Journal 25 - Visiting Canada's Relatives

So, I'm sitting at home right now, probably should be getting ready for work, but alas I'm lazy and a procrastinator as you probably know ... hence the big gaps between journals. But, hey I'm doing it aren't I? OK, so it's Wednesday, August 2, which means it's still Tuesday where you are. It's a pretty humid day, but then again it is summer here. Unfortunately, the summer hasn't really been that great. It's hot out, but it's been cloudy everyday. I don't think I saw a blue sky yet ... sigh! I have no idea where I'm going with this ... I guess I'm trying to give you the visual of what I'm doing. Sitting here, listening to music and typing on the computer. I would like to have one of those moments where I'm sitting out on a deck, with my laptop, the sun shining on my face and I'm enjoying a nice cold beer. The closest thing I have to a deck is a little box that's holding my A/C unit .. that's all. But, hey the curtains are open and the sun is shining on my face ... OK, through thick clouds, but you can't ask for everything.

So, I actually went on a trip recently ... it's a secret trip, mind you and I can only share with you people. Let me explain. Last June I took 4 days off work and travelled to Hokkaido which is the most northern part of Japan. I heard nothing but great things about the place, so I decided I was going to go. I ended up getting a hold of someone who was living up there for a few months. Actually, I got his name from some very good friends who were visiting there a few months prior. Anyway, this guy is a High School teacher from Lethbridge who got an opportunity to teach for 4 months (I think) through an exchange program. So, I contacted this guy and he was more than willing to let me crash at his place during my stay. So, I figured, why not, it's one less expense I need to worry about and all I need is my plane ticket ... yeah, it's that far away from where I am. Japan's not that small!! The city I went to is called Sapporo which is the largest city in Hokkaido. What's interesting about Hokkaido is it's the sister prefecture to Alberta. I actually went to the historical museum and saw a picture of Ralph Klein signing papers indicating this. I also noticed that this wasn't the first time the Premiere of Alberta visited Sapporo. There was another picture in 1980 with another one of our Premiere's doing the same thing. I couldn't recognize who it was, so if anyone knows who that Premiere was in 1980, let me know. Looking at Sapporo and the some other parts of Hokkaido (not a lot unfortunately), it did feel like "The Canada" of Japan. Compared to other parts of Japan, there's less people living in that area (apparently they think it's cold in the winter ... wimps), so everything seems much more spread out. Also, there's lots of trees scattered in between towns, there's mountains, valley's, farm lands. There's was one day I was taking the train to one of the towns by the seaside and as the train was travelling along the coast, I couldn't help but realize how much it reminded me of Nova Scotia. Oh, so the place I went to by the seaside was called Otaru. It's quite the place to see. There's an area that has some old warehouses that have been converted into markets and restaurants. Along these warehouses is a small river where people can walk along. This is where artists go and get inspired with their paintings. There were lots of people doing this, it almost got me inspired ... almost! So, I didn't mention this, but Hokkaido is known for it's seafood and ramen. When I was walking around Otaru, there was a mini-fish market selling King Size Crab ... holy man, those suckers were huge and not to mention expensive. One crab was around $100 cdn. What's also interesting is these markets were also selling melons ... yes, raise eyebrows now. Melons are actually sold everywhere in Japan, but it's just funny seeing an aquarium with crab and right beside it a box of melons. Oh by the way, these aren't your everyday melons you buy at Safeway for $2 or $3. Oh no people, these suckers are from $40 to $70. For a freakin melon. I say if you want to get into business? Sell melons in Japan.

Sapporo was quite the city. I don't know why, but I fell in love with it. There's nothing unusual about it, in fact it doesn't really seem like traditional Japan. Which is more true than anything after seeing the historical museum. Hundreds of years ago, Hokkaido was owned by a native tribe until the land was taken over by explorers and pretty much wiped out the natives ... hmmm, sound familiar? Anyway, so I guess what I like about it is it has everything you can do, but not that busy atmosphere like the other big cities. Not to mention it has this small narrow alley, Ramen alley, full of ramen shops and I have to say, it is the best ramen I've ever had. That's actually saying a lot because I'm not actually a huge ramen fan. Oh yeah, and there's also the famous Sapporo beer musuem with samples ... enough said.

Anyway, so I could go on a tangent about my trip to Sapporo and other parts of Hokkaido, but I won't. Also, I can't really say it was entirely a great trip. Unfortunately I wanted to do a lot more, but something was keeping me from doing it ... oh yeah, my health. I ended up getting very sick two days before I left. In fact my four days off I booked ended up being 6 because I had to take the two days before off due to illness. I knew though, that I wasn't going to feel 100% during my trip and I probably should've cancelled it, but I had already booked the time off and bought my plane ticket. So I did what every stubborn person does, I ignored it. And actually to be honest I was feeling much better, but like I said not 100%. So, on the last day as I was flying home and nearly screaming with pain due to an ear infection ... planes and ears don't exactly go well together. I figured I should probably go to the hospital and get this checked out. What actually got me realizing I should check this out was when I suddenly started getting very sore red eyes. Anyway, long story short ... my co-worker met me at the hospital, the doctor looked at my eyes, Joe punched him out because he was an ass ... oh wait that was in my mind. The doctor said he had no idea what the problem was, but that I might have a bad eye infection and that I need to stay away from everyone. He also suggested seeing an eye doctor, which I did the next day and that doctor confirmed that I indeed had a bad eye infection which also causes the other symptoms of my being sick. I had to stay home for the rest of the week. So, this 4 days I booked off ended up being 11 days and oh yeah we don't have sick days here. Those days were my vacation days ... Doh!!!!

You're probably wondering about the "secret" part. Well, since I took two weeks off work and all my students knew I was only taking 4 days, the managers figured it would be best if I kept this trip a secret and told them that I didn't go because I was too sick. Otherwise, the students would complain about my missing so many classes. Yeah, in this society, getting sick isn't a freak of nature, it's something YOU did and YOU should've prevented it. Anyway, I just shook my head and said whatever. So, none of my students know I went! You are the first people I shared this with ... how does that make you feel?

Now I have to spend the rest of the summer working and not be able to take any days off. Well, you know, it's not exactly the end of the world. It's only 2 months of working ... actually it's about a month and a half now. You see, usually our vacation time resets itself after our year is up. In my case, it'll be in September. So, I'll be able to take more vacation after that. In fact, I'll be taking some vacation from my job around that time ... permanently! As of September 17th, I'll be finished teaching in Japan. I'm coming home to Calgary on September 22nd. Of course, I'd like to put in a few more days of travelling before I leave, which is what I'll do. But, I'll be flying out of Osaka airport with my two friends Colleen and Carl and the three of us will be heading back to Canada. I guess the real question is will that be permanent? Ummmmm ... probably not. But, it will be for at least 6 months. Then I have some other plans in mind. Of course, like I've always said ... it's one day at a time.

OK, so I'm noticing this is getting pretty long and I know you're anxious to get this, so I'm going to close. I will be doing one more of these before I leave, so don't worry. This isn't the end of the Japan Adventure.

Until next time, have a good one.