A Quick Loop

A couple weeks ago, I took a trip to Asahikawa for a meeting with the Hokkaido Association for JETs... or HAJET. Asahikawa is located on the other side of Taisetsuzan National Park from where my town is and on Google Maps it's supposed to be about a 4 hour drive. 

The meeting started friday evening, unfortunately I had to show up late and I arrived Saturday morning, which put my departure time around 5:00am.

The meeting was great and the organization really helps JETs and non-JETs keep their sanity when dealing with a number of obstacles that you face as an ALT.

Saturday night we had our party and the next day was time for us to head home. Fortunately with it being a three day weekend, I and many of the other JETs decided to do some other stuff. I joined a few friends on their trip to Sapporo and offered to drive all of us there... Thus began the road trip that would end up looping the center of Hokkaido.

We headed south to Sapporo and stayed the night sunday night. After spending a couple hours there monday we headed home. Having gone north then southwest from my home to get to Asahikawa, my way home from sapporo created an entire loop around the center of Hokkaido. 

Here are some pictures.

During my drive through the mountains to Asahikawa, I couldn't help but pull over to take a picture.

This view was incredible. It's hard to tell, but at the time it was around 6:00am and there were about a dozen other people lining the roads taking pictures. The clouds were hovering low above the horizon and the sun was just barely peaking through the clouds and it almost made the sun look  more like a moon... it was absolutely beautiful.

This is another picture from the same area, but a picture of the highway that was winding through the mountains.  As you can see from the leaves, fall was quickly approaching.

Another beautiful shot. It almost looks as if the mountain is on fire or smoking. Again, its the early morning fog lifting from the mountains... well, that's what i'm going to think as I'm no expert haha.

This was a dangerous picture for me, as there was no where for me to pull over to take the picture, so I took the picture while driving... sorry mom! haha. It's a great photo though, the fog almost looks like a river running between the mountains.

Everyone gathering for the meeting.

A very very very very important conversation... I'm sure.

There was a festival going on in Asahikawa during the weekend of our meeting, it was packed and tons of food.

So, we decided to check it out. In front is Curtis, then Lauren, Melanie, and then Andy

The theme for the party was Fall of the Roman Empire... Our hotel probably didn't expect their sheets to be used in this manner.

If you didn't know... a man with a horses head caused the fall of the roman empire....

I believe there were about 80 of us trying to get into the restaurant where we had our reservations.

This was near the end of the night... and trust me you didn't want to smell or taste what was in that pot... disgusting....

But... one brave soul did! haha he lost Paper Rock Scissors and had to take a taste...

Yeah... we had fun

Also, wonder woman was a large cause of the fall of the Roman Empire...

Yeah, we decided to go clubbing... not really my thing, but it was fun non the less. Aparently it was Rap night cuz there was a Japanese Rap Artist on stage the whole night.

So this was the end of our night in Asahikawa. The next morning was quite interesting. I woke up feeling horrid and many other people had wonderful stories to share about the night. One guy, who I'll leave nameless, woke up at 6:00am in the club to a lady cleaning the floors... apparently they were not interested in waking him up haha He then realizes that his Phone is missing from his pockets... I'd like to say that Hilarity ensues... but he was very upset and I'd be as well if I lost my phone. Also, a guy who is notorious for waking up in random places after drinking was missing the next morning with his friends unsure of his whereabouts. I can't say for sure what happened, but I have yet to hear anything bad, so we're assuming he's fine. 

Me, Curtis, Lauren, Keri, and Teresa then take off for our trip to Sapporo.

It wasn't exactly the best weather, but I believe that we could create fun out of any situation after spending the day in Sapporo with these guys.

So from left to right Curtis, Luren, Teresa, Manaho, Keri, and me. yes, we're at a mexican restaurant in Sapporo... and it didn't taste that great or that mexican.

haha I'm sorry, this was a badly timed photo but it's still hilarious haha

I believe they just got done singing some kind of musical together... or they could be in the middle of singing it haha

Karaoke with the crew.

As the night continued Manaho began to share the love with some tree in Oodori Park.

Somehow Curtis has Manaho's sweater...

The girls on the bridge. It seems I always make it back to the slide when I go to Sapporo. This is a tiny bridge right next to the slide and we decided to take a break from walking and relax.

Our final day in Sapporo. We crashed at a Youth Hostel called Jimmy's Backpackers. Jimmy is the dude in the red beanie, real cool guy and I highly recommend his Hostel.

This ended my wonderful weekend and loop around the center of Hokkaido. I had a great time and it was such a blast hanging with these guys. 

Stay tuned for my next Lonely Island Video Blogs. I've got an updated Tour of the Apartment and some video / picture footage of the trip to Asahikawa and Sapporo.

Enjoy!!!