I’ve been struggling for awhile now with keeping these posts nice and concise and readable. So I’m going to impose a 500-word limit on myself for at least the next few entires and see where I end up. It’s been rather busy in Tokyo these past few weeks. My sister, step-brother, step-brother’s best friend a.k.a psuedo-step brother, and one of my best friends from the … Continue reading The Impostors of Ginzan Onsen
We’re now on the second to last day of our trip—we’ll be riding the long local trains back to Tokyo tomorrow morning. The scene outside our current train is the thick blue haze of dusk, with dampness sinking into the fields and onto the black thatched roofs of the little Japanese houses scattered around, or else hovering around the great mountain backdrop and choking it … Continue reading Kanazawa Train Travels – Part 2
I’m starting this post not in the best place for blog posting– sitting on the awkward half-seats in the middle of the train corridor next to the door. The area we’re passing through right now is so inaka (countryside) that the doors don’t automatically open when the train stops, and in fact few passengers of this four-car train are alighting at any of the in-between stops, and only … Continue reading Kanazawa Train Travels – Part 1
I think there’s nothing as purely enjoyable as sitting outside, even in the frosty cold of March, and playing music. Last Spring my musical friend and I used to do this quite a bit in the park next to my apartment (the beautiful Inokashira Park). We’d place ourselves on a bench (or on the ground if we had the foresight to bring a blanket) facing … Continue reading Tokyo Tower Jam Sessions
Well I’m a little off my weekly posting schedule that I’ve been keeping to pretty well until now. But, then again, since my last post contained 3 consecutive entires, I think that can compensate for the lapse. While thinking over the past 2 or 3 weeks’ adventures, and trying to decide which one to focus on for this entry, I realize that most of these … Continue reading Music After Dark
Well I begin this post back in Tokyo, with a full day of lazy recuperating behind me. It was actually unbelievably warm in Tokyo yesterday– a high of 75 degrees, and stunningly sunny the whole day long. Unfortunately for me I hadn’t slept much at all the previous night, so rather than walking around Kichijoji and drinking in the gorgeous sunshine, I threw open all the … Continue reading Northern Treks (Day 3)
I tend to like starting these posts with a description of my current surroundings for whatever reason, so let me begin from there once again. I’m now in the far less atmospheric (and far less warm) kitchen of my host’s house, since I assumed that my kind host would not exactly approve of me bringing a cup of tea and chocolate cake up to my … Continue reading Northern Treks: Iwate (Day 2)
Well I start this post in much different surroundings from my last one. I’m sitting on the tatami floor of a beautiful Japanese-style room (right next to the flame-burning space heater, as there is no central heating). The room is divided into 2 identical 6-tatami mat rooms (~10 sq ft each) by a beautiful fabric sliding door, painted with a simple Japanese landscape (currently open so that … Continue reading Northern Treks: Iwate (Day 1)
I think I may have found my new favorite place for writing/blogging/general working: this cute little bakery/cafe a half a mile or so down the road from my gym. Well except for the fact that the kindly barista brought me herbal tea instead of the coffee I ordered (in and of itself not a great offense or really an offense at all). But then, upon … Continue reading Shoes and Ritual
According to my suspiciously easy teaching contract, I’m supposed to teach at my school only 16 days a month. The theory behind this is that the same teaching contract applies to all teachers in my program placed in Tokyo Prefecture. Up until a few years ago, most of those teachers were not placed in the greater metropolitan Tokyo area, but were rather in the outskirts … Continue reading Who is laughing at mankind?
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