Winter Wonderland
January and February represent the coldest period in Hokkaido and this year we have had one of the longest stretches of cold weather in the past few years. Yet, 'cold' is at the very heart of what Hokkaido is about. The island's resorts have seen record breaking accumulations of snow and even in Sapporo the snow is powdery and light as a feather. For the all-important ski industry this is another year to brag about.

What is wonderful about Sapporo in this season is that it is in many ways one of Sapporo's brightest and most cheerful times of the year. The winter sun falls on sparkling blankets of fresh snow that are guaranteed to bring a smile to ones face. The days are clearly getting longer and we have so many things to look forward to: Snow Festival and our own Snow Festival Classic Basketball Tournament, our annual Takino Adventure in the snow, the many opportunities that are there for enjoying the great out of doors through Adventures Hokkaido Club (AdHOC).

We wish you a wonderful winter season. Just around the corner is the renewal that spring brings.

Please visit the HIS Calendar for details on upcoming events.

Mr. Barry Ratzliff
 

Latest Announcements

Friday, February 3, 2012

Snow Festival Classic Weekend: February 3, 4 & 5
HIS annually hosts local and international school teams to the Snow Festival Classic basketball tournament. This year, HIS would like to welcome the following basketball teams: Nagoya International, Seishu High School, Shoshi High School, Keihoku High School and Hokkai High School. In typical Husky fashion, HIS students have prepared banners to welcome each of the visiting teams. The banners are posted in the gym for the rest of the weekend.

FOR GAME TIMES AND DETAILS, PLEASE REFER TO THE HUSKY EXPRESS ONLINE (LOCATED IN THE BUTTON BAR TO THE RIGHT)

For those of you who cannot make it to the games themselves, there is another option: www.ustream.tv Connect to ustream.com and do a search for "HIS Basketball" and you will be able to see the games broadcast live. We hope that in this way we can connect to the wider HIS community both here in Hokkaido and in different parts of the world.

AN APPEAL FOR RICE
Through members of the HIS Community, HIS learned that a local church community in the tsunami-devastated community of Watari-cho, Miyagi Prefecture is making an appeal for rice to feed families that remain under or unemployed in the temporary housing community that was built after the 3/11 disaster of last year. Like many communities that were destroyed last year, Watari-cho has become a forgotten place where support for daily life is drying up. One local church began distributing rice in 2L PET bottles and discovered how needy people were. An appeal was sent out to Hokkaido and the information was passed on to HIS. Contact was made with local organizers through the HIS community and we confirmed the need and how distribution is accomplished. If you wish to participate in this opportunity to help, please follow the below instructions:

1. Select a properly dried 2L PET bottle (tea or water bottles only please -- other bottles leave a taste)
2. Fill the 2L PET Bottle with Rice -- Make sure that it is filled to the very top so that everyone receives an equal amount
3. Write your name on the bottle and "Hokkaido International School" on it with a felt marker
4. Send the bottle to HIS through your child or deliver it to the HIS office

The rice will be distributed once there is an equal amount of rice-filled PET bottles for each of the 85 households that make up the Watari-cho emergency shelter community. These bottles will be given -- without preference -- to each household. Relief work is not tied to any other work and we will receive a report and photos of the distribution.

HIS will be collecting these bottles until February 25. Please join with us to make a difference.

We invite the HIS Community to keep in touch with us through our website and and through announcements on the Husky Express. Please contact me at the school e-mail at anytime.

Sincerely yours,
Barry Ratzliff / Head of School
© 2010-2012 Hokkaido International School, Sapporo, Japan. All rights reserved.