One of the most annoying aspects of the Trump presidency, beside having that asshole as the talking head for my birth nation, is the fact that in Japan playing cards (A234…JQK) are called Trump (トランプ). So, even though political discourse never makes it way into my lessons, I do occationally use playing cards as a […]
Recently Tenkara USA started publishing a free monthly web magazine called “mounTENzine“. The end of each issue features a colorable comic about tenkara, so I took some free time at work to bust out my colored pencils and act like a kid for an hour or so. It really helps pass the time, and keep […]
My old Linux powered Toshiba netbook, the NB205-N210, finally breathed its last spark of electricity on September 3rd, 2018. She put up a noble fight, but her small internal fan had given out and something was causing consistently random reboots / screen lockups. (probably from a failing internal power supply) It all just got to […]
Camping in Japan can be hit and miss. Although there might be opportunities for hardcore back country camping deep inside some national forests, most public lands don’t have decent, low-impact, camping areas. Instead, there are a multitude of privately run campgrounds each offering different amenities, check-in/out times, and rules (and being Japan, there are plenty […]
Here in good old Nippon, where much of the burden of caring for the elderly is placed on sons and daughters, the realities of such dynamics are clearly evident in the workplace. And even though it is seen as an honorable thing to care for one’s family, missing a day of work can easily wipe […]
No other Western holiday, transferred to the shores of Asia, annoys me more than Halloween. Here in Japan, though your occasional kindergarten might hold Halloween events, the holiday seems to be reserved for 20 something Japanese pseudo-eccentrics and patisseries looking to make a buck. There are Halloween themed nomikais (drinking parties), and Halloween hook ups […]
Well, it appears quite a bit a time has passed since my last post. This always frustrates me to no end. So in order to seriously jump start my blogging, I declare the month of November as Blogvember! Since it is also NaNoWriMo, and also since I am not in a novel writing mood just […]
I hate shopping most of the time. That’s a tough position to take living here in Japan, with its long shopping arcades, both above ground and below. But there is one shop in this country I can honestly say I love. Love! It’s in Tokyo, in Kanda, and it sells traditional Japanese hanafuda, karuta, and […]
March 2003, eating a hot dog from a vendor near my hotel in Kiev, Ukraine. Lots of cabbage on top, kinda like coleslaw. Not my proudest world culinary moment. I hardly remember any of the food eaten on that Trans-Siberian trip, but that hot doggy thing under a streetlight at dusk still sticks. I remember […]
At heart I guess I am about 8 years old. If I happen to find myself in a 100 Yen shop, I immediately gravitate to the toy section. I can spend hours scouring the shelves, hoping to find some cheap hanafuda variant to add to my collection while my wife stocks up on random household […]