Trip to Hokkaido, Pt.1 - Leaving Akita.

[FRIDAY Feb 4th
]I left AIU after a 1hrs worth of running around the campus packing and getting ready to leave. I took the 2pm bus to Aeon (the local mall) and then hung out with Phil (another AIU student) for an hour before we left on another bus that would take us to Akita city.


Phil got off a couple stops before me to go to his part-time job, and I got off at the station. I bought the train ticket that would take me to the train stop near the Ferry terminal, and had it been a colder day I would have walked to the terminal- but because it has rained and was warm all the ice/snow on the streets or sidewalks had turned into slush. So I took a taxi there instead.


Chiaki had been a dear and helped me reserve my tickets for the ferry, so I had to check in, fill out some paper work and then buy my tickets. This was a bit past 4:30pm or so. We were not allowed to board the boat until 5pm, and when I did I was confused as to where I was to sleep. I went with the cheapest room, which meant I was sharing with a couple strangers (I was joined by 5 people), but I wasn’t sure where this room was located. Thankfully a nice man helped me figure everything out.


The boat trip was rather uneventful, I watched a movie on my computer and then fell asleep only to be woken up by the announcement that was announcing that they were turning off the lights and to sleep well. I couldn’t fall back asleep after that, so I wandered around the whole ship. I even went outside and enjoyed seeing the wake, and some city lights. By midnight I still couldn’t fall asleep so I started watching videos on my ipod, but only succeeded in draining its battery and not helping me fall asleep.

[SATURDAY Feb 5th]

Eventually by 1am or so I was able to find a comfortable position and get some shut-eye. But, the announcements began again at 3:20am and then the lights came back on. Our boat arrived at 4:30 in ( ) and I stayed at the terminal until 5:20am, then I took a taxi to the train station. There I waited for a while until I could catch a series of local trains to Sapporo. I arrive 90 minutes or so later in this fair city.


I am now hanging out in Starbucks, drinking coffee (I know! It is crazy!) in my Hokkaido travel mug that I bought in Sendai, and feeling like I am still on the boat. But, I am not sure if that is just me being super tired, I have not had enough sleep this entire week, or if I just don’t have my land legs back yet.


Anyways, I have no plans for anything today… including a place to sleep. So I think I will try to find a place to store my luggage and then explore the city and try to get a feel for where things are. And hopefully lose the feeling of a moving floor.