Yamagata University (a. k.a. Yamadai) and University of Vermont (UVM) definitely have at least one thing in common: the preferred mode of student transportation is the bicycle. After checking into their dormitory rooms on the Yamadai campus, the first thing our IRES students did was to rush over to the student center and rent five of the many city bikes the university owns. We found out that bicycles carry registration, much like our cars and motorbikes do back home.

Just like our Burlington, Yonezawa is located at the foothills of beautiful mountains covered with luscious green forests this time of the year. My friend, Yoshida -sensei, took us on a team -building hike around the Goshikinuma (Five Colored) Lakes in the Bandai Asahi National Park. The name comes in part from the iron oxide deposits that make the water look red in certain places.