This weekend was a mixture of old Japan meets new Japan: Sumo and Universal Studios Japan. I was extremely excited for this weekend for numerous reasons. A) I think sumo is awesome. B) We were going with an awesome group of Hiroshima JETs ready to leave their mark on Osaka, and C) Who doesn't love theme parks! I have never even been to Universal Studios in California! So we set out in our bus, of course one person was late, as always, same ordeal on our way to Mt Fuji (same person always!)! Sumo was awesome, again. Yet the atmosphere was VERY different than when I was in Fukuoka. Osaka was the last tournament of the year for these big boys. They were not as genki as they were at the Fukuoka Tournament. They were not ... read more

The title of this blog alone should attract more visitors than any of my other entries! The third week of February I was lucky (unlucky?) to go to the Naked Man Festival, better known as the Hadaka Masturi. There are naked man festivals all over Japan, but I think the one in Okayama-Ken is the oldest and most famous. If you have no interest in reading the blog, check out this guy Josh's video. http://www.joshuazimmerman.com/vidblog/index.php It is very enjoyable, showing Hiroshima JETs in their finest form and parts of the festival as well. Honestly, you had to see the festival to believe it. Loads of fun!!! To begin my blog, I would like to point out how customs around the world are not that different than the Naked Man Festival. At first I though, "this is ... read more

From the moment I stepped off the boat to Koh Tao and started to wander the beach, I fell in love with Koh Tao. Before coming many people told me that I had to go to Koh Tao because it was the best island in all of Thailand. I had this picture perfect place envisioned that was only real in my dreams....I was wrong. I enjoyed Koh Tao more than I ever expected. Before coming to Thailand I had this idealized idea of a country full of little bungalows, longtail boats lining the beaches, chill backpackers lounging at beach bars watching the sunset, fresh fish, cheap beer, and an absolute paradise. I guess I had been reading too many tourist books from the 80s and early 90s! Indeed the beauty of Thailand had surpassed anything I ... read more

Aaahhhhhh Phuket....once the gem of Thailand....and parts of it still are but I must admit I was definitely disappointed with parts of Phuket. The wrath, aka "the Beast," of tourism has definitely take over part of Phuket. After our 5 hour layover in the Bangkok airport (which was not planned) we arrive in Phuket. We avoided Patong Beach at all possible costs because we heard it was just awful with tourists. At the airport their were buses of Eurotrash getting on their buses headed to such places as Patong. No thank you! Instead we chose to stay on Bang Tao Beach. We had no idea what to expect. We pulled into our cute little hotel, put our stuff down in our bungalow and headed straight for the beach. It was amazing. By the time we arrived ... read more

First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah!!! Definitely not the most tradition Christmas but still it was a fabulous day. For a Hannukah gift Leah's mom got us a guide and driver for the day to take us on a tour of the place of our choice. We decided to go to Ayuthaya, the old capitol of Thailand. Ketsara (pronounced Kate-serah) was our guide and was great. I learned so much about Thai history and traditions. Fro example: The tower-like tombs scattered throughout Ayuthaya and a key architecture throughout Thailand usually has 8 rings because there are 8 levels of Buddhism to go through to reach enlightenment. The monks wear orange robes died by tumeric so that they did not appear dirty all the time. Thailand used to be called Siam. So as you can ... read more