So after almost 2 years of living in Japan, last week I finally ventured into some Japanese cooking for the first time. I’m not sure exactly what brought on my sudden inspiration during the day last Tuesday. Maybe because one of my students was entering some kind of speech contest at the time, and had to write a speech on the topic of Western food’s … Continue reading Japanese Cooking: Lesson 1
I feel like I’m falling into too much of a routine in my Tokyo life lately. I have English club (aka ESS— English Speaking Society) 3 days a week after school on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, which means I get out of work around 6:15/6:30 on those days. So on the non-ESS days I try to leave work as precisely at 5 as possible, challenging … Continue reading The unplugged logic of Tokyo love
The other day I got a random Facebook message from a high school acquaintance (actually I don’t think we ever spoke in high school or thereafter—he’s probably a leftover connection from those early anxious days of Facebook when you befriend everyone you can, and anyone in your high school class is fair game). He wanted to know if I was fluent in Japanese, I guess … Continue reading The Japanese Cave-World
It’s amazing how cold it still gets at night in Nagano even when it was a bright and sunny 75 degrees during the day. Tonight I’ve traded the chilly museum-cafeteria common space for my bunk bed in the still-empty dorm room. The hostel and surroundings are so dark and intensely quiet that it feels much later than 8:30pm. I think there are only two other … Continue reading Into the Mountains: Komagane, Nagano (Day 2)
I feel like this hostel hasn’t really optimized the space of its common area that well. It’s a pretty massive room, at the far right corner a little kitchen space with sink, counter, and such essentials. At the back right (where I’m sitting) is a little gray love seat tucked away in a poorly lit corner of the room. To my left and before the … Continue reading Into the Mountains: Komagane, Nagano (Day 1)
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)
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