Photo: Sad Clown Doll Sometimes I feel like I don’t understand my role my as an English teacher in Japan. What exactly do parents expect from me? I thought my job was to depart knowledge. I speak English. I will therefore teach your children to do the same. But now I’m beginning to think that… Read More Teaching English Is No Joke
‘Kawaii’ means ‘cute’ in Japanese and is a very useful word to know in Japan because you can use to describe practically anything and everything. As in, ‘Look at that dog in a Mickey Mouse costume! It’s so kawaii!’ Or, ‘Look at that man’s cell phone charm shaped like a hot dog! Kawaii!’ Everything here… Read More Kawaii Culture Craze
Okay, warning: I’m about to make fun of Japanese fashion for a second. But I’m sorry, it’s just too funny not to. T-shirts with English phrases printed on them are really popular here. Unfortunately for these t-shirts (and the people who where them), somewhere in the manufacturing process, spell check and a translation check were… Read More ‘Engrish’ T-Shirts are Hirarious
Last week I visited Yoyogi Park for the first time and it was Disneyland, Halloween and the zoo all wrapped up into one giant parade of the weirdest Tokyo has to offer. It was people-watching heaven. There were girls dressed like Disney princesses (but sluttier, think stripper heels and short skirts) and guys decked out… Read More Yoyogi Park in Tokyo is People-Watching Heaven
Me at the Kasai Rinkin Koen Beach in Tokyo Like my fan? It’s tres Japanese. Summer has finally hit Japan. Hard. And I live on the first floor of a concrete apartment building that has no air conditioning. And there are only three windows in my entire apartment. So as you can probably imagine, cold… Read More What Tokyo is like in the Summer: Time to break out the gloves and sun umbrellas!
You don’t need to spend a lot of money on sight-seeing excursions to enjoy a day in a foreign country. You just need to adjust your idea of what “sight-seeing” involves. One of my favorite things to do when in a new country, is to wander the aisles of the local grocery, department or toy… Read More Found at a ‘Toys R Us’ in Japan
I had a freakishly awesome day that I just felt that I had to share with the world. “The World” being the handful of friends that are (hopefully?) reading this…and possibly, maybe, my dad. Anyways, I had the afternoon off from work and went in search of a Japanese language class, (pouring paprika on my… Read More Anteaters and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
A few weeks ago I was very gung-ho about joining a gym. But then luckily I remembered that I don’t actually go to gyms. I just join them, buy a closet full of cute exercise clothes and then talk incessantly and obsessively about how I should be at the gym instead of at (insert name… Read More English Teacher…Or Aerobics Instructor?
Here’s what I’ve been up to the last few days… Today, I frightened a four year old so bad she sobbed hysterically for fifteen minutes straight. And all I did was walk into the classroom. I have to admit, I was a little offended. I’d spent an hour getting ready for work and thought that… Read More Who’s Having the Best Week Ever?
When I went into my neighborhood grocery store for the first time, I was surprised to hear “Hungry Like the Wolf” blasting through the speakers. Then I realized that it wasn’t coming from the grocery store, but from the gym located in the back corner of the store (I know, dumb of me not make… Read More There’s a Gym at my Grocery Store