One of Sapporo's sister cities is Munich, and one result of this is the Munich Market, which is held each year in December. It's a German-style Christmas market, complete with vendors from Germany, German food, and gluwein!
Spending Christmas Eve snowboarding at Kiroro was also wonderful. Hokkaido has the best powder I've ever experienced--and I've also skied Tohoku, the Alps, and the Rockies. Plus, it's inexpensive, and there are usually no lines.
Dishes in my Christmas dinner with a friend and my Japanese teacher: a delicious assortment of Hokkaido sashimi, and potato mochi cheese butter yaki. Hokkaido is known for potatoes, cheese and butter, and this dish combines these specialities--with mochi and a tare sauce. So tasty!
New Year's decorations in Sapporo Station. This display is as tall as a person, and about as big as a Tokyo apartment.
Seeing this photos have made me wonder why I moved back to the States!