tissue time: bye bye higashi

Leaving school was like ripping off a bandaid.  I’ve known about my last day for weeks (technically years) and especially since my last round of classes started, it had been hovering over me, and every time I walked through the halls, I thought about how I’d have to walk through them for the last time [...]

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leaving: i’m finally writing about it

Leaving is incredibly difficult.  Not like I’ve never left things before – high school, college, my childhood home – but leaving here is unlike anything I’ve really experienced before.  Every day here has been an adventure, and this foreign land somehow became my home.  But it’s a home that takes upwards of 20 hours to [...]

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IT’S MUKADE SEASON

Oh god.  The worst most terrifying part of the year.  I have terrible crawly-bug anxieties and cockroaches and mukade (Japanese centipedes) are the two most intolerable things on this earth as far as I’m concerned.  Japan has a long-ass rainy season, which is very romantic and sweet in movies like 「いま、会いにゆきます」but is, in reality, pretty [...]

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the magic word

I haven’t written in what feels like ages.  I have an excuse! My mom is here.  We’ve been out and about, touristing and just taking in small-town life.  It’s been lots of fun and I’ll have more to say once it’s all over, but here’s a short story for you cos I know it hurts [...]

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i like presents

Maybe I’ve been a little down on Japan in my last few entries – but there’s something I want to write about today that I really like.  Omiyage!!  (おみやげ –  sounds like oh-mi-yah-gey) That’s Japanese for a souvenir or present.  And I like presents. Whenever you go somewhere, you’re supposed to bring back omiyage for [...]

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things that are different about japan

I guess it’s around that time when the fresh blood has been notified that it will be replacing those of us who have checked out starting this July.  I have some words of wisdom and general observations about things that are different in Japan. Think of it as the holy trinity of inconvenience, and when [...]

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kabukiza, sayonara

I read this article today and thought it was appropriate to post here.  Check it out: Japan says ‘sayonara’ to Tokyo’s kabuki theatre Apparently Kabukiza is being bulldozed for another skyscraper in Tokyo.  Although they’ll rebuild a theatre in the ground floors of the new building, it’s really sad to see such an iconic structure [...]

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stereotyping: imma do it.

Let’s enjoy stereotypes.  Yesterday the kids showed off their clubs in an assembly to try to get the first years to join, and I thought I’d share some observations on what kind of kids join what kind of club.  This doesn’t go for all of Japan or even all of Shiso – I’ve heard in [...]

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graduation

Time to write about graduation.  Elementary, middle, and I assume high schools are on the trimester system and the school year starts in April – which means graduation is in March.  This is my second graduation at Higashi, and also my last. Last year, I was surprised how little the kids practiced before the day [...]

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the bath

I love baths.  Who invented that shit?  I love that guy, whoever it was.  Where else can you be surrounded by warmth and yummy smells, feel that relaxed and safe and enclosed…without having to pay someone afterward? *Just kidding!!* I’ve been way into baths since being in Japan.  There’s nothing like spending a long day [...]

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