Autumn in Japan is my favorite season. I love the weather and seeing the colorful leaves in the countryside. In November, we took a wonderful road trip to Tohoku and had a great time driving through the mountains. Two very interesting things I saw in Tohoku was this jar of marinated Asian hornet honey:

And also this sign on my hotel room door by Lake Chuzenji, warning me to keep my windows closed! 

Lake Chuzenji was really beautiful, as was the nearby waterfall!

After enjoying the scenery, we visited the Japan Amphibian Laboratory, owned by a friend of Mr. Ito's.

I got to see Japanese and Chinese giant salamanders and was sure to buy my own Japanese Giant Salamander stuffed animal in the gift shop. This center does a lot of research on the eye lenses and joint regeneration abilities of salamanders, which in turn can benefit humans.

I also got to hold a baby ball python!

I'm excited to take all the things I learned and make a new lesson for BIG BOW English Lab!