All of a sudden the road opened out in front of me. I was no longer confined by the 5 kilometer loop that slowly mapped its way around the island. Instead, the road now stretched out into unimaginable distances, diverging into innumerable highways, interstates, streets and dusty dirt roads. I felt free, relieved and slightly intimidated. America is a massive place. Its size is almost so great that it is unimaginable. And the idea of crossing its breath from shore to shore is no task to be taken lightheartedly. It’s a job and commitment that takes a lot of energy and [View Full Entry]

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Korea is a lot like its food, spicy. The people, the weather and the general atmosphere of this small peninsular country had this fiery air to it that made it seem light-years away from what I was used to in Japan. It felt real. People said what they wanted to and weren’t afraid to let their emotions fly in the middle of crowded streets, the woman had a sass about them that a Japanese woman could never dream of in all their years, the air smelt and felt like the country was contained in a giant fermenting pot of spicy kimchi [View Full Entry]

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Colorful streamers filled the air as they slowly unraveled from the hands of their holders and into the firm grip of mine. They fluttered through the air and led my eyes into those of the waving crowd of friends, co-workers, students, neighbors and acquaintances that filled the meager Uoshima dock and walkway. Everyone that had been a part of my life for those two amazing years was there, including old teachers who had transferred to city schools and had made the long journey back to the island once more to say goodbye. It was unlike anything I have ever experienced or [View Full Entry]

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If someone were to ask me to name the top 10 places that I want to visit I could list them off in the space of one breath. They are always there, in the back of my mind, nagging me and quietly persuading me to go. I have thought so much about them that I have developed romanticized images and ideas about them. I feel like I somehow know them and know what they are like. In contrast, if someone were to ask me to name the top 10 places that I wouldn't want to visit I could list them off [View Full Entry]

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One more month, one more month. That’s all I can think about right now. In a little over a month I will be done with this job, I will be leaving Japan and I will be making my way out west to start up a new life on America’s golden coast. It's strange. It means that my two years here have finally passed. Two years… how did the time pass so quickly? When I first started this job I felt like that time lay infinitely in front of me. I went about things like I had all the time in the [View Full Entry]

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There are few other things that beat a solid road trip with good friends. Especially, a road trip to a beach with good breaks and a van filled to its limits with surfing and camping gear. This weekend I escaped the confines of the islands after nearly a month of not stepping foot on the mainland. It is always a strange feeling to leave this area after I haven’t been away from it for a while. I get so used to the laidback lifestyle and the normal chill routines that the islands provide that the city almost always makes me take [View Full Entry]

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There are two distinctive types of hikers to be found in Japan; the ridiculous and the absurd. The first type of hiker is the gear buff. They aren’t hard to spot. They are outfitted from head to toe in the latest European and American outdoor gear, their hiking boots are so fresh that they may as well have just been pumped out from the factory mold, their hats are securely attached to the collars of their high performance sports shirts, their breathable hiking pants are stowed into their super fashionable gators, and ultra small carbon-kevlar kaleidoscopic poles are firmly attached t [View Full Entry]

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For the most part, I live in a relatively safe part of Japan. In the two years that I have called this island home I haven’t had to think once about being the subject of any crime or attack. It would be almost unheard of to even consider it. The community that I live in is so small that everyone knows everyone and everything. I am consistently amazed by the things people know about me and I find myself having to think, did I tell them about this? And for the most part, no, I didn’t. They seem to pick things [View Full Entry]

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Sometimes you have to stop and look at the current state of things in the west, especially in regards to America, and wonder why such a large percent of our population are obscenely rotund. There are thousands of reasons that people point to but one of the easiest ways to fix the problem remains unchanged. When you compare the average Japanese student to that of their American counterpart the difference is astounding. I can hear people back home muttering, “ohhh, it’s because they just eat rice, raw fish, and all of that”. And, yes, I’m sure this does help. However, [View Full Entry]

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Unfortunately, Japan is lacking a bit on the Engrish front in comparison to its communist neighbor but they’re still to be found! This will be an ongoing entry that I’ll add to whenever I have the pleasure of running into another amusing sign. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a little Engrish to brighten up their day? I know it always brings a smile to my face. [View Full Entry]

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