Sapporo June 20, 2010 17:44

We flew from Tokyo to Sapporo last night.  It was immediately cooler, and foggy.  They picked us up at the airport in a medium-sized bus.  I immediately staked out the backmost seat and curled up in the corner.  We drove through what looked like woods for a long time, and I finally couldn't stay awake anymore.

So we're here in the hotel for the day.  All I know about Sapporo is that its North, we're on a different island, and there are bears on this island.  Since we got here last night and I was basically asleep the entire walk to my room, I woke up and remembered only that someone had said something about bears being in the vicinity.  I didn't even know there were bears anywhere in Japan.  So I opened my window hoping to see trees and anime-style bears with giant heads hanging around with girls dressed like sailors and maybe a few robots.  But I only saw a a city.  So I went out this morning to take a look around, and sure enough there were a whole lot of backpackers in the lobby.  Going looking for the bears and robots, no doubt.

This city is really pretty, and there is a big park/campus near the hotel.  These bicycles were parked on the street next to that park, and I thought they looked rather peaceful in the cool morning air.

I should also mention that the instant I took this picture a twenty-pound crow smacked me in the back of my head with his wing.  On purpose.  Then he sat on a branch above me, yelling something.

Morning in Sapporo