When I went to pick up my key to my new apartment, I asked the receptionist at the agency to look up some information about my soon-to-be new roommates. I was then informed that I’d be living with five people: Four guys and a girl. An American, a French, an Australian, a Brit and an… Read More My New Apartment Situation
At first glance, there’s nothing seemingly unusual about the building. Just your average seven story, red brick building on a nondescript street in Tokyo’s financial district. But upon second glance, you might notice that hanging from every apartment window are identical, lime-green, plaid curtains, or perhaps you spy the giant sign posted near the front… Read More The Foreigner’s Ghetto
It is my belief that there are a few things in life that one should never have to experience alone. One of them is celebrating a birthday. Another is being 16 and eating at an empty table in a crowded high school cafeteria. And another is…moving. Yesterday I moved to my new apartment with only… Read More Moving Day
“We do the dance right We got it made like Ice cream topped with honey But we got no money “ – Lady GaGa I once met a 23-year-old who had won the lottery. I can’t remember now how much she won, but it was enough that she could afford to quit her job giving… Read More Dirty Rich
I’m staying in Japan. For now. I’m getting kicked out of my current apartment. But I’m moving into a new (and bigger and better!) one next week. I started a new job. I’m teaching ESL…to children. One of my new students gave me their cold. I now have a fever. Unfortunately, these are all the… Read More Update on My Life…
Yesterday morning I threw myself a little ‘Pity Party’. Nothing too extravagant. Just me, myself and I and and an assortment of Valentine’s Day chocolate and cookies (courtesy of my four year old students and an impulsive shopping spree at the 100 yen shop) arranged across my tatami mat floor. If that scene in my… Read More My Sorry Attempt to Save the World…
The only thing worse than being single and dateless on Valentines Day, is being single and dateless in Japan, where, (thanks to evil marketing powers that be) you get to dread not one overly-hyped couples gift-giving holiday but two. Yep, in Japan they celebrate Valentines Day twice a year, once on the traditional February 14th… Read More Meet My New Boy Toy
I was walking down a crowded street in Shinjuku (think Midtown Manhattan at Christmas time, that’s how crowded it is) today when I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was the Ghost From College Past. A guy I hadn’t seen since freshmen year. Seven years ago. In upstate New York. Apparently, he’d moved to… Read More Six Degrees of a Tokyo Gaijin Part 2
Today I got laid off from my fabulous new job…a fact that I’m sure I’ll one day find funny, once I’ve stopped eating butter cookies and staring at my ceiling in stunned shock of it all. I know that I’m probably being horrible over dramatic right now. Just as I was earlier when I wandered… Read More Thoughts on Being Jobless in Japan
It’s so strange working at an international school. I work in this mini-American land that’s been carved out of a small chunk of Tokyo, right off of Roppongi and next to a McDonald’s and a Starbucks. Whenever I exit the subway station and step foot into “Little America” as I’ve nicknamed it, it feels a… Read More Little America