to a very tiny dirt path leading into the woods. I set on my way. My goodness do I dislike marching upwards, though. The path was very steep in places, and sometimes seemed endless--it twisted and turned. Sometimes it went up, only to go partways down again. I definitely sweated. The last traces of my cold still had not left entirely, so my breathing sounded on and off like purring. I tried to make it seem like it was no problem whenever I ran into hikers, though. I wanted to show that this foreigner can cover ground! I kept on plodding upwards. One positive, however, is that there were almost no bugs. I wasn't bitten by a single mosquito, nor did I scarcely see one. There were many people, and families as well, out hiking. Quite a few spry older folks as well. In fact, there were a few old men that were jogging dedicatedly up the rocky, thin trail through the woods. If there's one thing that I like less than hills, it's certainly not knowing where the end will be. In that respect, the climb was hard. But it was also relatively short--only about 1.4 miles, even if all of it was steep. Everyone always says 'konnichiwa' to each other as they pass. At least, that's how it seemed to me and I tried to be friendly too. Most people were very cheerful. (They also all wear bells, presumably to ward of bears, which I think is funny because that is just ridiculous. But it could also be to let others know you're there, which is considerate. The jingle of bells came and went as I hiked.). At last I emerged from the trees onto a slope of tall grass, and to a view of the mountains again. This was the start of some very long, steep stairs. This was an incredible sight. I tried to put my long legs (by Japanese standards) to good use and pushed up the stairs. This brought me to the top of the ski hill. There was tall grass, and part of a ski lift. I followed a tiny trail around the lift and came to a much larger building near the parking lot at the end of the toll road. There were many people, families, hikers, and young children visiting. It was a very busy place. There is a ropeway that takes people up the hill, much like a ski lift, and of course many folks drove to the top. I was proud of myself, because I do think that I hiked up pretty quickly all things considered. There was a paved trail, with many signs and walkers that led to the absolute peak. Here there were benches and a large building with restaurants and binoculars, and a round balcony to look from. I enjoyed seeing so many happy people enjoying their time there. The view was wonderful, and made me think of the road trip this summer that I took with my family. From the balcony, I looked for landmarks that I know, and I could find Hokkaido University, the huuuge cityscape, the Poplar tree avenue (a famous site at Hokkaido University), and even the ocean which is not too far away. I sat on a bench looking away from the city and out towards the countryside to eat an apple for a snack and drink some water. The sunshine was so pleasant. After heading back towards the parking lot, I even bought an icecream cone. You're not supposed to eat and walk here, but it was so lovely to stroll back towards the trail eating my icecream. How wonderful. The hike back down was almost as tough as going up, because it is a slow, steep, and careful walk down. I could definitely feel it in my knees. I was happy to finally reach the bottom, and to reach my bike. The ride back was comfortable, though my butt was sore from two days of hills, and the air was becoming more chilly as the sun started to hang low.  I went for a wonderful run around the outskirts of campus, my legs feeling happy from the day's hike and carrying me more smoothly than other days. The cool weather also helped. Afterwards, I went to pick up some groceries for dinner, including Tonkatsu sauce. Tonkatsu is a sort of breaded pork cutlet, and while I don't eat meat, I looooove the sauce that goes on it. It is similar to barbeque sauce (but better!). I bought a bottle and ate it with my kabocha korroke and inari sushi. I was so happy after my meal. It was so good, and after all that activity I was feeling hungry for a big meal. I had some watermelon for dessert--which here in Japan in really expensive, so I savored it as a treat. I worked on some more paintings, and Becca returned at last later that evening.
Today, Becca and I sorted out a number of troublesome logistical problems. As I mentioned a while back, the bank that Becca and I opened an account at does not allow others to deposit money into your account. Since Fulbright needs to deposit our monthly stipends, obviously this was a huge problem. We did not change immediately because we could not figure out another alternative bank that would allow us to do this. As foreigners in Japan, you really, truly are limited and restricted in so many day to day things. The reason that you cannot have outside deposits if you will not be here for more than a year  is allegedly to prevent money laundering. However, Becca and I had even gone through the hassle of receiving official letters and documentation straight from Fulbright to give to the bank. Becca went to the counter to present this, because we had been told that this should be enough. We were sorely rebuffed. Not only that, but when I tried to mail my packages and letters as we left, I had a horrible time trying to explain the contents (required for airmail). It is just such a hassle for me to do anything sometimes! Even simple things! That is one of my biggest frustrations here, though I try to stay calm. Needless to say, we were both extremely frustrated. Obviously exchange students with a program are going to need some sort of outside deposit ability, to receive their stipends, and so not to allow any exceptions is frustrating, needless, and honestly a little bit insulting. Not all foreigners are here to launder money. And of course two students with more official documentation than you could ever need are not going to launder money. Goodness was I (and still am) angry at that bank. I felt angry to be so limited in such a basic thing, and to have such an institutionalized form of, well, prejudice against foreigners. My goodness. Becca, after discussing with the equally upset Fulbright office, managed to locate a bank that is more friendly to foreigners and allows outside deposits. We biked there and opened our accounts. This process was far more simple, with much less complicated (kanji-ridden) paperwork. Everyone here was so much nicer. The only downside is that they only issue atm cards, not the handy bank booklets that other places use, which print your current balance right into the book. Our new bank only uses online banking, so you have to keep track yourself. But after all of the trouble, we took what we could get! At least you got to select what color card you want! Afterwards it was around lunch time so Becca brought me to a 'soup curry' restaurant that she used to frequent when she was last in Sapporo. As the name implies, this is a curry broth in a bowl with an assortment of vegetables (or meat for the carnivorous types). It is only made in Hokkaido. It was really delicious! I love vegetables, and buying a variety of vegetables at the grocery store is a little too expensive for me, so I was very happy to eat up. I hope that we can go back to this restaurant as well! It was small, and cozy, and some of the staff even remembered Becca! That made me glad and more hopeful! Because we switched our bank accounts, we next had to go switch anything that required a bank account, like cell phone services, to our new accounts. We went back to the giant Yodobashi Camera store where we had purchased our phones, and they told us it would be quicker to go straight to a Softbank shop in subway shops across the street. These are filled with a million underground shops, and can be difficult to navigate. It was a little bit difficult finding the Softbank store, but along the way we found a cookie shop. It smelled so good that we had to stop. I bought a pumpkin cookie, cinnamon almond cookie, and caramel custard cookie! What incredible flavors! They had many more interesting combinations. They were so good. I thought it was especially fun to see how excited Becca was. The shop is another place that I want to frequent, it seems! We finally found the Softbank store, and for once were able to do something without any major hitches. We successfully set up our bank accounts and our phone services. The next step was returning to the ward office to set up direct withdrawal for the National Health Service monthly payments. It was a somewhat long bike-ride to get there, but nothing too difficult except for navigating the ridiculous bikers here. We took a number and waited some time to be called. It seemed as though we would run into more troubles, because the Health Service wanted us to have bank booklets, but as I've explained our only banking option does not issue them. Thankfully, it worked. Now our Health Service should be all set to go, in case of medical emergency (hopefully there are none!). By this time, it was close to sundown (though only about 5PM!). We went to the grocery store to pick up some dinner items. It was too noisy in the store for me to notice my phone ring and around 5:30PM. About 20 minutes later, I noticed my phone ringing when I happened to have it in my hand. It was one of the international graduate students from my lab. I answered and she asked if I was going to be able to meet Professor Koike, her, and the German researchers who I am hoping to assist this week, for dinner. I was so confused! Professor Koike had told me they would be arriving, but all of his emails asked that I meet with them on October 10th (Wednesday!) and not October 9th (Tuesday). I'm still not entirely sure if I was supposed to have met them earlier in the day, or when I was supposed to have been there at all. It's all completely perplexing. I was so shocked and nervous that I had missed something, I told the graduate student I would leave the grocery store immediately and head to the lab to meet her there. I hurriedly bought my groceries, stuffed them all in my backpack (including my fresh eggs and yogurt!!!) and rushed to the lab. I finally found the graduate student, and met Professor Koike and the researchers at his office. I remain perplexed as to when they arrived, and when I was expected, and I hope so much that I did not cause any trouble or make anyone wait. Apparently, it was Professor Koike who had called while I was at the grocery store and did not hear my phone ring. I'm so frustrated about always messing things up. Today, there were just so many things that went wrong and that were difficult--even though I am eternally grateful to have had Becca by my side all day making things better, trying to sort all these logistical things out. It was a tiresome, confusing, difficult day. The bright side is that dinner with Professor Koike, the graduate student Nana, and the German researchers was very fun. It would have been more fun if I wasn't still so concerned that I missed something or caused trouble, and certainly more fun if I had known about it before being urgently called at the grocery store! Professor Koike ordered for us all, and was a wonderful host to everyone and also to the German researchers as he tried to explain Japanese foods and culture. He is such a kind professor, and so excited about learning and research. I am happy to be able to work with him, even though I feel like I keep doing things wrong! Tomorrow will certainly be interesting, helping with the visiting researchers. When I finally got back to my dorm, I unpacked my groceries and decided to make cinnamon rice pudding to calm down. I was very happy when Becca joined me to try it. I think it turned out well, and it always reminds me of my dad and my grandpa, who both always make it. My dad usually just takes leftover white rice, adds milk and cinnamon and warms it up in the microwave. This tastes just fine, but I tried a few more steps, using my difficultly acquired brown rice,  and really enjoyed the results. My friend Lisa, who is spending a year in Argentina, also recently wrote about making rice pudding so I have been thinking about it! It indeed made me feel better, as did chatting with Becca. Anyways, as you can surely tell it has been a weekend of ups and downs, but I will do my best! After so much fun sightseeing, I have to make sure to keep a level-head and remember to focus this week on research and helping where I am needed, as well.

Yesterday, in the morning Becca and I went to pay my first gas bill. This is done at any convenience store (conbini). Conbini are everywhere here in Japan. They are roughly like a 7-11 or gas station (minus the gas) in the United States. However, in Japan there are also many services offered at conbini, such as paying bills. You can even have items shipped to your local conbini! Afterwards, I attended a lunch lecture given by the Graduate School of Agriculture, forest science lab members. There were some delicious snacks shared, and tea as well. The topic of the lecture was one of the graduate students' research on Oak wilt, which has been gradually spreading south to north in Japan in particular since about the 1960s. It is caused by a small beetle, which carries a fungus. The beetles bore into the wood of the oak tree, where they cultivate the fungus. This slowly kills the oak tree--a sign of wilt is when the oak leaves turn bright red, and then brown as though it were fall. It is a concerning problem in Japan, and it is becoming increasingly prevalent in many forests. Professor Koike compared it to the devastation of Dutch Elm Disease which took place, and is taking place, in the United States. Oak wilt has not yet spread to Hokkaido, primarily because it is regulated by temperature. Hokkaido is for the time being too cold. (Oak wilt also exists in the United States, by the way.) Professor Koike was extremely kind to translate the lecture for me as it was being given--although I would like to listen to the Japanese as well to learn the vocabulary. He is so invested in his students, I am very grateful to him. Afterwards, I met Becca for lunch at the Shokudou (cafeteria). There is a wide variety of food served there, including my favorite agedashi tofu, as well as rice, miso, korokke, kimchi, fish, and all sorts of things. It is also very cheap! A tray-full of food still only comes to about 500 yen. My meal of agedashi tofu, rice, kimchi, and squash came to only about 300 yen, in fact. In the afternoon, I attended my Environmental Science course. After my class, Becca, her good friend, and myself went to the International Student Potluck at 6PM organized by the university. The building had huge windows, and a lovely wooden frame inside. The downside was that it was packed full of people. There were many international students from all over, as well as many Japanese students hoping to make international friends. There was a performance schedule as well. One performance was a well-known Soran Bushi student dance group from Hokkaido University. The dance style appears to me to be extremely enthusiastic matsuri-style, combined with cheering, and a whole lot of smiling and arm flailing. I was astounded by the energy of the group. I was even more astounded when the men in the group threw of their yukata/robes and began dancing around in traditional Japanese undergarments--those being, frankly, cloth thongs. I have been told many times that Japanese people have difficulty expressing themselves, but these students had no problem whatsoever jumping around the crowd nearly naked. The absolute highlight of the evening, though, was another very surprising performance, a university student Japanese Bluegrass band! They are called Bremen Backpackers, and here is a video of one of their songs. When I first heard that they were a bluegrass band I was dubious. "A bluegrass band in Japan? What does Japan know of bluegrass?" is what I thought initially. Once they began to play, it was obvious that they knew their music. They sounded fantastic, as if they were straight from the U.S. I was so happy when they even did a bluegrass cover of Lady Madonna by the Beatles. This is one of my favorite songs, in one of my favorite styles. The main singer had a surprisingly deep voice, which is rare in Japan. They have another concert coming up soon, and I hope to attend. They reminded me of Minnesota, and listening to the sounds of Prairie Home Companion.

After the potluck, we decided to head to the Indian restaurant we had enjoyed so much last time. We hadn't eaten anything at the Potluck, because it was too packed. Becca and her friend had their bikes parked outside, but I had walked. They biked next to me while I walked for a while, but I felt like this was taking forever. I offered to run next to them to get us back to the dorm to pick up my bike a little quicker. It was dark out, so fortunately no one we passed could (hopefully) tell that I was wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and sandals. I love running along, so it was no problem, especially on a cool night. Walking can take so long, and if I can run, I figure I might as well do so--it really does save so much time. Becca and her friend put up with me being weird and running alongside them like a crazy person. We reached our bikes and rode to the restaurant. At night, it is important to wear a light on your bike here in Sapporo. As I've mentioned previously, bikers in Japan seem to be especially reckless. Well, it is not so much reckless as it is a general sense of chaos--folks don't necessarily pay attention, and for the most part, to me, don't appear to follow any standard, discernible system of road etiquette. Do you bike in the street? On the sidewalk? Into people? Who knows! Fend for yourself! That is my impression. No one even bothers to say "thank you" or "sumimasen (excuse me)" when it comes to bikes. As you can perhaps tell, I am a little exasperated with the situation. Biking in the U.S. can occasionally be chaotic, but I feel that at least in Minneapolis there is a fairly standard set of rules and common sense manners that most abide by. Anyways, the Indian food was delicious again. The naan that comes with the meal is so huge! I had been secretly looking forward to going back to this restaurant all week, so I am glad that we made it back. The goal is to go once a week, and I most certainly hope that we do. The owner even gave us all free lassi (a type of yogurt drink))!!! This was so kind, and I was both surprised and grateful. Next time, I may bring him a postcard from the U.S. as a thank you.

Today and tomorrow I am on my own again in Sapporo. Becca and her friend are off on an excursion, and so it is up to me to explore the city independently for a bit. This is both exhilarating and intimidating. My goal for today was to visit Hokkaido Shrine and also Mt. Moiwa. Mt. Moiwa is about a 500m tall "hill" next to Sapporo that provides an excellent view of the city, or so I have heard. I had hoped to also climb and hike around. First I set off on my bike to find Hokkaido Shrine, which is only perhaps 2 miles away from the International House. It is located next to Mastuyama Park here in Sapporo. I got some use out of my iphone navigating there with google maps. It would have been pretty complicated otherwise, because even though Sapporo is laid out like a grid occasionally there are streets that disappear. If I return, though, it will be very simple. Matsuyama park is very beautiful, with a variety of tall trees, many of which are labeled with name tags to identify their species. This was especially intriguing for me. There were many groups of young children playing and searching for acorns. I walked my bike through the park to find the entrance to the shrine. The gate is very beautiful, and reminded me of a much less intimidating version of Meiji-jingu back in Tokyo. I parked my bike and followed the path inside. The main path through the gate also passes through what appeared to be a garden with small trees and shrubs, as well as an older cemetary off to the side. I was so relieved and pleased to finally be walking through greenery. Although there were busy streets within a stones throw, I felt hidden away from the loud traffic. It was calm, at last. I washed my hands at the well, like at Meiji-jingu, and went in. There were many young children dressed in kimono and young boys in traditional clothes. They were all adorable. Since it was a Saturday, I am guessing there was some sort of ceremony. Unfortunately, almost immediately after I entered the main building it began to pour! I am two for two on rainstorms when visiting shrines. I was not outsmarted by Sapporo's weather this time, as I now always pack an umbrella. However, umbrella's don't keep you especially dry when walking around, and so I ended up damp anyways. It was admittedly a let down to be rained on again, when I wanted to wander and explore freely instead of avoiding puddles and getting all wet. Water drips off of all of the buildings at shrines as well, and so it made looking around difficult. I bought an O-mamori charm, then was somehow convinced to buy a bear-shaped bean paste pastry by an old lady. I love bean paste ('anko') but I hadn't intended to buy anything to eat there. Oh well. I left, feeling a bit defeated even though I enjoyed the shrine. I returned to my bike outside of the gates, in Matsuyama park and stood rather dejectedly under my umbrella, trying to keep my bike seat dry as I waited for the rain to subside. It took awhile, but eventually slowed to a sprinkle, and stopped. I walked my bike out of the park, with clammy hands and a damp backpack. Navigating back towards the International House was much easier, and I didn't need my phone to help me at all. I was happy to be able to understand the layout of the streets to get back. I ended up right outside of Aeon, the local grocery complex. I parked my bike and went inside to warm up. My plan was to walk to Sapporo Station afterwards to find a cup of hot chocolate. After wandering inside Aeon, it turns out they also have a starbucks! I was hesitant to go there, because it is extremely expensive in Japan and I don't drink coffee anyways, but I wanted a cup of hot chocolate that I would recognize and a calm place to sit. My tiny cup of hot chocolate was indeed expensive, but I added heaps of cinnamon and vanilla on my own which made it delicious. I drank it with my bear-shaped anko pastry, and it made me feel warmer and all around more encouraged. I bought an apple for the road, and then dropped my bike off back at the International House. I decided against trying to hike at Mt. Moiwa for the day because everything was so wet. It makes me feel a little self-conscious and stressed to ride my bike in the city here, what with the aforementioned chaos, and so that combined with water everywhere was enough for me. I decided to run some errands on foot. I picked up some envelopes, and when I got back prepared them to be mailed. All around, the day was not so bad--I sure do wish it wouldn't always rain on me, though! I must be doing something to offend the gods at these shrines! Tomorrow, I am hoping to cover more ground.

On Wednesday, Becca and I set out to buy a bike. I've been thinking about my options for a bike here and Japan, and scoping out some potential bikes. In Minneapolis, although I do not have a reliable bike of my own, I always steal my sister's fancy, lightweight hybrid tire bike. I love to ride around the lakes, or along Minnehaha creek to the falls. Her bike is so smooth to ride, especially compared to a tiny, old, squeaky red street bike that I call the Red Death and that I received second-hand. The Red Death, as its name implies, is both red and deadly. At any crack in the sidewalk, bump in the street, or sharp turn, it does its best to off you. My dear teammate Becca Bevans may be able to confirm this for you, as she took a bikeride on it with me once. It is not for the feint of heart! Anyways, because I have not really had a practical bike to call my own these past four years or so since I gave mine to my little brother and the unruly Red Death entered my life this spring, I have been dreaming of a bicycle. I knew coming to Japan that most bicycles here are not quite like those in the United States. Many are the style of "granny bikes" as I call them--with a long frame, comfortable seat, and a big basket on the front. Of course, these have their own appeal, but as I am hoping to take some long bike trips while I am here (if I can manage it, a bike trip across Hokkaido), I wanted something that could handle the miles. I think if I had time to do considerably more searching, I may be able to find the perfect bicycle for me here, nonetheless. At Aeon, the "target-like" grocery and what-have-you complex near to the International House, I have mentioned that they sell bikes. Becca and I also tried out a small used bicycle store nearby. We had also caught wind of a potential used-bike sale through the university, although these apparently tend to be rather beat up. After going to the used store, and after the very patient owner tried to find something to fit my pickyness (that being, something inexpensive, but also good for a journey), we decided to stop back at Aeon to compare one more time. There were some colorful hybrid-like bikes which had originally caught my eye. These were very inexpensive compared to the rest. In retrospect, perhaps I ought to have just chosen one of these. However, I was drawn to the idea of a lightweight bike like the ones we had seen at the used bike shop, although I was not a fan of their "drop" handlebars as they are too reminiscent of the Red Death. I was becoming overwhelmed by the end, because I wanted to buy a bike sooner rather than later, and as winter is approaching I have noticed that Aeon's bike selection is gradually dwindling. Becca had been very patient with me in my indecisiveness, and I was still struggling with a decision. After all, it is a BIG decision and a BIG investment. A bike is something which I reasoned would have a direct impact on my day to day life, as I intend to bike as much and as far as possible. There was a bike at the used shop that I was sorely tempted to buy because of its light frame, but I just could not get over the handle bars. Even though everyone claims they are great, I just can't stand being hunched over, and not being able to turn quickly (whether due to the bike's design or my ineptitude). Becca had already selected her bike, and we were about to head back to the other store when I started thinking about a bike that I had not looked at before. It was much like a street bike, with skinny tires and a light frame, but even though the handlebars were low, they were flat across. It was also cheaper than the bike at the used shop by about $50. Finally, I made my decision. I hope it will work well!

After buying our bikes, we bought some lunches at Aeon. The prepared meals in the grocery store section are, in my opinion, all tasty looking. They had vegetable sushi rolls, and inarizushi. Inarizushi is quickly becoming one of my favorites. It is so delicious. I've actually eaten it for a number of dinners now, because I love it so much.  I had my second lecture course that afternoon at 4:30PM titled Field Bioscience. It is located in a building at the other end of the university. However, now that I have my bike it took only a few minutes to reach. This time I found the classroom with no trouble. I should mention that these courses are taught by multiple professors, and so there will be a new lecturer almost every week.

Today, in the morning I took my Japanese Placement Test. It was a little bit frustrating, because it was a computerized test, and fill in the blank. There were 100 questions to be completed in 50 minutes. I unfortunately was too laid back during the first half of the test, focusing a lot on each question, and so I was not able to make it through all of the questions in time. I am not too concerned, though, because I think I will (hopefully) still be placed in the Intermediate level which is likely where I fit best. I sure dislike computerized tests, although I am glad for the paper that they save. After my test, I stopped by the Agriculture building Student Affairs Office to see if my student ID card was ready. It was, and I was instructed to head to the Agriculture library next to apply for a library card. In the early afternoon I went for a run around the perimeter of the university. It was a good way for me to see what all of the outside of the campus looks like. I still feel as though I receive more stares than are necessary, though. I often have the feeling, based on everyone's faces, that I am breaking some sort of rules. But as far as I can tell, everyone else runs in these places too! Recently I have found myself a little bit frustrated that as a foreigner it appears that no matter what I do, I am wrong. I try to always be polite and respectful, but believe it or not, from many strangers I have felt somewhat rudely treated. That may have more to do with my self-consciousness than reality. Those who I have genuine interactions with, or who have assisted me, have all generally been very kind.

After my run, I prepared to set out on my bike excursion for the day. The past few nights, I have been mapping out potential routes. I found from maps that if I follow the little stream that I reach on my runs by heading due north from my dorm, the little stream eventually turns into a man-made river that empties into the ocean! There is a sidewalk that follows the river all the way there in a very simple straight line. So as it turns out, the ocean is only 8 miles away! I was excited for this, both because I have only seen the ocean a few times, and also because it would be simple to navigate. I took off on my new bike. One of the downsides of Sapporo is that there is a ridiculous amount of traffic. The roads alongside the river were very noisy and busy, and if there's one sound that I dislike and that stresses me out, it is fast traffic. However, it gradually calmed down the farther I went. I was so relieved once the traffic was less noisy. From outside my dorm room, I am able to see the outlines of tall hills, and my eyes have always been drawn there. The farther I went, the closer these appeared, and they were no longer so hidden by the cityscape. It was a beautiful sunny day, and this made everything even more pleasant. I passed what appeared to be a couple of community gardens, a golf course, and smaller, calmer homes. One remaining frustration was that--and I do not mean any offense--but folks here don't know how to bike in a safe, orderly manner. It feels like there are no rules! Of course, because I am a foreigner, that means that if something goes wrong, it is my fault. I found that to be the case many times when, although I was biking in a straight line without weaving on what is supposed to be the correct side of the road (I have been told left side), I often had to swerve around others who for no reason whatsoever were on the wrong side, or chose to drift whichever which way. Some folks even almost caused me to run into sign posts, just because they weren't paying attention or didn't feel like sharing the road even when there was space. I'm not sure what is going on. But I will do my best to stay safe, and stay polite. Anyways, that is a smaller matter for now, and did not manage to outshine the lovely river. The road all the way there is called Shinkawa, meaning "new river." I believe that it was redirected and straightened through construction. Its dead-straight course is certainly not that of a free river, and there are landscaped, cement walls along its side. It probably carries excess water out of the city. There were a few interesting bridges that I passed as well--one was called Tengubashi and had a carving of a tengu. Tengu are a sort of Japanese goblin, and so the name means Tengu bridge. In the end, I came to a gravel road that I was a little too nervous to take on my own, especially with my thin tires. I could smell the ocean, though, and it was not more than 800 meters away. Looking back at a map, I was nearly there and so next time I will know exactly where to go to reach the shore. The river was so beautiful though, and the soft breeze, mild temperature, and golden light. There and back it was only a 16 mile ride, which is just 2 hours total. How wonderful! This adventure gave me more confidence that I can reach the places I hope to see.

P.S. I should mention that I gave my bike the name Akaji, based on my ride today. I had originally come to this name using the 'ji' 自from 'jitensha' (自転車) meaning bicycle, combined with the color red, Aka to give 'Akaji'. Therefore, it would be short for Aka Jitensha (red bike). Curiously, Akaji is another word for Akachan, which means baby/infant as well as the name of a well-known Japanese actor, Akaji Maro. However, I wanted to use special kanji (chinese characters) to fit the pronunciation. 'Aka' as I mentioned means red, and my bike is bright red. To contrast my friend the Red Death, I chose a happier reading for 'ji.' There are a number of options for kanji that use the sound 'ji' in Japanese. I spent awhile thinking about what would be best. Some of the ideas I had included earth (ground) 地, road 路, briar 茨, and calm 次--all of which use the pronunciation 'ji' and I thought might be acceptable. One kanji stuck out to me in particular. It comes from the word 'haseru', meaning to run, gallop, sail, or to direct a wagon and luckily is read as 'ji' in combination with other kanji. Therefore, my bike's name came together as Red Runner/Galloper (赤馳), implying a fast moving red object, much like a fast red horse. And for short, on slow days I may call him 'jiji', meaning 'old man.'

Let's see now. Some of my days I may have mixed up this time around (I should write stuff down the day of, instead of waiting!). Friday was a good day. On Thursday night, Becca and I had attempted to purchase cell phones at a local store, but because we are foreigners, you have to jump through a number of excessive hoops to do so. If you don't have your passport, alien registration card (with address stamp from the ward office), bank account booklet, and sometimes inkan (personal seal), you can't do anything. It's a very frustrating system. So that morning we went back to the bank--where even more frustratingly Becca and I learned that they do not accept outside deposits (for example, our bi-monthly Fulbright stipend deposit!) unless you have lived in the country for more than 6 months. Goodness, goodness. I do hope that the United States makes things at least a little simpler for the newly arrived in our country. Since we needed bank accounts to receive phones, we left it as is for the moment, and are working on finding a solution. Anyways, the more exciting news is after that we returned to the store, and purchased the iPhone 4s. Wow! I've never had any sort of fancy phone before, so this is so strange and new for me. I feel very lucky. Because the new iPhone 5 just came out this past week, the store was trying to get rid of its old models. Good for us! The monthly plan as a result is also very reasonable, even for a stickler like me. So at least while here in Japan, I will have a gadgety phone. The most useful aspect, however, is the access to google maps. Now I won't get so lost (or so I thought...). Although, I don't want to rely on it too much for navigation because I'm old fashioned. I may use the compass tool on my phone, though! That made me excited. Friday was also my first lecture class, given by Professor Koike and another Hokudai professor. I kid you not, I left half an hour early to locate the room. When I got to what I thought was the correct room in the Agriculture building(about 20 minutes early), I asked someone if they could confirm from my map if I was in the right place. They informed me that, no, I was in the wrong building all together. They proceeded to lead me about a 10 minute walk in another direction completely. Based on my map, I was almost certain that this helpful person was wrong. I tried to hint this to her, but she seemed so certain and there was no escape. We arrived at another building, with a similar name to the one I was searching for. Curiously enough, there were 5 international students wandering around out front looking lost. These students were also searching for the same class as me. This made me feel relieved, because if they all came to that spot, perhaps it was correct after all. We waited in what everyone concurred must have been the right room. The class was to be begin at 4:30PM. 4:30PM came and went. . . then 4:45PM. I knew something must be wrong. The other students seemed entirely unconcerned. Only then did I realize that none of them spoke much Japanese, and because of that they had little idea of what the signs on the doors had said. My stomach plummeted. I went quickly with another student to ask anyone we could find in the building, which was altogether rather empty. The lady we found told us in Japanese concernedly that no, we were in the wrong building completely. I was so disappointed. Now we were all extremely late, and my professor was the lecturer. The other students could have cared less, and doddled as I tried to show them towards what I thought might be right. My guess was still wrong, but I asked another professor and they went far out of their way, leading us through small hallways (and were themselves rather confused by it all!) until we finally found a tiny, hidden hall-way in a building that is an offshoot from the main Agriculture building. The time was already 5:10PM. There was a sign in Japanese on the door that said "meeting in progress." None of us wanted to disturb the class, and the other students really weren't very interested in attending anyways. Not me! For me, it was extremely important! They all left, and I decided to wait outside until the end of the lecture so that I could apologize. After waiting a while, another foreigner wandered by worriedly, then disappeared, then returned led by a lab assistant who knocked on the door, opened it, and pushed the foreigner inside. I jumped in after him! It was so embarrassing, but I quickly grabbed a seat in the back. The half-hour of lecture that I heard was very interesting to me. But I was so incredibly disappointed by the debacle. As it turns out, my supporter had sent me an email earlier in the day asking to escort me to the class, but for some reason the email never showed up in my inbox until late that night! Ah, such a mess. But Professor Koike is so kind, and he was not upset. He sent me his powerpoint and lecture for what I missed. Today, since he likes chocolates, I brought him a box .

The other absolute highlight was going out to eat Indian food. I looooove Indian food so much. This was the first time so far in Japan that I had a whole host of vegetarian options. Thank goodness for Indian restaurants. I had a version of my favorite, called saag paneer, which is a creamy spinach sauce with paneer cheese. The meal also came with a gigantic piece of naan. To top it all off, the waiter was a very kind, quirky old gentlemen. I hope to go back to this place frequently.

On Saturday, we went to Sapporo's Autumn Festival. On the way there we passed a crepe stand and bought honey crepes. They were so good! While we were waiting for them, we were standing next to a small local honey booth. They gave us some samples to taste, and then mentioned that they are looking for volunteers for the spring. Becca and I said we would be glad to help, and the older lady was so excited. She had us take a picture holding honey. From what I understood, her father started making honey on the rooftop of a building in Sapporo and still does. Honey keeps him fit! I really hope that it works out for us to help there. I love honey so much, and I've always wanted to start an apiary, so volunteering with bees sounds like a great experience--and in Japan too! At the Autumn Festival, there was so much delicious food. It was packed and hard to move around to explore much, which is a shame because otherwise I would have enjoyed looking at and sampling more food. It reminded me of the Minnesota State Fair, in fact. You could hardly stop to turn around. However, we did find kabocha korokke (pumpkin 'croquets'). Korokke looks like a clump of hashbrown, if you have not seen it--it is basically a breaded, friend, mashed potato or in this case pumpkin. It is one of my favorite Japanese treats. That evening, we went to see one of Becca's friends at her apartment. It was very good to meet and talk to new people. They all seem nice, especially Becca's friend, who was often described to me as "the cutest person alive." I think she lives up to this!

On Sunday, I did a little bit more snooping around the grocery store "complex." I describe it as a complex because it also has clothing stands, bicycles, blankets, mattresses, etc. much like perhaps a Target would have in the United States. On my own, I also tried to test my knowledge of the city so far by attempting to navigate around Sapporo Station. I was successful in reaching the station, but not so successful at getting anywhere once there. Every time I tried to reach a store, I would end up outside. Multiple times I ended up in a bus terminal! Eventually, however, I made it to one store where I bought some paper supplies to start on my letters. It started raining when I was leaving, around 6PM when it also gets dark. But because of my past experience so far in Sapporo of getting poured on unexpectedly, this time I anticipated rain to come out of nowhere. I packed an umbrella. Still, I don't especially like carrying things in the rain, much less paper supplies. When I returned to my room, I started working on my list of letters to send.

On Monday, we went back to the electronics store to put some finishing touches on our phone plans to make sure we don't pay for services we don't want. I also got to meet another one of Becca's good friends. I am happy to meet all these new people. At the electronics store I also had instant, professional photos taken in the size needed for my student ID card. There are booths in many places that do this. It is certainly convenient. That evening I got to work on more of the illustrations for my current children's book project. Since the story is based in Japan, I started a few pages while in the United States but I decided that it would be best to work mostly on these paintings while I am actually in the featured country. I felt much more comfortable doing this, in particular for the sake of making the pages more accurate.  During the day on Monday it was overcast and windy, though not nearly as bad as what I've been hearing about Tokyo and southern Japan due to the typhoon. Fortunately, Hokkaido is rarely as severely affected by typhoons. In the evening, it did rain somewhat heavily for a few hours. Today was very sunny outside (finally!) and it lifted my spirits. I've found that my mood can be greatly affected by the weather outside. I don't do especially well with rainy days, even though I am glad to have them since rain is important. Since it was so bright and clear outside, especially in contrast to last weeks clouds, it made me more cheerful. I went to the post office and successfully mailed some letters, went to the grocery store to purchase a few more settling in items, took a peaceful nap, went for a run around the outskirts of campus, and then went to a small lecture meeting with Professor Koike and three other research students. Tomorrow, I will start another field science course.