Hello from the Frozen North!

Please introduce yourself
Post Reply
rekrab
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:28 pm
Been thanked: 8 times

Hello from the Frozen North!

Post by rekrab »

Hello everyone, I just find it about this forum today. I've been living in the northern part of Hokkaido for the last 18 months. It's been an absolute dream come true after living in Los Angeles for over half my life! I'm an ALT for Interac, but when I'm not teaching I enjoy skiing, hiking, photography and driving around Japan's northernmost island. There aren't a whole lot of foreigners up here so if you have any questions about Hokkaido and specifically about Rumoi-gun, Teshio-gun, or Soya-gun, I'll do my best to answer. I still haven't explored all of Hokkaido, heck is say I've only driven through about a quarter of it and I haven't even made it South of Sapporo!

Anyways, thanks for having me, I'm looking forward to getting to know you all.

User avatar
Zasso Nouka
Tech Support
Tech Support
Posts: 5705
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:37 am
Location: Chiba Prefecture
Has thanked: 4120 times
Been thanked: 3394 times

Re: Hello from the Frozen North!

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Thank you for signing up to JSL, we really do appreciate the effort.

You might well be our most northerly member, I do envy your summers up there. No suffocating humidity or heat that feels like it's going to melt you and winters must be starkly beautiful. Would love to see some of your photography at some point if you have an the inclination to share it.

I am curious what winters are like up there, down here we count a few millimetres of snow as a heavy downfall, how much do you get there ? Must be quite interesting to have such large seasonal variations.

User avatar
gonbechan
Founder
Founder
Posts: 2531
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:10 am
Has thanked: 2687 times
Been thanked: 1436 times

Re: Hello from the Frozen North!

Post by gonbechan »

Hokkaido is an incredibly beautiful place to drive around, and you do have some of the best roads in all of Japan.

Lovely to have you here rekrab.

rekrab
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:28 pm
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: Hello from the Frozen North!

Post by rekrab »

Zasso Nouka wrote:Thank you for signing up to JSL, we really do appreciate the effort.

You might well be our most northerly member, I do envy your summers up there. No suffocating humidity or heat that feels like it's going to melt you and winters must be starkly beautiful. Would love to see some of your photography at some point if you have an the inclination to share it.

I am curious what winters are like up there, down here we count a few millimetres of snow as a heavy downfall, how much do you get there ? Must be quite interesting to have such large seasonal variations.
Glad to be here! Sorry I took so long to respond, had a few crazy weeks.

Yes, the summers here are really amazing. It can hit 40, but that's pretty uncommon. Definitely better than down south.

The winters can be charitably described as brutal. Last year the snow piles in front of my apartment were cleared out three times when they reached 2 meters tall. I had to shovel the snow in front of my garage at least once, most often twice a day. For 5 freaking months! There were at least three total blizzards that created white-out conditions. There were plenty of times when I couldn't drive to the ski hill because the snow and wind were so bad that I couldn't safely drive anywhere.

But really, I wouldn't trade it for anything. The lifestyle up here is amazing. If I get a chance I'll share some photos!

User avatar
Zasso Nouka
Tech Support
Tech Support
Posts: 5705
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:37 am
Location: Chiba Prefecture
Has thanked: 4120 times
Been thanked: 3394 times

Re: Hello from the Frozen North!

Post by Zasso Nouka »

No worries at all,

We take life in the slow lane here so please don't feel under any pressure to post super regular. Your winters do indeed sound savagely brutal but also quite interesting once you've adapted to them.

If you do get some free time then please do feel free to share some of your pictures, would give us southerners a view of what it's like up there.

User avatar
Eric in Japan
Posts: 300
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:21 pm
Has thanked: 190 times
Been thanked: 455 times

Re: Hello from the Frozen North!

Post by Eric in Japan »

rekrab, as a former Minnesotan, and someone who lived in Kushiro for 4 years, I think you should try snowshoeing and cross country skiing as well. Lots of fun in the snow when you can't drive to the ski hill.
"... so, the cucumbers said to the cabbage, `Lettuce Go.`"

rekrab
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:28 pm
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: Hello from the Frozen North!

Post by rekrab »

Eric in Japan wrote:rekrab, as a former Minnesotan, and someone who lived in Kushiro for 4 years, I think you should try snowshoeing and cross country skiing as well. Lots of fun in the snow when you can't drive to the ski hill.
I really prefer letting gravity do the work >.>

Post Reply