Letters from the snow｜I always doubt my life when it snows

January 13, 2018

I bid farewell to Taiwan, where I had lived for 23 years, and flew to Narita Airport alone. A man who loves his family and has never been home for more than two weeks, actually flew directly to Japan for the first time when he went out to work. I didn't feel sad when I said goodbye to my parents at the airport, because this was a job opportunity I had been waiting for for a long time.

The moment I start thinking about going home is the moment I land. I didn't expect that I would actually get airsick. I vomited several times in the airplane toilet, and felt very uncomfortable as soon as I landed, and I really wanted to go home and lie down. That day I stayed in a capsule hotel at Narita Airport for one night and then transferred to Hakodate the next day. I dragged my uncomfortable body around the airport alone, and there was no place to rest. I watched the travelers coming and going with a happy smile. Now, I kind of wish my family was around.

That day a Russian girl saw that my face was not good and talked to me. She accompanied me to dinner and chatted for a while before I calmed down and got ready to fly to Hakodate the next day.

January 14, 2018

When I landed, I saw a piece of snow-white Hakodate. The loneliness of the previous day was completely overwhelmed by the feeling of seeing snow for the first time. I felt exhilarated in the bitingly cold air that followed me off the plane. The weather was not very good that day, but there was no snow, only thick snow on the ground. I moved my luggage and got on the shuttle bus to the hotel. I passed a coastal road along the way, with the endless sea on the right and Mount Hakodate in front.

After arriving at the hotel and checking in, I went out to familiarize myself with the city. At that time, I was actually a little disappointed. Before I came here, everyone said that this is the second largest city in Hokkaido. My impression of Japanese cities is Osaka and Okinawa Naha. I didn’t expect that there were not many people on the road except crows, and there were not many cars. . There is a lot of snow on the road. Although I want to reach out and touch it, I am still a little worried by myself. After all, it is not very good for an adult to squat on the side of the road and play in the snow.

Some places on the road were already icy, and the boots brought from Taiwan were too durable and had no anti-slip function. Walking on the road felt that my life was in danger. Especially in some places, there is still a thin layer of snow on the ice. At first glance, it seems that there is no ice and it will not be slippery. Many people fall on their feet when they step on it. That day I went to the department store and immediately bought a pair of non-slip boots and a fur hat.

January 15, 2018

On the first day of work, I returned to the hotel after get off work and had dinner, and the first snow fell outside when I arrived in Hakodate. I picked up my mobile phone and rushed outside. I didn't care that my ungloved hands were too cold, and stood in the middle of the road with my mobile phone to take pictures of the snowflakes. It was wet snow that day, and the snow melted as soon as it touched my clothes, and I stood outside until my coat was wet.

January 19, 2018

I went out with three Taiwanese who reported with me. I finally dared to squat on the side of the road and play in the snow with someone. At least someone with me looked like a tourist. Among the four, I was the only one who saw snow for the first time, and I wanted to build a snowman on the side of the road. The other three seemed a little uninterested, and I gave up after my first failure. It turns out that touching the snow with bare hands will really hurt your hands, so you need to use gloves. Gloves can't be knitted, otherwise they will get wet after touching the snow.

January 25, 2018

In order to find Starbucks, I took the tram to Cross Street Station after get off work to go to the Kanemori Warehouse in the tourist area. It was snowing heavily outside, and my colleague asked me if I really wanted to go out? I was right, for me at the time it was fun to go outside even when it was snowing heavily. But after I got off the tram, on the way to the Jinsen Warehouse, I found that there were almost no people, only the snow hitting my face head-on, and I began to doubt my life. Why did I go out to drink Starbucks at this time? Even so, I insisted on getting up with my mobile phone to take a video of me being slapped in the face by snow and uploading it to Instagram. Before I came to Japan, my friends kept saying that they wanted to see the video of me being slapped in the face by snow, so I thought it was very novel to shoot. .

When I arrived at Starbucks, my whole face was red from the cold, drinking hot coffee and watching the snow falling outside the window, thinking when will the snow stop? I have to go back to the hotel...

January 27, 2018

A friend and I took the night bus to Sapporo. The train arrived at 11 o'clock in the evening and arrived in Sapporo at 5 o'clock in the morning. At that time, we didn't know what it was like in winter at 5 o'clock in the morning, but we were very excited because we went to Sapporo for the first time.

Getting out of the car is a nightmare.

Sapporo in winter, five o'clock in the morning. When we got off the bus, there were no shops open nearby, and it was still snowing lightly on the road. The two of us were trembling while walking on the road. I began to doubt life again.

We walked up to an internet café, intending to go in but thinking it would be too much trouble to get ID. There was no McDonald's on the side of the road, and the nearest MOS Burger didn't open until seven in the morning. We had to sit on chairs at the subway station and wait. Unexpectedly, the subway station didn't turn on the heating, and the two of us sat shivering.

That day, I went sightseeing after having breakfast at Mos Burger and taking a nap. Because we were going back to Hakodate by car at 3 o'clock in the afternoon that day, it was a bit rushed, so we only went to Odori Park and the TV Tower.

When I was in Odori Park, I just encountered heavy snow. The snow in Sapporo is not at the same level as that in Hakodate. The snow on both sides of the road was almost as high as a person. When the snow was at its heaviest, it was hard to see the road ahead.

We later learned the reason why there were no people on the Sapporo road. It turns out that there is an underground passage from Sapporo Station to the busiest Susukino Station! Everyone is walking in the underground, only silly tourists like us will run around on the ground in the snow. I immediately thought, that underground tunnel is simply the greatest invention in human history! I wish Hakodate had one too.

But the excitement about snowing lasted only about two weeks. Later, I just hope that the snow will stop falling.

The first time I played with snow was when my parents came to see me and we went to Onuma Park. My parents in their forties and I threw snowballs at each other in Onuma Park. We wanted to build a snowman but found that it was not so easy to build. I remember that before I went out that day, I told my dad to remember to wear anti-slip pads on the shoes so as not to slip. He said no, but he slipped and fell as soon as he walked out of the restaurant. He had no choice but to touch his nose and go back to the room to get the non-slip pad. My mother really wanted to see the snow, but since she set foot on the land of Hakodate, there was not a drop of water in the sky, until she boarded the plane back to Taiwan, and it snowed!

This is the fourth winter I have spent in Hakodate. When I saw this event, I was thinking, I will write after the first snow falls in Hakodate this year, and finally, it snowed the day before yesterday!

In fact, I still love and hate snow. I still like the feeling of snowflakes falling from the sky, I think it is very romantic, but if it is a snowstorm and the ground freezes, it is life-threatening, whether it is freezing to death or falling to death...In short, I don’t want to die after the snow melts Found dead on the road!

Although I don't know how many winters I can stay here, but I think if I go to a place where there is no snow, maybe I will start to miss this snow-white world.