Go Forth to the North!!!!!

Today started off on a bit of a sad note for me, sad because I was leaving such a great city with such great people and a great hostel. But I must move forth and continue on my journey to the north. I woke up a little before the call for breakfast due to a very strange dream I had. It involved me being a birthday party for a friend and watching a movie that seemed to be a mix of Hook and Alladin. The whole dream was essentially me watching this movie. It was a little too much Robin Williams for me. Not that I don't like him, it was just too much. Anyways, breakfast was called after about ten minutes, and everyone went downstairs to the table. The breakfast was amazingly delicious, containing herbs and vegetables from the garden in the back, and was served alongside coffee and tea. The manager asked me where I was going and where I was staying, and I told him I was going to Sapporo and that I am stayig in another hostel. After breakfast, I went back upstairs and reorganized my stuff so I could pack up better. After everything was gathered and packed up, I grabbed the sheets and folded them up. I brought all of my stuff downstairs and put the sheets in the designated bag. Before I left, I said goodbye to the manager and thanked him for everything. I then proceeded outside to the bus stop and waited for the bus to come. I rode the bus to Aomori station, got my JR tickets, and boarded the train for Hakodate. The coolest part of this train ride was going through the underground tunnel, which connects Honshu to Hokkaido. It goes completely under the ocean, until you pop out into the bottom of Hokkaido. I just arrived at Hakodate station and am waiting for my train to Sapporo. I have a good hour and a half to wait, so I'm going to go find some food. Plus, it's cool and sunny outside, so I might walk around for a bit.

Hakodate is a very nice port city. It reminded me of east coast America during the 1850s. The sidewalks are made with red gravel, and there is an amazingly large fish market. It was definitely twice as large as Aomori's and had twice as many fish. Hakodate is famous for their fish, and I definitely could see that. Also of note: you know how in nintendo's video games, or certain others, the melons have that T shaped stem? Well, that's what they look like in japan, and they are as delicious as they are expensive. One of those melons costs about ¥1,200, which is equal to about $15 USD. That's one expensive melon, if you ask me! Anyways, after exploring the fish market, I went back to Hakodate station and got something to eat quickly. I ended up going to a restaurant on the second floor of the building, and got a nice order of cold soba with tenpura. Definitely a great meal to have on a sunny day! What was especially nice about this restaurant was that it had a great view of the fish market and the people who were shopping there. After eating I went to a kiosk and picked up a new type of beer. It's called Kita no Shokunin Choujuku, made by Asahi, and is only available in Hokkaido. I finish drinking it a bit ago and it tasted great. While I'm in Hokkaido, I will be creating a beer log so that all of you can go out and try the great beers of japan. So, after I finished eating it wnet back downstairs and entered the gate to get to my train. I boarded the train, and a couple of minutes later we were off. I was sitting on the train, looking out the window, until I had to go to the bathroom. I got up and walked to the front of the train and opened the bathroom door halfway, only to find a little boy taking a poo. I closed it quickly and turned around to find the mother standing there. I said sorry and she said it was ok and that her son doesn't know how to lock the door. We started talking and it turns out that she is trying to learn how to speak English, so our conversation was a mix of Japanese and English. She asked me where I was from and where I was going, and we talked about different things for about 20 minutes. She told me that she is a dairy farmer from way up north (I can't remember what town she said) and that she has three kids. I told her how I have two other brothers, and that I was the middle. She was very kind and friendly, and she even gave me a small snack. We talked for a little bit more, and then we both went back to our seats. The rest of the train ride was much like the others, with me being mesmerized by the scenery outside. Hokkaido has a very different feel to it, in the way it looks and the weather it has. First of all, the trees are a much lighter green than on the main island, and secondly, it's not humid at all. The weather is sunny and cold, a very nice combination. So after a seven hour train ride from Aomori, I reached my destination of Sopporo. The train station is so different in Sapporo. Not because I can't use my JR pass, but because of the way it is set up. Everything is orderly, from the stores to the location of the subway lines. Because of this, it was very easy for me to find my train. The most annoying thing was having to pay for a train ticket. It's not that it's expensive, but because I will be here for almost a week, I know it going to build up. Anyways, after getting my train ticket and transfering from Hokkaido station to Odori park station, I took the next train to the Shiroishi stop, which is where my hostel is located. I got off the train and walked up the stairs to the exit. It was then that I noticed a big difference between Sapporo and Tokyo....Everything. Sapporo is different from Tokyo in almost every way, aside from the Japanese. Sapporo has a gridded street system and is shaped into a perfect square, making it super easy to navigate. Some American was called to japan in the 1800s to help them set up the layout for the city, and that is why it is gridded. Sapporo is also extremely low and open, mostly made up of one and two story buildings that are spread apart from each othe, not at all like tokyo's cramped construction and connected buildings. Sapporo pretty much feels like Los Angeles, except instead of a large amount of Asians, it's all Asians. So I walked down the street, following the directions that the info desk at JR Sapporo station gave me, and finally reached the hostel. It's a nice little building 2 houses down from a main street corner. Once I walked inside, I got the feeling that it was going to be a comfortable stay. I took my shoes off at the door, put in slippers, and walked in. I was greeted with a big hello from the woman behind the desk, and she took down all of my information in preparation for my stay. After all of the logistics, I took a seat right at the computer and frantically checked my email, Twitter, facebook, etc after being away from a computer for five days. The rest of the night has been pretty slow; I decided not to go do anything more because of the time, and just went to the corner store and picked up some prepackaged Soba and another type of beer. By the way, along this trip I will be keeping a log of all of the different beers I will be having so you all know what's good and what isn't. This time I got a specialty Hokkaido beer, but I forgotvthe name. I'll have to find out again. After that deliciously cheap meal, I decided to use the shower facilities to relax. The hostel has a Japanese style bath, which for those of you don't know, is like a jacuzzi. You wash off first, and then you go into the bath to soak. It's extremely against the rules anywhere to enter a bath without washing off. The same oges for onsen as well. Now I'm just typing along, preparing to go to bed after a long train ride. There's something about just sitting and traveling that really drains the body. Today was full of travel, but tomorrow will be full of adventure! And beer, 'cause I'm going to the Sapporo beer museum. Till next time...er...tomorrow.