Sapporo on Ice

Hi, guys! I came back to the U.S from Japan!! It's been almost a week, but I still feel jet lag... Although I am a night owl basically, I am REALLY sleepy at night lately!! But I got the FOURTH AWARD of the Toastmaster's meeting last night ! Yeah♪

I spent most of the time in Japan, in Sapporo. Sapporo is my hometown which is a capital city on the northernmost island, Hokkaido. Because of the cold climate, the island is abundant in seafood!! I ate a lot of Sushi, Sashimi, crab☆

What did I do in Sapporo? I met my friends, relatives, went to Karaoke, and...SHOPPING!! I was looking forward to going to BIG SALES after the New Year's Day! It is like a "Black Friday" in U.S, even though shops open at almost their regular time.

I went to the biggest department store in Sapporo 15 minutes before the opening time. However...there were almost 150 people who were already waiting !! After the department store opened, they rushed into the store!! Look at the photo!!
Do you remember my article, "Midnight Madness?" After all, I think I LOVE going to big sales...

Hokkaido is famous for having lots of snow. We don't have so much snow in Sapporo if we compare it to other cities in Hokkaido, but we always have about 1.5 feet of snow. However, this year,(because of the global warming, maybe?...)we had less than 1 foot of snow. But the temperature was still less than 30°Fahrenheit, so...the roads were very ICY!! The left picture is my neighborhood. Can you walk here?
Me? Off course I can!! Actually, people who live in SNOWY areas have some survival secrets. I got fancy boots with high-heels at the sale in Sapporo, but I can walk with them on the icy roads☆　　Take a look at the right photo! They are not clear...but, the soles of boots have treads. We always ask for treads to be attached when we buy winter shoes♪

I also went to the "Stars on Ice" show in Sapporo. "Stars on Ice" is an American figure-skating show. Professional skaters (most of them were winners in the Olympics) have gathered for this show, and they have been giving performances mostly in the U.S. However, in the beginning of January, they came to my hometown...Sapporo, with many Japanese famous skaters! I saw the performances of Shizuka Arakawa (the gold medalist of the Torino Olympic,) Mai Asada(Mao Asada's older sister,) Yuka Sato, Daisuke Takahashi, Noburari Oda, (All of them are Japanese famous skaters!), and Alexei Konstantinovich Yagudin(Russia,) Philippe Candeloro(France,) Michel Wise (America,) and so on. All of them were spectacular! But there was an expecially popular athlete. She is...Mao Asada! You'll never recognize...but, the left picture is her!! (Her clear picture is the right. I picked this photo from her Web-site: http://www.maomaiasada.com/index.html )Mao Asada is a 16-year-old amateur skater, but she is really popular like a pop idol. She won the final grand prix last year, so she was considered as the most potential gold medalist of the Torino Olympic. However, the contestants in the Olympics were limited by age, so she couldn't participate in the Olympics because she was too young. She keeps winning many competitions, so she has been expected to be the gold medalist of the next Olympics, like Kimmie Meissner or Kim Yona!
I was astonished not only at her performance, but also her popularity.
When she appeared, the skating rink became full of cheers! Especially, it was impressive that many children were excited to see her. After I came back from the show, all of my relatives envied me! "Oh, you saw Mao-chan? I support her like my DAUGHTER!!"
In contrast to her energetic performances, she looks & acts like a little innocent girl. She loves chocolate, her dog, Legos...
As you can see from what my relative said, many Japanese love her like their families. Will she get the gold medal in the next Olympic? Check her out!!

By the way, do you think the ticket of this show must be expensive? Actually, it's...not! It was 30 dollars. If you reserved a good seat, it was $250. However, I noticed the show day of the performance! So, I went to the skating rink just before the show started, and got a cheap ticket at the last minute. It was a standing ticket, but there were not so many people, so I could lean on a pole comfortably.

If it had been Tokyo, many peole would have rushed into the show, so I don't think I could get a cheap ticket that day! However, Sapporo is the fifth largest city in Japan. So, not TOO MANY people came to the show! It is one of the unconcious advantages of living in a middle-sized city☆

After I came back to Lafayette, it became REALLY cold outside. This photo is the outside of my house. The temperature today is...11°Fahrenheit!!! I have to survive here, in a cold city...but I'm fine! I am from an ICY city, and people who live here are WARM-hearted☆

My friends whom I met in Japan...thank you for giving me a great time!!!