I met the mother of one of my grade one students at Centrair Airport. Her son pointed me out and told her that I am his teacher; she was initially confused because she hadn’t met me before. Once in Hokkaido, we took the train downtown together. As we parted, she gave me her number and invited me to call her if I needed help or wanted to grab a meal together.

I messaged her yesterday to suggest lunch today. We met for a late lunch and went to an Indian restaurant near her parents’ home. The proprietress is so interesting. She is a Japanese woman married to a Tibetian man who has refugee status in India; they met in India when she was vacationing there. We bonded over our Ayurvedic experiences in India and over our adoration of the twin polar bears at the Maruyama Zoo. My friend translated some of our conversation but it’s amazing how much of a language you can understand from the tone of voice and body language. We spent a lovely hour and a half together before she pointed out a nearby bus stop to Otaru, my next destination.

Simply beautiful. I’m overwhelmed by the beauty of the Otaru winter festival. I took a 50 minute bus ride from Sapporo to Otaru and walked around the beautifully lit up city. Ice candles are laid out all over the city, particularly along the more traditional streets. There was no pomp and circumstance tonight, just crowds of people enjoying the unique candle holders made of ice and snow.

I stopped along the way and bought a large clam cooked mostly by blow torch.