Viva Sapporo!

I was going to post some photos on the site of today's adventures, but Blogger doesn't seem to like me very much tonight. If I can figure out what's going on, I'll come back and add some photos later.

And now back to our regularly scheduled blog. After three weeks of work work work, and only a couple days off, I was exhausted. Finally, a regular two-day weekend! YES! So I hopped in Wasabi-kun and headed north to Sapporo.

On the way up, I stopped off in Tomakomai for a snack and some coffee (see also: raspberry mocha). Unfortunately, the coffee shop was out of raspberry syrup, and the snack I bought had mayonnaise on it.

Tangent Alert! Mayonnaise. Uech. I had a particularly bad experience with mayonnaise once, and I can't stand it now. Back in college, I was feeling hungry one day, so I swung out to the local Burger King for a Whopper and fries. I ordered, paid for my food, went back to my car (the Shadow) and took a huge bite of my burger.

What I got was a mouthful of mayonnaise.

Suddenly, I wasn't so hungry anymore. In fact, I was nauseous.

Imagine it. You're really hungry. You order a burger. You take a huge bite, and mayonnaise oozes into your mouth, filling it. Where's the freakin' burger! Ugh. I feel a little sick just writing this.

After that, I just couldn't touch the stuff. The tragedy of it all? I used to like mayonnaise. (Side benefit: I eat a little healthier now.) Tangent Over!

Back to the main story. The snack I bought had mayonnaise in it. The coffee I wanted wasn't there. WHAT WAS THE POINT OF STOPPING IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!

I got to see a reggae E.T.

Oh yeah. A store had an E.T. doll dressed up in Rasta gear. I'd post the picture, but Blogger hates me right now.

On to Sapporo! I get into town, park my car, and make my way to...

...Sombrero Mexicano! YESSSSS!!!! Enchiladas!

Following a fantastic lunch, I headed over to the Kiinokuniya bookstore next to Sapporo Station. I am teaching English essay writing to a few third year students at Starfish High, and I picked up some essay writing guides for them.

After taking care of the books, I decided to take a walk around and see the city. I passed the old Hokkaido government building, which has been turned into a museum. It's an old brick building which looks pretty cool. I'd post a picture, but...you know.

There were some pretty cool historical exhibits inside. My favorite one was of the wildlife in Hokkaido. There was a seal that had been stuffed and put on exhibit, and it was looking up with the saddest expression possible. "Please Mr. Japanese Hunter Person, don't shoot me." Heh.

Outside the building, there was a swarm of these little tiny gnats. These gnats are called "yukimushi" ("snow bugs"), probably because they have some weird white stuff on them, and they stick to you like snow. Also, there was a big pond that surrounded the building (see also: moat) that had lots of ducks swimming around in it. Since it gets COLD in Sapporo in the winter, I couldn't help but put my hat on backward and ask people, "What happens to the baby ducks in the winter?"

After that, I headed back to the station to accomplish my main goal of seeing a movie. I noticed a blurb in the local newspaper that the latest movie by director Vincezo Natali was playing in Sapporo, and since I've enjoyed the two other movies he's directed, "Cube" and "Cypher", I wanted to see this one as well.

I told my students that I was going to Sapporo to see a movie. "What are you going to go see?"
"'Nothing'."
"You don't know yet?"
"No. I'm going to see 'Nothing'."
"Well, if you're not going to see anything, why go to Sapporo?"
"No. That's the name of the movie."
"'Nothing'?"
"'Nothing'."

I felt like I was in an old Abbot and Costello stand-up gag.

So anyway, I went to see "Nothing". "Cube" was a devastating movie about people trapped in a killing machine. The stuff that the movie was trying to say mentally kicked my butt so hard that I had to go home and write down my thoughts about it afterward. "Cypher" was a suspensful thriller that had a great twist at the end. "Nothing" was...

...well...

...bizarre. In a good way, but bizarre all the same. Two guys erase the world around them. Wipe it completely out of existence. The only thing that's left is there house and this bouncy white nothingness that stretches on forever. I really liked it. But as most of my friends will attest to, I like weird movies.

After the movie, I hopped in my car, swung back through Tomakomai to do a little shopping, and headed home. All in all, another good day.