Mt. Hakodate!

Today turned out to be an exceptionally foggy day, but that didn't stop the summit attack on Mt. Hakodate.  The views were cut off by fog, but the fog lent a mysterious spirity feel to the mountain which was entirely appropriate.  The whole way up (and down)  there were buddhist statues and shrines, and the trail I ended up taking culminated in an amazing graveyard.

Here is an example of several statues on the way up the mountain.  Unfortunately my camera died near the top, so I didn't get any pictures heading down the mountain, but I plan to do it again on a clearer day.  The weather did break a tiny bit at one point giving this teasing view of what the mountain has to offer on a good day:

On top of the mountain there was a massive amount of vending machines, and so I opted to buy myself some banana milk, which was the best banana milk I've ever had.
Lunch was at a great Curry soup place, and I learned an important lesson.  When I ordered, they asked me how spicy I wanted it, from 1-10.  I chose 5, thinking the middle ground would probably have a nice warm kick.  HOT DAMN.  I was basically bawling at the end of the meal, and felt extreme pity on whatever brave soul orders anything higher than 7.  (The Japanese culture of not ever filling your own glass and waiting for someone else to fill it was incredibly inconvenient when there was a pitcher of water sitting right there.)

Tomorrow marks the first day of classes: eek! We have to come with an idea for an independent study that we can conduct while we're here, and since Hakodate is known for its squid and the famous squid dance festival (which I'm here for! that will be madness!), I'm going to do a project that revolves around the adorable little cephalopods.  So expect to hear a bit of info from time to time about skwids.

High: At the top of mt. hakodate, there was a large group of school children (probably 5 years old) wearing matching pink hats (their uniform?).  One little boy yelled out in english "Hello! Nice To meet you! See ya!"  10ish minutes later we crossed paths again and had a simple conversation in Japanese.  It was great!

Low: Camera battery dying.

Hero: Meghan, for teaching me more about buddhism while hiking and letting me borrow her camera for a few pictures.  Thanks meghan!