Japanese adventures - Part 1

Gosh, I don't even know where to begin. I've been decompressing from my trip to Japan for about two weeks now, and still haven't organized my thoughts enough to post a neat blog!

Oh well, I'll give it a go. I traveled to Hakodate, Japan, a "small" port town on the southernmost part of the Northern island - Hokkaido. By small, I mean 250,000 people. That's nothing compared to Astoria (pop. ~10,000)! To get to Hakodate, you can fly from Tokyo, take a train (and go thru the 53.9 km underwater Seikan Tunnel - world's longest submarine transport link), or take an overnight ferry. Given that I was traveling alone and had never been anywhere in Asia, I opted to fly to Hakodate after arriving in Tokyo (quickest, convenient). I figured I'd work out the rest of my plans once I got to Hakodate.

Did I mention I was going for a seabird conference? The 2009 Pacific Seabird Group Annual Meeting, to be exact. This was the first time they were holding it in Japan, and when I heard about the location I immediately knew I had to find a will and a way to get there. I saved up my Alaska Airlines frequent flyer miles, my money, and went for it.

Here are some pics from the arrival - although Japan is similar in latitude to Seattle, the northern island gets a lot of Siberian storms, and therefore tons of snow and veeery cold temps.



Sapporo train station (my plane was diverted from Hakodate to Sapporo due to heavy snow, so we had to take a train after all!)

The train timetable...go ahead...read it...

Those are actually the train tracks! The train arrived by we got delayed again due to a "snow bank blocking the tracks". The Japanese are actually pretty blunt with their translations (e.g. "Don't use cell phones on the bus, as they annoy your neighbor")

Snow storm in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

Japan, man!

Speaking of travel, I just returned from 9 days in Japan. So fun! I have many many pictures and stories to share, but you must check back. I need to organize my pictures and life a bit first...

Suffice it to say the land of snappy dressers, automatic toilet/bidets, raw fish, highly efficient trains, amazing temples and karaoke is a land of fun and adventure. Not to mention amazing birds and science (I was there for a seabird meeting after all)!

Best Travel Day Ever.

So, I am a card-carrying member of AAA (American Automobile Association). More specifically, California AAA, since I signed up when I lived there. It's great for random towing, flat tires, etc. I also get their lovely quarterly magazine - Via. There's actually some good travel articles, however they're primarily California-centric. I didn't take issue with this until I moved to Oregon and now I don't want to hear about any more @#$!# wineries or spas in Northern California! Like rubbing salt in the wound...

Anyhoo, in the last issue there was a Via Dream Vacation Contest - write an essay on your best travel day ever and win a $2,500 certificate for travel! 200 words or less. Easy...right? I got the creative juices flowing and worked on my little essay for a couple hours over two nights, really working on tweaking the words, clarifying my statements, etc. etc. I was feeling pretty good about it. I went to submit it online and quickly glanced over the rules of the contest, with one in particular glaring at me: "Contest only open to residents of Northern California, Nevada or Arizona". Whah!? This is like a bait and switch! I spent so much time on my essay (okay, not really), I felt it actually had a chance of winning! It was a sad day. So, now for the one and only time, I will submit my essay online here instead. I still think it's good.

One Day, Day One

I turned to wave one last goodbye as my mom smiled, tears streaming down her face. Confidently, I boarded the plane with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness. I had dreamed of this day for years, and at twenty I was finally going to study abroad. As the reality of my departure hit like a tidal wave and loneliness set in, I focused on the immediacy of my travel, navigating through three countries with two large backpacks. My resolve strengthened the closer I moved towards my destination, with each friendly face, each stranger’s kind gesture. I became independent, engaged, and fascinated with far-flung countries with exotic names. I cried my eyes out, made new friends, laughed like a child, and discovered my character. The first day I set out to explore the world on my own, one day at a time, is my best travel day ever...

...beth

I've seen fire and I've seen rain...

But I never thought that I'd see - SUN - again!

Oh yes, it's still cold as ever (upper 30's during the day) but it's been sunny! And warm (sorta)! I've been soaking up the radiation whenever I can, even if it's through windows at work. My plants have all survived the dark winter and cold temps, and are going strong. I think I'm kinda like a plant, I need water and sun to grow. Luckily, the sun is coming up earlier and staying up later, and there's plenty of water around here! I'm a happy camper...

Let it snow!

Some pics from the last couple weeks around the Oregon Coast and Pacific Northwest...




My home all pretty and snowy (including barn across the street and bamboo surviving the freeze!)





Highway 30 along the Columbia River towards Longview, WA...




A lovely view from I-5 in Seattle of two buses that slid down a hill from Capitol Hill and gave freeway-goers a scare!

Winter schminter

Lesser Scaup (www.10000birds.com)

As I hunker down at home staying warm while temperatures drop to 3 degrees (!) overnight, I am very grateful for my down comforter...that thing is amazing! That and my Uggs and I'm a happy girl. But what about the birds? I mean, I heard a sad story about a dog getting frozen to the sidewalk last week...

Well, on Tuesday and today I went into work for part of the day (yesterday work was closed - SNOW DAY!) and driving across the Youngs Bay bridge the western-most portions of the bay were frozen and covered in snow. This is the part usually exposed at low tide, very close to where all my friends the scaups, buffleheads and mallards (among many other ducks) hang out. Today I noticed they're all STILL there - just a little less active. Most of them had their bills tucked way down under their wing, snuggling in to stay warm, just floating along in the intermittent snow/sun/wind/snow coming at us from the North, East and West. Of course this is nothing for them - I mean they sit and dive into cold cold water every day of their lives! And their metabolism is revved up high to keep them warm and cozy...And their feathers are made for just this sort of thing! Bringing me back to the down...They're the lucky ones! "Winter? Psha! That's nothing, sister!" they told me as I drove past in my very warm subaru...

Subscribe!

Hi Friends!

FINALLY, I figured out how you can subscribe to my blog and get updated every time I add a new post.

1) Click on the "Subscribe!" link on the right, and then you can choose a variety of different ways to subscribe...

I prefer either Google (set up your own homepage at www.igoogle.com) - particularly nice if you already have a gmail account or use Google regularly. The other option for Yahoo people is My Yahoo! link on right. I also like Bloglines, where you can register and have an email sent to you when I add a new post...

Enjoy!