Frozen to the Marrow

You will probably need to have Japanese characters installed on your computer to view this blog entry correctly. As most of my friends and family know, Japan in the winter (exempting Hokkaido) is… Read More →

And sometimes, one needs rest

So amidst teaching and my activities and hanging out with my Iki folks, I’ve found myself with perhaps only one or two days of total “down time” with just myself.  After nearly six… Read More →

Dansu-dansu!

How about an update on the fun-good-times in my life? Well, as you may or may not realize, I’m learning both Taiko Drumming and Flamenco Dancing.  I do Taiko on Thursdays and Flamenco… Read More →

Computer Down!

Well, you may have wondered what kept me from updating the past two weeks… or maybe not.  But in any case, I no longer have a working computer at home.  (In fact, I’m… Read More →

“A Breath of Mountain’s Sunset”: Day Four of Kat’s (not quite) Epic Christmas/New Years 2008 (and technically 2009) Trip (of wonderfulness)

I set off on December 27th only slightly disconcerted, being as I wasn’t actually sure how to get to Aso.  (It’s actually quite easy: take the train from Kumamoto Station on the Hohi… Read More →

What I do at work…

So, because my schools are so small, most of the time I have at least three hours to sit around and twiddle my thumbs.  Yesterday, Tomato-sensei told me that our Kocho-sensei (Principal) wanted… Read More →

I think I just had an aneurism

Either that or Japanese kindergartners are on crack! I just had my first (and only) day at “yochien”–kindergarten–in the school year.  And holy guacamole, it was an experience.  Tons of fun, despite what… Read More →

Ekiden

Similar to Sports Day in that there’s plenty of running (a whole day’s worth, in fact) sandwiched by speeches galor, Ekiden is the island-wide marathon competition held annually.  Students have to do circuits… Read More →