Author Archives: Eryk Salvaggio

On Suitcases | 荷物

Posted on July 23, 2010 by Eryk Salvaggio

A guide to packing a suitcase for life abroad in Japan. Continue reading →

Posted in Preparations | 2 Comments

On E-Mail | 電子メール

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Eryk Salvaggio

All of my official e-mail from Japan is sent as a Microsoft Outlook Express e-mail archive with a single message, stuffed into a .zip folder and e-mailed as an attachment – with a password sent separately to unlock the .zip file, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Weird | 1 Comment

On Textbooks | 教科書

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Eryk Salvaggio

I went shopping in Cambridge, MA this weekend for teaching materials for the Language Lab. This is challenging: Teaching high school kids, you don’t want anything that will come off as condescending or boring, but you also don’t want to … Continue reading →

Posted in Preparations, Teaching | Tagged books | Leave a comment

Omiyage | お土産

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Eryk Salvaggio

I have to buy gifts for 30 strangers. It’s a Japanese tradition of Omiyage: You give gifts to neighbors; employers; co-workers; landlords; especially when you first meet them. The rules: Gifts should reflect interests I share with the (possibly nonexistent) recipient. … Continue reading →

Posted in Preparations, Weird | 3 Comments

On the Serious | 重大考え

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Eryk Salvaggio

I’ve read plenty of Buddhists who talk about the inability of the ‘typical Western mind’ to sit and be alone with itself in a quiet room. As a typical Western mind I’m enamored by distractions. I think about this when … Continue reading →

Posted in Thinking | Leave a comment