Tag Archives: japan

9 More Foods to Try (Or Try to Avoid) in Japan

Posted on November 21, 2011 by

A few weeks ago, the fellows at Nihongoup, the online Japanese-language community, invited me to do a guest post. I went to my default Japanese conversation tactic: I started spewing out the names of foods I like. So I’ve got … Continue reading →

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Posted in Food, Fun, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 8 Comments

On Awkwardly Consoling Japanese Schoolgirls

Posted on November 9, 2011 by

There are only so many things I know how to say in Japanese. I’ve learned that none of them can stop a 15-year-old Japanese girl from crying.

Posted in Culture Shock, language, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

On Being a Teenage Punk in Japan

Posted on November 2, 2011 by

I never really had a normal idea of what punk was. Neither does Japan.

Posted in Fun, Homesickness, Music, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

On Demonic Umbrellas and Japanese Banking

Posted on October 26, 2011 by

In Japan, many ATMs work from 9 to 5 and get weekends and holidays off. That’s better than most humans get. And the reason, I suspect, has more to do with ghosts than any bank is willing to admit.

Posted in Culture Shock, Shinto, Shrines, Thinking, Tradition, Weird | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

On Seasons, or: On Poets Taking Over the Japanese Meteorological Service

Posted on October 19, 2011 by

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” – The Great Gatsby There’s a central body in Japan that declares the coming and going of rain. That means that there is a weather bureaucracy, and someone stamps … Continue reading →

Posted in Thinking, Tradition, Uncategorized, Zen | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Ongakuyōbi: Guitar Wolf

Posted on October 15, 2011 by

This video is terrible sound quality, but it really doesn’t matter with Guitar Wolf. 

Posted in Music, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment