Well, had an interesting Golden Week, I suppose.  The first half was sunny and beautiful, and the second half was rainy and cold.  It was fun, though.  On Friday, my friends and I went to a really nice Karaoke bar.  You get your own private soundproof room and a selection of drinks and food.  We also found an actual Mexican restaurant!!  I had a taco, it was wonderful! On Monday I went to Shin Sapporo, Thursday I went to Susukino(the nightlife district of Sapporo) to shop.  The night time is full of bars, clubs, and karaoke, but in the daytime it is a good place for shopping and eating.  I found a Hello Kitty doll there for Jessie, so that search is finally over.  Then on Friday we went to Otaru, the historic glass making town we went to before.  Apparently, its name means "little barrel", which is kinda cute. We took a train out there this time, so we were able to see the sea of Japan, which was nice.  Also, for lunch we stopped at this interesting restaurant.  The food was Italian, but the theme was Southwestern.  They even sold southwestern jewelry.  I have noticed though that southwestern style seems to be popular here.  I have seen more than a few guys sporting a Texas bow tie! The pizza was delicious though.  It was a decent sized Margarita pizza that was only 900 yen(much cheaper than pizza hut's prices, which is 1100 yen for a small pizza).  Sadly, the welcome barbecue that my host family was going to throw for me was canceled due to weather and the flu, but instead they gave me a sushi dinner instead, which was good too!  Afterwards we played card games, so it was a pretty fun evening.  Their daughter from Canada is staying with us for a month, and it has been really nice talking to her, as she is fluent in English and can clear up any translation issues that may occur.  So that was my Golden week.  It's technically not over, as it is still Saturday, but  I am not planning on going anywhere else, as I have my first big exam on Monday, and I have to study :(  Oh well.  Here are some pictures:
The mythical Japanese-Mexican restaurant. 

 Karaoke!  The people pictured are my friend Lexi and Shuhei. 

 Found some fishy cat treats!  If I bought these for comet, do you think he would forgive me for being away for four months?

 Random Jesus and Mary pens found in a department store.  They also had some Anubis pens in the mix, as those two religions go so well together!

 Susukino in the daytime (pretty sakura!)

 Sushi dinner (I bet I am making my family sooo jealous right now!)

 The family playing card games.

 My hello kitty quest is finally over!

 Went back to mister donut, had to try the strawberry version.  Apparently the doughnuts all have different facial expressions.  I almost felt guilty eating something so cute. 

 The sea of Japan as seen from the train. 

 Otaru mall.  Everywhere we went, there was fishy stuff.  I was in heaven!

 Row of restaurants.

 Shrine shop. 

 Gotta love the cherry blossoms!

 mmm, sushi!