Shinkansen

by William

hi this trip was fun the trains went FAST we also went on a boat and a bus and 2 gondolas and i didit wat to go on the
shinkansen bye




by Mom:

William had been SO excited to go on a Shinkansen (bullet train) ride, that by the time we got there, he didn't want to go on it since it would be only a 15 minute ride. Yes, it was short, but fun. BTW, please note that William knows this is a 300 Shinkansen, which isn't as fast as the 700, but far cheaper because it stops at each station. The punch from the wind percussion as 2 of these meet at speed is an experience.
We also went on an electric train where the hill is so steep, there's no place to curve back around. So, you stop, the conductor changes sides, and the train 'reverses' to the next level, and then he changes sides again, until you're up the mountain. You see a portion of that in the video.

Interpret This

I went into a bathroom at the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum (think fresh ramen noodles cooked in the different styles from all over Japan) and this is what I saw:
On closer inspection, what do you think this means?
I think it means that you have to use the handle to flush the toilet, that the automatic flushing system is not working.
On our local Keikyu line, sometimes I see this sign, which I'm still not sure what it truly means.

Spring Skiing

We couldn't let the ski season go without having one more trip to the mountain. We're glad we went when we did since the snow wasn't going to stay around much longer. You can see by the video that the only snow around is the snow that the ski area carefully makes, protects, and manages. We could clearly see that there was a golf course that lies under the snow and it was exposed enough that I thought there may be a few hardy players playing through.

William built on his skills developed last time. Although he could turn last time, he preferred the more direct approach (straight down the mountain in a flying wedge). We wanted to work up to the steepest hill in the ski area! A daunting widow maker run called slope 'C'. (OK, it would likely rate a blue square in the US, but since Japan doesn't seem to mark their runs for difficulty, we could easily have called it a double diamond!) but we needed to prove that he could control his speed with linked turns.

William worked on his turns on the easy slopes and we then headed up to the steep slopes. He did very well and was able to control his speed without taking up ALL of the slope. He was having such a great time that he didn't really want to leave. I was having a great time too, but we needed to head home.

We're looking forward to next season when we'll maybe stretch ourselves to slope 'D'...

FEET BEWARE

We've been assimilated. William was rummaging around in his toy bins (I'm sure after one of the many times I replied, "You have a lot of toys, William!" to his constant question of: "What can I do NOW, Mom?"), and found the directions on how to build the Millenium Falcon from Star Wars IV. I can't believe he's so like his dad...

Anyway, they have been putting it together. William will work a bit on his own on it. I sometimes get called in to spy one piece he can't find, but it is so cute how he can help put it together.

HOWEVER, my feet will never be the same. I barely can invade the 'boy space' now without pokes and sharp edged lego taking their toll on my tender toes.

MASSAGEE

I don't have a picture of this, so I'll try to be descriptive. Tim and I were on date night on Tuesday. We were walking to the Hotel New Yokosuka, a common meeting up place. It is near the place they call 'The Honch' and 'Doubuita Street' which is by the main gate onto base.

Several years ago I saw a sign there that said MASSAGE -- SOAPY FINISH. That has become a catch-phrase for me, because I thought it was so funny.

Tim told me about a time when he was here temporarily when a 'buddy' sicked a girl on him to give him a massagee one evening. They can be rather persistent.

Well, we were walking along, and since the sidewalks are narrow, I was walking behind Tim. It's easier that way, since there are bicyclists on the sidewalks here, so you're likely to not have enough advanced warning to get out of the way. Single file, even when we're traveling as a family works great. At least they'll have to mow down 3 in a row, and when I'm in the rear, well, I think I could do some damage to a bike. It's far easier than dodging back and forth when you're walking side by side. Plus, with Tim's long stride, and my short stumpy legs, it's easier for us to just do our own thing.

Anyhoo... a nice dressed Japanese lady, about 30 or so, walks up to Tim and says something. I IMMEDIATELY knew what's going down. Japanese women don't normally talk to men. So I pointed at him and said, "SHUJIN!" (HUSBAND!)

The instant surprise and abashed look on her face was priceless. It was too funny. She'd been caught, by the wife!!

Then we went into the bar and a guy I just met gave me $30 worth of drink coupons (he was heading back to the states the next day). And I didn't even have to give a massagee for it! Score one for the wife!

Seika Art Exhibition

Saturday was the Art Exhibition at William's school.

Getting to William's school is always an adventure. There is no parking available, so you need to find some type of public transportation to get there and it is a fair distance up a hill from the nearest train station. Last time, we'd parked on base and got an off-base taxi to get up there. We waited nearly 20 minutes to get a taxi, so we figured there should be a better way. This time, we took the train to the nearest train station and took a taxi from there. There is always a line of taxis at the train station so that was quick. We were also prepared to take the bus up the hill and we did actually ride the bus back to the train station when we were done.

I'm not much of an art critic, so all I can really do is provide some pictures of William's wares for your enjoyment. (Click on the small pictures to see a larger version of the picture.)
All the classes made a cow. William's class's cow is the third one from the right.




These are William's version of traditional Japanese dolls. It looks like the one on the left got into the medicine cabinet...






The highlight of the day, though, is the model shinkansen ride they had out in the playground. The bus drivers took turns driving it for the kids. It was one of the selling points for William in deciding which school to attend. I can't say that I can blame him.

Snow Festival

Our hotel was nicely located. We were a block from a subway station and the street that the ice sculptures were being built and displayed on. The first night, we looked at the ice sculptures along the street. There were a LOT of them and all very nicely done. At the end there was a dozen or so still being built so we could watch the creations in process.


The next day, we got on the subway and went the one stop to get to the big park where the snow sculptures were. It was a bit spooky. It was snowy and foggy and as we'd walk along the path, these HUGE sculptures would come out of the fog. They were so detailed and large that you'd initially think it was a big building or ... something coming up. Some of the big displays were some 20 to 30 feet tall and 60 feet wide. They had huge replications of historic castles and buildings and even a Disney scene. There was even a slide made of ice and snow that William tried out a couple of times. We found that William was only slightly interested in the sculptures (except for a few that were of trains...). He'd rather play in the snow along the side of the park. It kept him busy, anyway.

It was Friday, so kids were still in school, however, hoards of them were wearing numbered bibs and running around the site with assignments to introduce themselves to foreigners using english and getting their signature, or asking for information. Every time we came within sight, we were mobbed. We heard the following speech about 2 dozen times: "Hello, do you have a minute? I am _______ from Elementary School _____ can I ask you a few questions? Where are you from? What is your favorite thing to do in Sapporo? Thank you, have a nice day!" At one point I had about 15 kids asking for my autograph all at once.


The fog and snow cleared up a bit and we saw a bit more. They had a huge mountain of scaffolding holding up a snow board jump that snowboarders were using to show off to judges.

At night, I went back on my own to take pictures of the sculptures with all the lights on them. They had light and sound shows and some even had bands playing on them.


The next morning was our last day there, and the weather really turned nice. We took a quick peek at the sculptures and then headed to see the other sights. There was a tiny steam powered train that William was thrilled to ride on and the Sapporo TV tower had an elevator and an excellent view of the park, the city, and the surrounding hills. I suspect there is some good skiing out there...