Yuki Matsuri 2010: Snow Sculptures

On Saturday, I went around to see the snow sculptures in Odori Park.


The 7th block of the Odori Park is always dedicated to some international display.
This year's highlight comes from Dresden, Germany, the Frauenkirche Church.
The church did not survive the bombings during WWII, but as far as possible, the church has been rebuilt using the original stones.

The Baekje Royal Palace of South Korea
This model is taken after the Empress' Palace.

My nephew, Kale, loves trains of all sorts so this made me think of him.

Chibi Maruko-chan and Friends
Chibi Maruko-chan is a TV show.
2 things are super cool about this show.
1) It takes place in Shimizu, the city where I live.
2) The creator, Sakura Momoko, graduated from the high school where I teach: Shimizu West!

Yuki Matsuri 2010: Sapporo Beer Garten

32 Shizuoka ALTs (and friends!) went to the Snow Festival in Sapporo, Hokkaido from February 5-8th.

First Night of the Snow Festival was spent at the Sapporo Brewery having all you can eat lamb and beer for 2 hours.


Shinsuke (Shin-chan), me, and Kat.

Nick and Michael posing with their EIGHTH plate of lamb. EIGHT PLATES OF LAMB!

Adam and Ben also helped with the 8 plates. Amazing.

Long after everyone had finished eating, Neil was still going strong. Epic.

Thank you, Nicole, for making the reservations!

Back from the Grave - Yuki Matsuri Part 5

So what would a vacation be without a sweet photo of the view from my Sapporo Sheraton room?

There is a family-fun area on the outskirts of Sapporo called Tsudome. I tubed down the second-from-the-right slot. I think I squealed the entire way down too.

I think James, Rae, and I waited a good 1 hour for 10 seconds of fun.

Totally worth it says I.

And the famous Ramen Street in Japan.


Butter-corn Ramen. Why are the Japanese obsessed with corn?

Back from the Grave - Yuki Matsuri Part 4

The Snow Festival is the IT winter event in Japan. Here I am standing in front of the Tokyo Disney Castle (not quite to scale). The kanji to the left of me is yume which means "dream".

And accompanying Disney characters. Sorry, Donald got cut off a bit.

Honoring Kousuke Kitajima, gold medal winner of the breast stroke and thus Japanese hero.

Half-snow and half-ice sculpture with interior lights. SUGOI!!!!

Back from the Grave - Yuki Matsuri Part 3

Rae and I toured Sapporo Tower after our meat coma.

And here is the view by night. Sweet huh?

View of Odori Park, place of the snow sculptures.

Back from the Grave - Yuki Matsuri Part 2

So what does it mean "Genghis Khan Feast"? It means 2.5 hours of all you can eat grilled lamb and veggies and drink bar. Seriously, it was A-MA-ZING!!!

It's so beautiful!!! *shiny anime eyes*

This is HALF the group that went to the Yuki Matsuri.

The other half is sitting behind me. I am such a cheese... Oh, and the bib is a must. And I did NOT drink beer. Ew. Gross. I drank Coca-cola.

Back from the Grave - Yuki Matsuri Part 1

Hokkaido is known for its white chocolate so my friends and I went to the factory. Outside there was a tube snow slide. Rae is having a good time.

Inside, I definitely felt like I should be singing songs from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Thankfully, neither myself or my friends came close to temptation by our greed.

At the top of the factory was a cafe. We had hot chocolate and dessert during afternoon tea while a blizzard stormed outside. It was totally white!!

My strawberry tart was even tastier than it looks in this photo. Be jealous.

Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival) Preview

Because I really need to update...


This was taken in Sapporo, on the northern island of Japan, Hokkaido. Every year, they have a snow festival. There is a lot to do there, but this is just the "appetizer course" before I get more pictures loaded up.

The snow sculpture behind me is a replica of the Namdaemun Gate in South Korea that was burned down last year by a crazy arsonist.