July 31st
I woke up quite early, which was not terribly difficult being that the jet lag was still quite strong. I was to meet at 5:45am with the fellow Sapporo City JETs. After having dropped off my large bag the night earlier to be loaded onto the bus, I only needed to throw together my backpack and make it downstairs. This was the first time I would actually be meeting with people in my placement. I mostly interacted with JETs from other placements, figuring I’d be getting to know the Sapporo JETs very well, whether I liked them or not. I would soon be acquainted with some of who would be my new coworkers under the Sapporo Board of Education. All in all, we were 1 from America, 3 from Australia and 6 from the Philippines, with a 2nd group coming in about a week later to bring the total incoming JETs to 16.
I arrived to the meeting point comfortably ahead of time. It wasn’t too long after that our group had fully assembled. In our time waiting for the bus and the actual ride itself, I got myself well acquainted with the Australian cohort. The bus ride to the airport was about an hour, but passed quickly with good conversation. After a bit of back and forth, we managed to get ourselves checked in and through security. The Aussies and I stuck together for a quick breakfast before finding a set of seats in near the gate to continue our conversations.
We started boarding not long after sitting down. Being in different seats, I had some time on my own that I mostly spent glued to my window. This was the first time really venturing outside the main island of Honshu or really the “golden route”, the standard 1-2 week itinerary for most first time visitors to Japan, hitting the major sights in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. The flying out of Tokyo was incredible, getting awesome aerial views of all the sights I had seen on the bus to the hotel and more.
The flight was a little over an hour and passed quick, It wasn’t long before we dipped back below the clouds, revealing our approach in from the Pacific Ocean into Chitose, location of the airport serving Sapporo. It was quite the juxtaposition coming in from the one of the most urban airports in the country to one surrounded by mostly forest. Landing was a breeze, and we were immediately greeted by advertisements as we walked off the jet bridge for Sapporo Classic, a beer from Sapporo brewery only sold in Hokkaido.
After gathering our luggage off the carousel, we exited to be greeted by Hunter, the PA for Sapporo city. In the JET program, each prefecture in Japan has a Prefectural Advisor (PA). To summarize, briefly, they are a current JET who helps bridge the gap between the Board of Education (BOE), our official employer, and fellow JETs. Sapporo, along with a few other large cities, has its own Boards of Education, meaning there are PAs who are work at the city level. Hunter’s energy was at levels I had not been prepared for, but was incredibly kind and helpful.
After getting a quick snack, we made for the train that would be taking us to Sapporo station. I had a chance to talk a bit more with Hunter, and see some of the city outskirts, including the baseball stadium, which was quite the impressive sight. It is able to be enclosed to allow for games to be played year-round. About 40 minutes later, we get into Sapporo station and make for our apartments by taxi.
My home for the next year would be a cozy one, but it gets the job done. While I am quite happy to have a washing unit, the small kitchenette and lack of AC, especially at the moment, leaves a bit to be desired. The location makes up for a lot though, with only a 15-minute walk from the center of the city and a 5-minute walk from the nearby river, it can’t be beat. The rest of the day was spent by mostly setting up the internet and picking up a few freebees left by the outgoing JETs. This lasted until around 4 P.M., after which we all gathered to run out for some supper at a nearby shopping center. Once there, We split up and situated ourselves at a few different places.
After dinner, we opted for a walk into town to pick up the essentials, first stop was an electronics store, Yodobashi Camera, to all buy fans, which we were ensured were much needed for the night. This ended up being true, even if I wasn’t thinking of it at the time, as I was enjoying the much cooler temperatures of Sapporo compared to Tokyo. After managing to snag a discounted display fan, we made our way south to Don Quijote, a store that’s difficult to describe to any sort of North American analog. It’s basically an everything store, and when I mean everything, I mean everything. Basically think of a discount store, but nearly 7 floors. We were just here mainly for bath towels and pillows, that latter of which I ended up buying at a later time. At this, our first day had finally come to a close after nearly 16 hours. Having spent walked about 3 of those hours just walking through the city, I was completely shot. I fell asleep very quickly after my return to my new apartment and much needed shower. Tomorrow would be more settling in.
August
The next few days would be spent mostly doing more admin stuff. The day after moving in, we spent time registering our addresses at the city ward office, as well as making a bank account. Filling out important work paperwork and so on would be over the next few days. This was also the time that I started to get some of the essentials for my new apartment. Another trip to Yodobashi Camera got me a hot water heater and a toaster oven. A lot of time was spent at Nittori, basically an Ikea type store, just not quite as colossal. I got a chance to pick up some of the essentials such as clothes hangers, an iron, some dishes and silverware. Probably most important item was a mat to sleep on, as I could start to feel the effects of sleeping on a thin futon on a hard wood loft in my back.
At this point, I also managed to finally get an understanding of how to input my address in websites. Japanese addresses work a bit different from other western addresses, in that instead of named streets, there are numbered blocks which subdivide down to numbers for the buildings. It’s fairly easy to get, but the thing is there are only two places in Japan that use a unique system to this: Kyoto and Sapporo. Both being organized in grids, the address system is slightly different to work for the city. Basically for Sapporo, the TV tower acts the center of the city, with the location of said tower at the intersection of two major roads. From the tower, blocks are organized on a coordinate system, with blocks being organized by their location relative to this center point. So an addresses block could be something like South 4 West 5 or North 10 East 12 and so on.
With my address sorted, I was able to buy some larger items. I decided to buy a kotatsu, which is essentially a floor table with an electric heater under it. A comforter blanket fits under the table-top and gives it a kind of skirt that keeps the heat in. I figured it would be quite good in the winter. I also got a half-decent floor chair to go along with it. While sitting on the floor isn’t terribly comfortable, It gives my small apartment a larger feel, so I’m gonna see if I can stick with it.
While I was still working on settling in with all the excitement of figuring out things like bills, trash sorting, groceries and acquiring various living essentials, this was also the period where I started to have some free time to actually explore my new city. While still quite busy, I found time to check out some of the nearby sites around town. Sapporo is probably most famous outside of Japan for the beer of the same name. Sapporo Black Label is the standard version of the beverage, being what is sold nationwide and found in every convenience store. Up here, there is a second: Sapporo Classic, which is available only in Hokkaido. On top of this, there are also many other variants, including one based on the original recipe from the 1880s as well as one served exclusively at the brewery museum. Sapporo beer is the oldest in Japan and makes up a large part of the city’s identity.
During the time of my arrival, the Sapporo summer festival was ongoing in the center of the city in Odori park. The park is narrow, only one block wide, but extends for nearly 1.5km to the west from the TV tower and is host to numerous events throughout the year. Several of these blocks were dedicated to the summer festival. The first part of the festival is known for its beergarden, with an entire park block dedicated to each of the major Japanese breweries: Suntory, Asahi, Kirin, and Sapporo, plus the international beer and German biergarten. The German biergarten was a pretty small operation, with Hofbräu available. The prices were quite intense, well over double what I was used to paying in Munich. While I didn’t get a drink, I did snap a photo of the Maypole, which was donated by the city of Munich, which is the sister city of Sapporo!
Over the next 2 weeks the summer festival was on, I managed to pay a visit to each of the main breweries pavilions at least once. It was great fun seeing the atmosphere, popularity, and difference in food offerings of each. My favorite was easily the Sapporo tent, which had consistently the most activity and, in my humble opinion, best drink option. I went a few times with various friends, getting a chance to get to better know my fellow JETs. It was quite the great time, especially after the long and hectic days of the setting in process.
The beergardens closed on the 14th, overlapping with the start of the Bon Festival in Odori park as well. The best the Bon Festival can be described as is something similar to the Mexican day of the dead. The attraction most closely associated with the festival is the traditional dance. It consists of a raised stage with a group of musicians and an area surrounding the stage where the dance is preformed. Dancers move around the stage in a circle, following the usually simple choreography, allowing for anyone to join in and learn the dance quickly. It’s really quite hypnotic and just overall mesmerizing to behold. I found myself enjoying it for nearly an hour on my own the first night I went to see it.
It was on the second night when I found myself watching the dance again that I was approached by a boy and a girl inviting me to do the dance. With a bit of reluctance, I ended up caving as the girl led me into the circle. It didn’t take too long to pick up the dance after a few initial fumbles. I found myself quite appreciative of my short stint in the ballroom dancing club as a freshman in university. After making a lap around the stage, we jumped out and had a bit of time to talk. We used our limited knowledge of each other’s languages to make some simple small talk, after which I thanked them for their invitation. It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to join in on the dance.
The final week leading up to starting school has been occupied by working from home. Nothing too exciting, but since I’m not technically off for the school break, spent my time working on my self introduction and lesson plans. My birthday on the 22nd was pretty low-key, spending most of the day working as usual. I got my kotatsu in the mail, which worked as something of a birthday present. After working, I enjoyed a small supper at a surprisingly authentic Neapolitan pizza place; I see myself visiting in the future fairly frequently. After sitting by the river for a bit on my own, I invited my neighbor over, one of the Australian JETs, to share some sake at the new kotatsu. Again it was low-key, but a good day. The night before I had been out for quite the intense karaoke session with a bunch of other senior JETs, so I can’t say I felt I went without a party!
August has been quite the whirlwind but with exploring the city, festivals, new friends and the occasional karaoke session it’s been quite the welcome. With summer vacation, all that’s left on the horizon is the start of my actual work at school. While quite nervous, I’m very excited to start!