Author Archives: owwls

On Getting Rid of Japanese in Japan

Posted on September 25, 2013

Kanji is hard. The hieroglyphic written script (just one of three) used in Japanese has a weird history, borrowed and bastardized from the Chinese. And it takes years, even for the Japanese, to learn. For foreigners used to Roman scripts, … Continue reading →

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Posted in Kanji, language | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

On Driving a Train Off the Rails in Japan

Posted on September 18, 2013

It was just after the morning rush on an April day in Amagasaki, a city of about half a million people close to Osaka. A JR commuter train was taking a bend on the track when it derailed, crashing into … Continue reading →

Posted in Thinking, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 7 Comments

On Flirting for Necklaces in Nepal and Sri Lanka

Posted on September 5, 2013

The only reason anyone can go shopping is because everyone has something they don’t want.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

On Life Outside the Palace

Posted on August 22, 2013

None of us would want to swim in the lake where Buddha was born.

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On Killing 500,000 Chickens in Nepal

Posted on August 19, 2013

We were walking around a stupa at Boudhanath when a dead pigeon fell out of the sky.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

On Drinking Coke in a Liminal State in Nepal

Posted on August 15, 2013

There’s a Tibetan word, “Bardo,” that refers to the space between different lifetimes.

Posted in Culture Shock | Tagged , , | 3 Comments