Otaru Yuki Akari-no Michi...

...In other words, the Snow Light Gleaming Festival held in Otaru, which we dragged our Australian couchsurfer to last weekend. During the festival, which piggybacks on Sapporo's Snow Festival, thousands upon thousands of candles and lanterns are placed throughout the streets of historic Otaru, and its famous canal is decorated with a few hundred floating bulbs of light. All of the lit snow sculptures are built by the community, rather than professionals, and all of the candles are homemade.

In a sense, the Snow Light Gleaming Festival is more impressive than Sapporo's in terms of romantic softness and peaceful beauty merely because of the simplistic grassroots effort of it all.

Definitely my kind of festival fare: the always-tasty crab that Hokkaido prides itself on:

An oasis in the snow for many, the Sapporo Ice Bar! This is one of the reasons we were looking forward to winter here in Hokkaido...supposedly, there are quite a few of these things around the surrounding areas:

What you don't realize, however, is that the novelty of an ice bar has no power against the city of Otaru's apparent early bedtime. The bar (along with the rest of the town) closed at 9:00pm on a Friday night, with last drinks being served at 8:30!

The beauty of these candle-holders made entirely out of ice is really splendid. They're so simple, but they're one of the most stunning things ever (especially when there are hundreds of them lit up within the snow):

The other great thing about this festival were the interactive igloos! One of them that we went in had a table of sake and a guestbook...brilliant!

And, the trip wasn't complete without some awesome hot soup curry...

...followed by a little "dessert" of beers and cured ham (fresh off the leg) at the Medieval-Europe/1940s-German-beer-hall-decorated Otaru Brewery:

My photos don't really tell the true story of our journey to Otaru. In a strange twist of meteorological events, it was actually raining on us for most of our time there! Because of this, many of the candles and lanterns were extinguished and the festival, I was told, just wasn't as bright and, well, gleaming as usual (thereby placing the Otaru Snow Gleaming Festival back on next year's "To Go To" list...).

Kimono and Tea

It's been such a whirlwind of festivals and guests and parties the past couple of weeks that when Steph and I were invited over to our friend, Rie's, family's house last week for a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, I more than jumped at the chance for something a little more relaxed and, well, traditional.

Besides that, it was the perfect excuse to try on my kimono and obi (wide kimono belt) that I bought at a second-hand shop a few months ago.  The kimono itself seemed to be a bit of an outcast in that it was significantly more plain then the rest of its vividly printed counterparts...I think that's what drew me to it, along with the ¥800 (about $9.50) price tag!  Considering that these things start in the hundreds and go into the thousands of dollars, it was an excellent purchase.  The obi cost a little more, about $40, but it's funky and different and adds some pizzaz to the ensemble.

Rie's mother is an expert kimono dresser and master tea ceremony artist, making the experience that more exciting.  Unfortunately, I was missing the nagajuban, or under-garment section of the kimono, so the top part looks a little bare.  Back to the second-hand store for me I suppose!  In the words of Rie's mother, though, I had perfected the "sexy gaijin kimono" look without it:

Through wanting to be discreet, I opted not to bring my camera, but instead packed along my little point-in-shoot...did the job of recording the story, but man did I regret it later!

Seriously, how COOL is my obi!?

Rie's kimono is the one her mother wore back in the 1940s when she had her coming of age (which is 20 in Japan):

When Rie's family built their house back in 1994, her mother insisted on and designed a traditional tatami room in the house specifically for holding tea ceremonies and playing the koto (Japanese harp).  It is an incredibly peaceful part of the house and so nice to see how important tradition and heritage are to them:

 

The essence of the Japanese tea ceremony is harmony.  Everything has its place, function, and meaning, and it can take years (which usually begins through a high school club) to perfect the tea ceremony in its entirety.  There is a certain way to prepare the tea and snacks, to serve, to consume, to clean the utensils, to admire the ceramics and wall hangings, to enter, to exit...the tea ceremony is not for the weak of routine!

You didn't think I'd gone "all-out Japanese" did you?

Besides letting Steph and I take pictures and ask questions concerning every aspect of the tea ceremony, these lovely ladies also showed me the proper way of folding and storing the kimono!  It was really special and just gives me such an appreciation for the art and form of these certain Japanese traditions.  

English Club Valentine's Day Party

Thanks to some FABULOUS packages from my mom and from Jacob's Aunt Ann and Uncle Terry in Texas, I was able to put on a super fun Valentine's party for our English Club at school yesterday!

My grandma's popcorn ball recipe...usually reserved for autumn treats, but perfect for V-day with some heart sprinkles:

The other ALT, Dawn, and myself made some homemade brownies as well (and by "homemade" I mean Costco extra-chocolate-chunk brownie mix) topped with Ann and Terry's tres fab hearts:

And because of all the treats we received in the mail, I was able to put together some coolio goodie-bags complete with stickets, Hershey kisses, Sweethearts candies, Valentine cards, and Valentine pencils.  I thought they were great:

And what's a party without games!?  Here's we're playing the "traditional" Valentine race to see who can stack the highest tower of Sweethearts in a minute!  Make anything a competition and it's always fun:

In Japan, only women give chocolate to all of the men on Valentine's Day, including their male co-workers and relatives.  The men, in response, give chocolates to the women on White Day, which is a month later on March 14th (and which, I discovered, was established by Japan's National Confectionary Council in 1978...hmmmmm).  The students were impressed by the American customs of schoolchildren giving Valentine's cards to all of their classmates, as well as by the fact that friends also give gifts to each other (not just lovers)!  

One thing that both of our countries definitely have in common is the dark, sweet, and oh so thick layer of consumerism that makes this holiday a candy/card maker's dream!  Mmmmmm, delicious!  Despite all of that, though, it's also an excuse to do something different with the students and give them a chance to have a little fun with their English!  Happy V-Day, everyone!