When we first came to Nagoya to find a home here it was late May and it was the Summer green of the trees in the street, which filled the view from ...
When we first came to Nagoya to find a home here it was late May and it was the Summer green of the trees in the street, which filled the view from ...
Happy belated New Year everyone! Superman and I rarely make much of New Years Eve but since we were here in Japan we decided to join in the local tradition of heading to a shrine (that's shrine as in Shinto, not temple as in Buddhist) for the turning of the year. Atsuta Jinja is ...
One of the things I am really enjoying about living in Japan is re-discovering my love of and respect for the seasons, which had faltered somewhat due ...
Any native English speakers living in Japan will have experienced Japanese English speakers/students when lost for either words or courage flip out their electronic dictionaries and deftly tap away with their thumbs till they come up with the English word they need. At this point they will either show you the screen or say the ...
Though I am basically just hiding from the heat while Superman works and sleeps and works again, we did manage to get out on August 2nd and take in the fireworks in Gifu. Gifu is somewhere that I have longed to go all my life as they have some astonishing flower festivals in Spring. I'm ...
Since the Japanese drive on the left as we do here in Australia, the main concern Superman and I have about driving in Japan is not being able read the street signs. I've been hunting for something which would allow us to learn them before we move but have had little luck till today (when ...
The Daily Yomiuri is a Japanese Newspaper which has an English version and is available online. I've been reading it since Superman first came home with the news that we might be moving to Japan. Recently they ran a comic contest (just a single illustration really, not even strips so I'm not sure comic is ...
Last week, after our Monday Japanese lesson, I finally decided to take the plunge and learn Katakana before the next lesson. I had been weirdly worried that if I learned Katakana too quickly I would forget my Hiragana but that was of course just silly and I can now read both, if slowly. Nevertheless I ...
Well our flights are booked for our first sojourn to Japan! Superman's company is flying us out to have a week's orientation in Nagoya after which we will return for about a month before we head off for the long term. We will be met in Nagoya by our relocation consultant who will show us ...
Much has been said about the culture shock of Westerners moving to Japan and in typical anxiety disorder management style I am putting my research skills to use to attempt smooth out the shock as much as possible. Obviously the first thing to do is crank up the expectation of difference to 11 - done, ...
