Snow and ice

Congratulations to Daniel for winning the caption contest from the last posting!

Daniel asked for a story about the transportation here in Sapporo.  I have limited experience with the transportation having only used the subway for 2 trips and not taken a bus.  I will have to work on getting some material to talk about in the next blog.  Speaking of transportation I did notice something funny the other day with the mailman.  He drives a small motorcycle that has a chain on the back tire.  It had covers for the handlebars that completely envelop the hands.  There is a box over the back tire that I assume holds the letters.  I was impressed that in a city known for its snow the postman uses a motorcycle.

I have not tried biking in the snow.  It is very slippery.  The bikers that I have seen have explained something that I have wondered for a long time.  Why are all the bicycle seats too low?  Everyone both short and tall has their bike seats adjusted to a height that is low which makes their peddling less efficient.  When the peddle is down all the way their knees are still bent at a 30 degree angle.  Bre was the one who solved the mystery.  They do it so that they can put their feet down on the ground easily when they loose their balance.  If you watch them bike on ice going around corners you can see in in practice.  It reminds me of dirt bike riders in the US.

I also have a congratulations to the blog, we passed the 2K mark.  As of this posting we have had 2143 page views.  Go Kyle and Bre in Japan!

It has been cold and icy here.  I went for a couple walks around the city.  The first photos are of the walls of the creek north of our apartment. 

 Cracks in the facade, sorry frogs, piles of ice, and restaurants serving rice.  

 I like the look of this Jack in the box.  It is not the same as the ol' Jack in the Box I grew up with.  This place has soup curry, coffee, and live music.  What more could you want?

 Here you can see the mad cyclists of Sapporo.  Neither snow, nor ice, nor fear of being hit by a car deters them from their mode of transport.

Speaking of bikers I actually saw one today who looked Japanese and was wearing a helmet.  His helmet looked more like a climbing helmet, and he had enough carabeaners on him to scale a glacier, so I am not sure if he counts.

 Here is Bre taking out the trash.  This morning they collect cans and bottles.  The trash system here is very complex.  We found directions in English about what to put out.  Basically you have to keep track of what they are collecting each day.  Then you take the items out and put them at the collection point under the blue mesh netting.  They pick it up around 8:30am.  There are special yellow bags that you must use for your burnable trash.  It costs extra to buy these bags, but they fund the trash pickup.  If you have something large to throw away you have to call in advance to set up a pickup time and pay extra to have it hauled away.

 I like the design on the fence by the farm fields.  I cropped this photo down to focus on the fence.  If you want a better look at this photo, or any of the photos I learned that you can click on the photo to see it at a much larger size. 

 This is the path into Hokudai.  Note the foot path and the bike path.

 I know it is cheesy, but I love the Boss coffee ads.  The Boss smokes a pipe, the Boss wants you to drink his coffee.  I don't actually drink coffee, so I am not planning to try it.

That's all for now.

-Kyle (and Bre)