Author: stonyplaininshikaoi

In late September, Halloween began creeping it’s way into Japan, manifesting first as bags of candy in the supermarket, and strange hybrid jack-o’-lantern / Christmas tree displays in department stores. In October, Halloween themed items became easy to find at many stores and restaurants.

Classic orange pumpkins aren’t commonly found in Japan, instead, kabocha, also known as Kent pumpkin, is widely available at grocery stores, as well as the michi no eki roadside station – where handmade goods and locally grown produce can be found. Pumpkin spice and other pumpkin flavoured desserts and snacks are popular in Japan at this time of year. Café Mahalo in Shikaoi is serving a seasonal pumpkin parfait – which is delicious. I also recently picked up an insanely good pumpkin custard from the 7-Eleven.

Throughout the month of October, the English teachers and I held a Halloween party at each of the elementary schools in Shikaoi. The class began with a slideshow about popular North American Halloween traditions, and a brief history of the holiday. This was followed by a true-or-false quiz, a trick-or-treat costume relay, and spooky origami – all accompanied by classic Halloween tunes. I came to school dressed as a witch, Kiki, from the popular Japanese animation Kiki’s Delivery Service. The teachers even lent me a bamboo broom to complete the look!

Halloween isn’t celebrated much in Japan beyond the spooky aesthetic making occasional and sometimes confusing (re: Christmas tree inspired) appearances. Large bags of Halloween-themed treats are sold in stores, but children don’t typically go trick-or-treating, or wear costumes to school.

It was a lot of fun to teach the kids about Halloween, and some popular Canadian traditions. The students all had a great time putting on costumes, doing crafts, and trick-or-treating in class!

Lake Shikaribetsu is about 30km north of Shikaoi. Nestled up in the mountains, it is one of the highest elevation lakes in Hokkaido, and incredibly beautiful.

I was invited to go canoe-ing at Lake Shikaribetsu by my fellow Shikaoi ALT. I’m averse to nature (where the bugs live), or being trapped in a small boat in 300 ft deep water, but I decided to give it a shot! We also went with another new ALT from the nearby town Shimizu. We had a great time!

The drive up to lake Shikaribetsu is both terrifying and stunning. The road curves sharply, and at times has steep drops on both sides, but the scenery only gets more beautiful as you go on. As you might realize, this can be an especially dangerous combination.

As you approach the main lake area, you will first drive through a long tunnel, before being greeted by three large buildings; the nature centre, where you can sign up for activities such as canoeing, or rowboat rentals; Café Mubanchi, and the gift shop, which are are located in the same Tudor-style building; and the hotel.

There is another restaurant at the hotel with a lake view, and on the drive to Lake Shikaribetsu, there are also a handful of other places to eat. Roadhouse Nest is about 20 minutes from the lake, and has the best pizza I’ve had in Shikaoi so far!

After registering for the 2pm canoe session, we went for lunch at Café Mubanchi, where we got our fill of stew, bagels, and awkward English printed on tiny decorative napkins.

The guides spoke enough English to teach us the basics of canoeing, and then sent us off on the water. I opted for the canoe with a guide, since we were an odd numbered group. Right away, the guide asked me if I was from Stony Plain, and then told me that his daughter is one of my students! What a small world! The relationship between Stony Plain and Shikaoi can be felt so strongly here.

The sky was cloudy, but thankfully we avoided any rain during our canoe trip.

For those in Stony Plain, please stop by the “20 Years of Friendship” mural in Shikaoi Park and look for Lake Shikaribetsu in the background!

The last week of our exchange was busy and exciting. On July 8 and 9, we split into 2 groups and started our school visits.  On Monday we went to Shikaoi Elementary, Shihoronai Elementary, Sasagawa Elementary and Shikaoi Junior High School, Urimaku Elementary, Tsumei Elementary and wrapped up at Urimaku Junior High.  We enjoyed lunch at Shikaoi Junior High, where we ate in the classrooms with the students. Lunch was delicious and it was interesting to see how the students at the school participate to serve lunch, and clean up afterwards. On Tuesday we visited Shikaoi High School where we met the students that will be travelling to Stony Plain in October. We also participated in a cooking class and made our own bento lunch of ginger pork, rice and salad. While at the schools we participated in traditional Japanese games, songs and dances. All the students we excited to teach us their culture and have us in their schools. After our visit to the high school, we toured the Shikaoi Fire Hall. It was really interesting to see how they handle emergency calls and what their fire trucks are like inside, being that they are smaller than ours in Stony Plain. We then headed to the Aozora Kindergarten class where we met the young students who delighted in showing us their games and having us play with them. It was so much fun!

On July 10 we started our journey to Sapporo. We took the train from Shintoku to Sapporo where we arrived in a bustling station/huge shopping centre. We enjoyed lunch at “The Buffet” where we tried many different types of Japanese and Western cuisine. We walked to our hotel to check in and drop off our luggage and then enjoyed some free time checking out Sapporo and doing some shopping in the Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade, a 1.5 km long covered street filled with shops and restaurants . The next day we walked to the Sapporo TV Tower where we went up 90 meters and enjoyed seeing the view of the beautiful city. We then toured the Former Hokkaido Government Office Building and the beautiful grounds surrounding it. We found a cute little restaurant where we enjoyed lunch and then headed off to do more sight-seeing and shopping. The group enjoyed dinner where they cooked their food directly at the tables. The following day we toured the beautiful Hokkaido Jingu Shrine and then headed to the Shiroi Koibito Chocolate Factory. It was the grand re-opening, so it was quite busy, but interesting to see how the famous Shiroi cookies and cakes are made. We all got ourselves and our families some tasty treats from the gift shop. Then, it was back on the bus to start our drive back to Shikaoi. Once we arrived, we met up with our host families to spend the weekend with them.

Our last weekend in Shikaoi was spent with our host families, enjoying pancakes at the Heisei Hall, and participating in the Shikaoi High School Festival. Due to the rain, the parade was cancelled, but the presentation that the students put on were fun and exciting to watch. Even the teachers were involved! After the presentations, students participated in games and activities, while others did some shopping and toured around the Town. On Sunday the High School students were making and selling treats and snacks in their classrooms. The atmosphere was fun and you could hear laughter everywhere.  It was also great to see the Stony Plain students involving themselves in all the activities. That night, the teachers and chaperones spent time together over dinner and then enjoyed some fun Karaoke singing. Monday was the national holiday, Ocean Day, so there was no school and a lot of host families did not have to work. Our host families took us shopping, out for a round of golf, and for a final authentic Japanese dinner. Our last night was spent with our new families and cherishing the time we had.

Tuesday was our farewell breakfast. The Town of Shikaoi presented the Town of Stony Plain with a gift of a Celadon pottery jar. After breakfast and many tears, we got on the bus and sadly waved goodbye to our new and old friends and families. We waved out the windows until we could no longer see them and started our long, 9700 km journey back home. We were excited to see our families after two weeks away, but sad to leave a town and the people in it we had all come to love. Until next time Shikoai, mata oai shimasho.

The Town of Stony Plain has been a Sister Town to Shikaoi, in Hokkaido, Japan for the past 34 years – quite a milestone! From the Shikaoi Exchange Long Stay Volunteer Program to the Student Delegation, Shikaoi and Stony Plain are always connecting through unique travelling opportunities. Many memories have been made and there are more to come.

This is the first post on the new blog. Long Stay Volunteer Program and Student Delegation participants will now have the opportunity to share their adventures and stories on this blog during their Japan stay. Make sure to subscribe to get notified when we post new updates.