Abashiri Road Trip!

I've been lucky to have a wonderful woman tutor me in Japanese once a week.  She has gone above and beyond her duties of tutoring to get me involved in local community activities and meet people.  Recently, she took me and two of her other students (Chi - a Chinese student who is learning Japanese, and Goro - a Japanese man learning English) to Abashiri to check out some of the museums and see the beautiful fall Hokkaido countryside.

Here are a few pictures from out trip. Enjoy!

The abandoned farm building, the grasses, and the lake remind me of South Dakota

The Drift Ice Museum

Me, Chi, and my tutor in front of real drift ice

Goro, Chi, and me at the top of the Drift Ice Museum in Abashiri

Abashiri's sister city is Port Alberni of Canada

The Museum of Northern Peoples - very small but very interesting!

The Museum of Northern Peoples

This is some grass festival where they celebrate the changing colors of the grass. Every fall the grass changes to a deep red color, but this fall it is a few weeks behind due to the unusually hot summer weather.

This horse ranch charges customers 1,000 yen (~$10-12) to ride a horse for ONE loop around a small circle.  Rip off!

I had a great time and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  I am looking forward to more trips like this!

Peace,

Kim