Hokkaido: Nudity, Tragedy, and Kareoke

Love that title.
Thought it up all by myself you know.

This last weekend, I went with some of my friends to Japan's northern island, Hokkaido. The main appeal for me was larger just being able to see snow. There is no blipping snow here in Hirakata, and the weather is simply to nice. Similar to what my sister would say toward her needs for hate and loathing, I've found myself needy of the freakishly cold weather that only Michigan can provide.

So Friday morning instead of going to class ( ' w ' ) I instead went to the train station . We hit the trains for about an hour before getting our buts to the station and on a plane. Oh man, domestic travel is so much easier than the BS infused fury fest that is international flights. We were done and in the air in moments.

A short 2-hour, nap filled flight later we were in Hokkaido. The first day, there was no real snow, but that was okay as it was still freezing. Nostalgia freezing. We spent most of our time dilly-dallying from place to place before we finally capped in for the night.

The next day, we hit the subway and went to... I forgot where, but out of the city. Hokkaido felt so much like America. It had lots of trees and wide open spaces occasionally punctuated with signs of life. The illusion was broken a few times with several temples springing up seemingly anywhere.

In... the place we went, we made tracks for an Onsen (hot spring)! A bum chilling later, we had found our destination. A quick walk inside, a few formalites, and a locker room, and I was standing outside naked with snow coming down from the mountain and steam raising from the outside bath. It was one of the most amazing and beautiful things I think I may ever see.

There were several different bathes at this particular facility, but I was quite partial to sitting in the hot spring outside and watch the snow in the mountains. We and my friends relaxed for like an hour before heading back in, dressing, and then we went upstairs where there was a kick awesome cafe. It was warm and comfy in there, and most of our group wound up napping on the floor. Begrudgingly, we left the place with food in stomachs, and seemingly more fatigue than we came in with. Man, I wanted a nap.

(MORE LATER, I'MMA GO HOME)