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Asahikawa Weather

Hope everyone had a great Christmas, my family and I spent our first Christmas here in Hokkaido, Japan and had a great one.  The kids really made out like bandits!!  Santa Claus brought them a Nintendo Wii, with Taiko (Drumming Game).  It is similar to guitar hero, although it is a drum instead.  They also got Super Mario World, and Santa brought me a Snowboarding game for the Wii.  It’s for those days of no snow.

Speaking of no snow Asahikawa Weather has made a change for the better, that’s if you like Winter Sports.  It has been snowing for 3 days straight, and the weather forecast says it is going to keep up the same forecast for at least the next four days.  We have probably got at least a foot and a half of snow the past few days, and hopefully there is no end in site.  I am sure all of the Asahikawa Ski Resorts will be happy.

My son and I have plans to visit Kamui Ski links tomorrow morning and meet up with a couple of my Japanese students, it should be a fun filled day of snowboarding in fresh groomed powder.  Kamui Ski Links is the best Ski Resort in the Asahikawa surrounding area.  They have a total of 8 lifts, with one being a gondola lift, that you can easily walk in and walk out without worrying about crashing out of the chair lift.

Another thing that I am excited about is the beginner run starts at the very top of the mountain, down to the bottom and is a 3.5 km run, thats about a (2.1 miles), this equals more board time and less lift time.  Also they have a section similar to a skateboard park that has jumps and rails to grind…  Hmmmm I think I will watch, must get better at the basics before I can do that, although my son and I have been doing some small jumps locally, and have been having a blast.  The feeling of flying through the air on the board is indescribable.

The Asahikawa Weather temps here have been in the mid 20’s dipping into the teens sometimes at night, but the cold weather is still on it’s way.  January and Feb will be brutal I here.  But so far we are adapting to the cold weather with no problems.  Warm clothes, warm house, no problem.

I hope everyone has their New Years Resolutions decided upon, I have and 2009 is going to be a very prosperous one for my family financially, spiritually and happiness wise it is already successful, and now the third part will come into line for 2009.  How do I know?  I just do, it is unstoppable, the Universe will deliver all of your hearts desires only if you dwell on what you want to happen, and constantly give thanks for everything, good and bad.

Asahikawa Weather is awesome!

It is easy to master the journey on the path once you figure out the mechanics of how this vast Universe works.  Once it is figured out, it is nothing but smooth sailing.  Have I figured out everything?  No way, and probably never will, although life is so much more satisfying when you just understand the basics.  No Depression, No Un-happiness, no worries, No such thing as bad luck, these things do not exist in my world.  They shouldn’t exist in yours either.  Take care all!

Night Ride Bankei

Winter vacation started for me today, and I have 13 days of free time.  I plan on spending every free moment perfecting my snowboarding skills.  We are scheduled to visit Kamui Ski Links on the 27th of Dec with a couple of my Students, I am really looking forward to visiting this ski resort, as it is the best one in the Asahikawa surrounding area.

I would also like to hit Santa Present Park one more time before next Sunday, but we will have to see how the schedule turns out.  The snow conditions have been really bad here, and many people who are long time residents say it is very unusual not to have a lot of snow on the ground at this time.

It has been unbelievably warm and the moisture has been coming down as rain instead of snow.  I think the weather is starting to make the change for the better though, at least for skiing and snowboarding.  Temps tonight are in the low 20’s and it has been snowing lightly for about 2 days, but it is still not enough for most of the resorts around Asahikawa to open up.

Here is what Google is predicting for the next few days, but I hope they are wrong for Wed, we need those little white flakes falling on that day also.

If you are in the Sapporo area there is a event planned at Bankei, in Sapporo called the Night Ride Bankei.  That will be on the 30th and organized by North Face team rider Miyake Yoko.  Should be a nice gathering of local skiers, snowboarders and telemarkers.  Ride all afternoon and then party and charity auction in the lodge afterwards.  I will not be able to make it to this event, but if you do say Hi to Neil Hartmann for me and don’t forget to pick up his latest snowboard flick “Car Danchi 3“, it is amazing.

I Hope all of the readers of Charles Hamel.com have a wonderful Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and may all of your dreams come true.  Mine continue to come true one after another, because I know they will.  Thoughts are things my friend, make yours good and positive ones.  Take Care all.

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Hokkaido Ski Resorts

 

 

 

Finally Ii had my first experience with a Hokkaido Si Resorts.  My son and myself went to the first day opening at the ski resort in Fukagawa-shi, Hokkaido Japan called Santa Present Park.  Snowman and I had planned on going Saturday night for a night ski, but due to Santa Present Park not deciding to open until about noon the day of, and Snowman making shopping plans, our snowboard trip got cancelled.

For myself, having been waiting for one week to get back to practicing, and not letting anything stop me, my son and myself went driving around the surrounding area looking for a good place to practice after the 2 days straight of snowfall.  After driving around for about an hour I received a call on my cell phone from my wife to inform me that Santa Present Park would be open for the night ski at 4:00pm until 9:00pm.

It was about 1:00pm at the time, so we decided to head back home for lunch and a little rest time before heading out at 3:00pm to make it in time for the opening time at Santa Present Park at 4:00pm.  It took us about an hour and a half to get to Santa Present Park, due to never have driven there myself.  Upon arriving my son and myself was a little nervous, having never been to a ski resort before, and not speaking the language so well.

We went to the ticket booth and purchased our tickets for the night ski with no problems… I do speak a little Japanese, and usually it’s enough to survive purchasing items and asking for directions.  Those two areas are a must for learning a new language.  After purchasing our tickets, having no experience whatsoever in riding a ski lift, we decided to walk half way up the mountain on foot and snowboard down.

The problem that we ran into is, the same we did in Shibinai when we tried to practice in the vegetable fields.  Deep snow, and not enough slope equals not moving.  So after we scooted our way down, we both looked at each other and said lets hit the lift.  We rode on separate lifts not knowing any better, and both got off like we had done it all of our lives.  I was especially impressed by my son’s ability to get off the lift without falling whatsoever.  But I can’t say good things about myself, falling about 15% of the time…  But I attribute that to no kick pad on my board.

 

 

Both of us quickly mastered the front side stop and was able to come down the mountain with only a few falls.  My son suggested after about a hour and a half that we not wait on each other and once we arrive at the bottom, just get on the lift and head back up…  I was confident enough in his ability to agree to his suggestion, and that’s how the rest of the night was spent.

The sky was clear the moon was full and the lights of Asahikawa spread out before us.  It was a beautiful sight and made you think again how lucky we were to live in such a paradise.  Temperatures have been in the upper to mid 20’s  which is mighty cold for a Texas boy, although I have felt no discomfort, or problems driving yet.  But the worst is yet to come… We will see how it goes, but it would have to get pretty bad to be unbearable.

We stayed until closing, after my stomach muscles felt like they were going to pop out and run away.  I know tomorrow is going to be a miserable day with all of my muscles aching from non use.  I was surprised the next morning to find that my stomach muscles were not aching to bad, (except when I cough) but my left shoulder was hurting beyond belief.  I couldn’t raise my left arm above my shoulder without excruciating pain.  Although it is a good pain, and let’s you know that you are really out of shape.

My son and I had the most fun together than we have ever had before… It seems in the past because of my work, we were never able to do anything together, like soccer, baseball or boy scouts.  Now we are able to enjoy something together that we both enjoy immensely.  We still have a long way to go, to master this new sport, but we are having a blast learning.  Hopefully in a week my muscles will have recovered enough to make another visit to the ski resort.  Hokkaido Ski resorts, are among the best in the world, and you will find no other that has the type of dry powder snow that we have here.

I noticed that the lights were on at another ski resort that is closer to our house than Santa Present Park, so maybe next weekend will be Canmore….

Until next time, Take care all.

Strange Japan

 

 

 

In the Southwestern portion of Hokkaido the island that I live on which is the far northern part of Japan there is a mystery that is in itself Strange Japan.

Apparently in 1861 Oshoro which is a part of modern day Otaru, a group of fisherman that had migrated from Honshu (the main island of Japan), were laying the foundations of a new fishing port.  As they were clearing the land with their shovels a mysterious circle of rocks were uncovered that was apparently man made.  What could it possibly mean?  Something left over from the Jomon, or perhaps the Ainu?

The Late Jomon period (circa 2400-1000 B.C.) was an age of northward migration. The north was warming, and severe rainfall was ravaging the established Jomon sites, primarily in the vicinity of today’s Tokyo and Nagoya.  ”By devoting a special area to burials,” writes J. Edward Kidder in “The Cambridge History of Japan,” “Late Jomon people were isolating the dead, allowing the gap to be bridged by mediums who eventually drew the rational world of the living further away from the spirit world of the dead.”

The Oshoro Stone Circle was probably a cemetery.

 

 

 

There have been about 30 Late Jomon stone circles scattered through northern Japan. In terms of size it ranks about midway between the smallest enclosures and the largest one at Oyu, Akita Prefecture, bounded by thousands of stones.  No bones have been found to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the  cemetery theory is the purpose, but relatively few Jomon bones have been found anywhere, the acid in the soil claiming them long before the archaeologist’s trowel could.

A prewar pioneer in Japan was the Scottish archaeologist Neil Munro, whose “Prehistoric Japan” was published in 1908. He thought at first the stone circles might be astronomical observatories akin to Stonehenge in southwest England.  The question remains open, but according to calendars it has yet to be established. “In my opinion,” says Ishikawa, “the only thing Stonehenge and the Oshoro Stone Circle have in common is that they’re both made of stone.”

Very likely also, it is thought that, it was a market, a trading center for the exchange of tools, local foods, regional products, lacquer — and information, gossip. What would people have said to each other? In what language? Not Japanese, writes archaeologist Richard Pearson in the International Jomon Culture Conference Newsletter. Proto-Japanese, he says, only begins with the succeeding Yayoi culture.

Professor Ishikawa raises another possibility for the Oshoro Stone Circle — that it could have been a trash dump, which would explain the roughly 400,000 tool and pottery fragments so far unearthed there.

“Things may have been brought on purpose to such a site for ritual disposal,” he says.

“To the Jomon, each object, animate and inanimate, housed a spirit. Throwing things away would have been done ceremonially.”

So far the circle remains something that is Strange Japan, and just speculation can attempt to explain what the circle could be.  To me it is amazing that no matter what part of the world that you reside in, each region has it’s own mysteries that are left unexplained.  Strange Japan is just one of the many cultures that provide circumstances that can only be left to the imagination as to there true purpose.

Until next time, take care all!

Christmas Program

Had a busy Monday, waking up at 7:30 am in time to get ready for the teaching day.  After breakfast, getting dressed into presentable attire and shaving and brushing my fangs, I took my youngest son to Preschool and left my village of Shibinai to go to Snowman’s house, so we could head on over to the Young Buds Pre School/Kindergarten for the first gig of the day and perform our Christmas Program.

We had a little time before our class, so we departed snowman’s house to take a look at a local Ski Resort a mere 15 minute drive away called “Santa Present Park“.  It was scheduled to open on Dec 1st, but for lack of snow and cold weather lately all of the resorts around Asahikawa have had to push the opening dates back.

It has been unusually warm with blue skies lately (I can hear the global warming people piping up now).  Thursday is supposed to be a snow day, and we are hoping for a big dump.  Snowman and I are jonesin to get to Santa Present Park on Saturday, but we will have to wait to see what the weather holds for us.

If Santa Present Park does not open, then I will be headed to Asahidake for my 7th day of snowboarding before the season starts.  We started The Christmas Program at 11:00am and went on until 12:00pm, it was a lot of fun, we sang Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and put on a comedy skit which the children and the teachers really enjoyed.  Next week we will do the show one more time at the second location of the school.

The next class I had was a private lesson at a community center in Asahikawa, the class is so enjoyable with three students who are advanced English speakers, and basically we just sit around and chat, and I correct some grammar and sentence structure throughout the conversation. at 2:00 the class was over and I had 30 minutes to make it to my next private lesson which is a solo lesson with a very beautiful and intelligent young lady.

The 3rd lesson of the day was at the English school that I work for, and is a children’s class with four students in the 7-9 year old range.  We alternate between instructing, flashcards and games with just a small amount of bookwork.

At 6:30 pm I headed out for my hour drive back home to the country life in Shibinai.  A long day of teaching, but something I really enjoy.  Take Care all until next time, and don’t forget to check out Snowman’s new website at Everything Japan.  See ya!

Chamel Photography | Bizarre Stories Copyright Charles Hamel.com