Otaru

On Tuesday the host family took us to a city called Otaru. It is a city on the west coast of Hokkaido, about an hour away from Sapporo. I can’t put my finger on it, but something about this city felt comfortable and familiar. We first stopped at the fisherman’s house, an old house built on the money from tons of fish owned by a super rich guy back in the day. It felt completely stopped in time, with hand blown window panes and walls with hand carved decorations and calligraphy.

After a lunch of kamo soba, or duck soba, which was delicious, we went on to wander the downtown streets of the seaside city. Something about the feel of the city reminded me of some of the towns I have lived in, like Anderson and Goshen. It was quiet but full of tourists and gift shops. I bought a blue glass vase for under $25 and got to see the famous shop where Adam bought my music box. I also ate three of the chocolate samples being provided by the chocolate shop (along with Adam and Molly). We had already gotten two by hitting up the server on each side of the building. We walked by the first guy again and he didn’t offer us more. But Hiromi, being the assertive woman she is, simply walked back to the guy and took three samples off his tray. Score! It was so funny.

To add to our sugar high, Masaki treated all of us to famous Hokkaido caramel ice cream. Molly and I opted for the vanilla Hokkaido milk-caramel twist, while Adam got the full caramel experience. He tried to convince us that his choice was better, but we both know he was wrong.

For dinner it was a home cooked meal, with salad, teriyaki chicken, and rice, or course. It was good to have a nice family meal to break up all of the eating out. It’s also nice to have family away from family. The Hataya family has been so kind to us.

~Melissa