School is over and now travelling ^^

Yes school is over since last week Friday. I am happy about, but also a bit sad. Here i met great, nice and funny people. Also, the teachers were in their way very nice. School became part of my life and although i found it hard the last few months (grammer and a looot of new words) i will still miss it. Still, i needed a break. This did not become a break, but a farwell and maybe untill next time (2 or more years) as i decided to travell around Japan in the last 1 month and a half.

To let you know. I finished school in a good way. Passing the final test and having a nice attendance percentage. I dont have any regrets by leaving the school. Only that i will not see some classmates anymore.

Note: In general i can understand the Japanese, but speaking is still a bit harder to do. Still, i got more fluent in it. BUT i hate words and words and more words as they are almost the same.
Have to practise a bit harder on this part when i get back in The Netherlands.

Finishing school also means that i had to leave the hostfamily the same weekend. This was a bit sad, but now i could finally start travelling to my hearts content. Also, it was not the final goodbye as i want to meet them one more time before going back to The Netherlands. ^_^

Travelling

So i left the hostfamily and went to a hostel i stayed in before (2 years ago) for a few days, just to relax. The hostel i found very fast (ofcourse i knew where it was) and as a surprise the hostel owner still remembered me. Woow XD
In the meantime i met up some friends and did a few things and also planned my trip. BUT yes just the night before going to Sapporo i found out that i did not count the numbers (cost of the hotel) correctly. #%%*^*^&$ It was 110.500 yen = about 780 euro for 6 nights !!! So i tryed finding cheaper hostel ''a la minute''. Well... this was difficult (a lot of hostels and hotels were booked) and in the end i had a hostel in mind, but couldnt call 23:45 midnight. The next morning it was solved, but only for the first 3 nights. When i arrive at the hostel we will look together for other places.
Seriously the situation made my really nervous.

Sapporo

I arrived at the hostel a bit later than expected. Although i found it a bit far from Sapporo as you also have to count the distance to walk in the station from the train to the subway and from the subway to the hostel. Also, i had to look for the best possible way to walk as i have a big suitcase with me (sort of annoying in this case). So, taking the escalator or the elevator were the only options. Sometimes there is an escalator to the next floor, but after that there is no escalator to the next floor + no elavator. Then i had to walk with everything (yes also the suitcase) to one floor below by staircase.........

The hostel was good, clean, had helpfull staff, small (6 rooms with 3 till 5 beds) and felt really homely. Surprisingly there were no other people from Europe or USA. Only from other Asian country's who could barely speak English. I did not expect this, but well... whatever.

What i did in Sapporo in general was sightseeing. I went to downtown where there is a fishmarket, the tower and a big park (stroke) in the middle of the city and some other places.
Sapporo is known for the sushi, miso ramen and crab..... I ate them all. Really delicious ..!!!! The Sushi will melt in your mouth. Also, the taste of miso ramen.... and the fresh crab!!! I could just, figurely speaking, die on the spot.
In the fishmarket they had all kind of seafood. For example different kind of clams, crabs, urchins and well a lot. Especially crabs and clams. At one of those seafood stalls it was possible to eat those things. They will boil it for you in a big pan or grill it on fire. Then the customer can eat it. So, i went for the crab of this season, and although it costed a bit of money, it was it totally worth. It is possible to eat almost every part of it, even the eggs.

From Sapporo it is possible to make a day trip (30 minutes by train) to the place Otaru. It is famous for its sushi and some places. For example a canal with some old warehouses. I went to this place and ofcourse ate the sushi (soooo delicious, but a bit expensive in my eyes) and went walking a lot from place to place. At a certain moment a policecar halted close to me and a policeman came out and walked towards me. I had mixed feelings.... and the first question i asked myself. Why?????? I didnt do anything wrong. Is it maybe i look lost? In the end he wanted to confirm what kind of VISA i have and check some things. This is a measurement against people whose VISA are expired and are staying illigally in Japan. BUT still i am not looking that dishonest do i??
When i was dinner time i went again to a sushi restaurant. It looked nice, but the service was terrible. I mean i could hear them speaking casual Japanese to Korean people and me while we are the customers. In Japan this is actually rude to do. Also, the Korean people made their feet going from here to the other end of the world. They slipped before their order between other orders and then made a fuss that they have to eat fast and where their food is...?! First, one of the staff first has to look at this order before it goes in the lowest place of order... so the Korean people were not playing fair at all (this comment is only for this travelling group as i also know some other nice Korean people). I wanted to almost leave the restaurant.
I defenitely recommend this small city as it has a countryside and historic old feeling to it. Also, do not miss the good food ^^

Close to Sapporo there are also some other parks, but they were less interesting then i thought. Maybe because i visited them alone and not together with someone else. That can make sometimes a difference.

Hostels

I wanted to go to another place for a day trip (takes 3 hours by bus), but because i had to change so often hostels (3 nights same hostel, 1 night another and then 2 nights) and had to look at the weather i could not go there :-(

Today (after 1 week Sapporo)

This morning i went on the train to go to the next place called Hakodate. This place is in the South of Hokkaido. It is a beautifull coast place i have read on the internet. As i want to go as cheap as possible from place to place it takes longer to get there. By shinkansen it takes 2-3 hours and by local it takes much longer. I got in the train at 10:15 and will arrive around 19:30. In between i had to change 2 times and had to wait about 1 hour. This will happen every time i going to another place, but still the view i have sometimes from the local trains is really beautifull. The local train drives, letterly, though nature and old villages and farmplaces which is a sight to behold . If i went on a Shinkansen then i would not be seeing those things as it goes in a different/directer approach to Hakodate.

While i am writing this in the one (1) car train, and also my last train for today, i can see the sea from my window. Feels so relaxing.

Travelling schedule for the coming period.
14th check in – 17th check out @Hakodate
17th check in – 20th check out @Aomori
Seishun 18 sai kippu activates (cheap travell card for students only available and valid during certain periods)
20th check in – 22th check out @Kitakami
22th check in – 25th check out @Sendai
25th check in – 28th check out @Close to Nikko
28th July check in – 8th August check out @Kawaguchiko (close to Mnt Fuji)
8th check in – 11th check out @Tokyo
11th TILL 16th UNDICIDED anyone suggestions?
16th check in – 22th check out @Tokyo Last short week!!