Ohayo. Ohayo. New Jersey.

It’s September already.  Yikes.  Summer came and went without so much as a thank you and now we’re prepping to take in the cooler weather of autumn, which means that we’re busting out the duvets.  But just before I succumb to the subtle mellow tones of fall, I was able to sneak in several final summer notes.

I spent a glorious weekend lazing about Asahikawa, Hokkaido’s second largest city.  It’s a wonder I hadn’t spent more time there as it’s a bit closer to me than Sapporo.  They’ve got a hoppin’ night life (I even had a Negra Modelo!) and this great avenue full of bars and restaurants and boutique clothing shops.  They even have an Aveda store!  The weather that weekend was quite perfect and half of the day was spent lounging in a park, staring at the sky, and chronicling the movements of the dragonflies.

That weekend I also went to Magical Camp.  (Yeah, I thought the same thing…)  Every year in the Teine Highlands just outside of Sapporo, Magical Camp puts on its all night art and music festival.  I had expected hippies and tons of kumbayah, but it was a very intriguing collection of psychedelic, street, hip hop eclectic madness.  There was even a brass band.  (I know, right.)  I quickly threw away those expectations and just went along with it.  My favorite part had to be the “snow lounge.”  Under the motto of “No More Hot,” a giant sleeping area was fashioned from trash bags filled with shredded paper and covered in white tarps.  Cozy snow banks those were!  They had some mellow music playing to help ease people into their comas but unfortunately, the desired effect was a tad interrupted by the ubiquitous heavy bass emerging from the dj’ed room.  In spite of the ridiculous bass trying to reset my heartbeat, Magical Camp was a blast.  I was able to catch a sunrise again (there’ve been a lot of those lately…).  Probably the most entertaining part was observing how everyone slept.  People were passed out everywhere and in every which way.  One guy even looked like he had fallen down a set of stairs with his head cocked back, eyes slightly open, and one leg contorted in a way I’ve only seen in emergency rooms.  Amazing.

And finally, as a last hurrah for summer, we have been throwing our annual regional welcome parties for all the newly arrived JETs.  Being in charge of the Doutou (Eastern region) I had the responsibility of putting on our welcome party.  We had it at a beautiful campsite at Point Kimuaneppu on Lake Saroma, a little over an hour northwest of me.   The week leading up to the party, the weather had been (surprise surprise) rainy, cloudy, and generally unpleasant.  I camped out at the site a day early with a several other hearty souls.  It was surprisingly warm with a good breeze going.  All around us, we kept seeing flashes of light as thunderstorms flanked us in a pincer fashion.  Amazingly enough, these storms kept their distance, and we were treated to a light show for several hours.  It was pretty spectacular.  The day of the party, the clouds cleared out and the wind died down.  Thus the bugs moved in.  Hundreds upon hundreds of mosquitoes descended upon our exposed skin.  Along with the mosquitoes came the eager partiers converging from all over the east and other parts of the island.  While I busied myself prepping our meal that night (noodle bar with roasted corn and baked potatoes) the other partiers got down to business with their own crazy olympics.  Jollity ensued as everyone ate until they were stuffed and libations flowed liberally.  We had a gorgeous, near full moon to keep us company that night, making sure we didn’t accidentally fall into the lake.  There was poi flinging, hula hoops, a neon pink track suit, and a couple big sticks.  All in all, it was quite the amazing night.  A magical good bye to our short-lived summer.