Retracing Old Steps - July 13

On Friday morning, we paid Debbie a visit.  Debbie is someone who grew up in Sapporo, like I did.  I knew her younger sisters better than her, but have been in touch with her recently through a Hokkaido International School Facebook site.  She has been very helpful with information about the school, traveling in Japan, and with assisting me in contacting an old teacher.  We found her at her home, waiting for us with tea and cherries.  She’s a translator and artist, and shared with us many of the interesting projects she’s been involved in.  As she is a knowledgeable “lifer” in Sapporo, we picked her brains for a little more information about places to go, then were off to explore the “new” Hokkaido International School (HIS).

HIS is where I went to school from the 1st through 9th grades (except for 5th & 6th, which were in the USA).  At the time I attended, I believe there were about 55-65 students.  There were four in my first grade class.  Now it goes from 1st through 12th grades and has an enrollment of 190 students.  They are located in a newer, more upgraded facility in another location than when I attended.  I was hoping to find some of the old picture albums in the library, but they were not available at the time.  I did have an interesting conversation with one of the teachers, though, about how the school has changed over the years.  As a side note, she mentioned that there were some students in the dorm, of Japanese descent, from Sakhalin Island (north of Hokkaido, and under Russian control).  I was shocked, as there was no back-and-forth between Sakhalin and Japan, that I knew of, when I lived there.  But apparently over the last 10-15 years, there has been a loosening of restrictions that has allowed some exchange, which I’m sure is wonderful for families who had been separated.  It was nice to see that HIS has continued on and seems to be thriving.

Back of HIS with Dormitory on the right and Athletic Fields in foreground.

So then it was time to visit my old neighborhood and the area where the old HIS had been.  We had lived close to the school, as my parents ran a hostel for children whose parents wanted them to get an English-language education.  Missionaries were scattered around the island, but HIS provided the primary English-language educational facility in Hokkaido, so that’s where many of the children were sent.  So I grew up with my siblings and quite a few others as well.  Over the years, my family size varied, but at it’s largest, was 15.  For this reason, we lived in a big house, by Japanese standards.  However that house is no longer standing.  Neither is the old school.  The Sapporo Dome, a sports arena, stands where the school used to be.  I had been told this, so was prepared.  But nothing prepared me for the fact that I would recognize absolutely NOTHING in my old neighborhood.  Well, almost.  There was one house, and a creek.  But that’s it.  Most of the old roads are still in the same place, but the fields and apple orchards are all gone.  There are new highways cutting through where no roads had been before, the old houses and buildings have been replaced by new ones.  If you had plopped me down in that neighborhood and asked me if I’d been there before, I’d have said no.  But I had a map, so I knew I was in the right place.  I was happy to find the little stream that we used to ride our bikes to, and where I remember catching little frogs with Ken and taking them home with great pride to our horrified mothers.  It’s been turned into a small park, complete with a little playground.  The experience left me reeling slightly, but not in an entirely bad way.  There were lots of little children in the streets, coming home from school.  They looked happy.  It was clearly a family neighborhood and appeared to be comfortably well maintained.  As with HIS, it had all changed, but seemed to have grown and to be thriving.  It made me feel better about how different it all was.  For those of you who haven’t been here, the photos may not be so interesting.  Mostly, they’re for a few who lived there but haven't been back in a long time:  my siblings Rachel & Phil, and my childhood friend and neighbor, Paula.

The grey building (and attached brick one) stands where my house and garage once stood.
The spindly tree is close to where a barrel stood on the corner of our property,
where my father burned our trash.
Where the buildings behind the tree stand, there was once an apple orchard.
Paula, I believe that's white house is the same one that Hideyuki's family built,
and beyond it is a red building that stands where your house used to be.
I always thought of us as living at the bottom of a hill, but there's barely an incline;
a child's perspective, I guess.

Paula, this is at the top of the block and these two buildings
stand on where your home and yard used to be.
The bottom of the red building is a Kumon learning center.

See the dome in the background?  That's where the school used to be.
This is where we took the short-cut getting to school and walked
from the road over a field to the school property.

This is about half-ways to school, looking back
towards the house.  Just beyond the small figure in the road
is the corner with Paula's house and the top of our little hill.
The entire stretch used to be fields.
I remember trudging along snow-plowed roads with drifts
so high that I couldn't see over them.
Of course I was probably only 3 feet tall, but still!

Other side of Paula's house, looking down our little hill.

The little stream in the park, site of wading and frog catching.

After that, we took our hungry bellies to an excellent ramen shop, recommended by Debbie.  Exhausted, we rested for the remainder of the day.