Life as it is... living in Japan

“You should go home to Australia, before you fall in love with a Japanese guy. That’s the best thing for you. International marriages are hard work. Go home and marry a nice Aussie boy and start a family.” 「日本人と恋に落ちる前に、オーストラリアに帰った方がいいよ。ジャッキーにとってそれが一番いいわ。国際結婚は難しいもん。帰って優しいオージーと結婚して、子供も産みなさい。」 This is what my Japanese grandmother told me about a year and a half ago, when I was debating whether I should stay for a fifth year or not. She made a valid point; international marriages can be a lot of work, especially if there is a language barrier. However, I had been single for almost four years by that stage and seriously liked my chances of staying single for one more year. This is Japan after all, the land of the single foreign women! 一年半前にもう一年宮崎に滞在するかどうか迷った時、ジャパニーズばあちゃんに言われた言葉。間違っていないと思う。国際結婚は難しいと思う。特に言語の壁がある場合。しかし、 4 年間ずっとお一人様だったから、まさか彼氏が出来るなんて思わなかった。ここはお一人様の外国女性の国だから。 It didn’t take me long after I began living in Japan to notice a trend. Many of the male ALTs around me

Three months ago, I found my new favourite monthly event. I honestly can’t believe that I had never heard of it before, even after living in Miyazaki for almost 5 years! It’s supposedly one of the biggest of its kind in Japan! People come from all over the prefecture to see it. It was even featured on the TV program “Aru Aru Seven.” Why did nobody tell me?? 3 ヶ 月前、一番好きなイベントを見つけました。 5 年間宮崎に住んでいるのにこれまで聞いたことがないのが信じられないほどの素敵なイベントです。日本全国の軽トラ市の中でも一番大きいそうです。このためわざわざ遠くから来る人も多くいます。そして、あるあるセブンという宮崎のテレビ番組でも紹介されました。どうして今まで誰も教えてくれなかったのですか？ The Kawaminami Toron Toron Kei-Tora Market is held every fourth Sunday of the month from 8:30am until 11:30am. You can find almost everything there, with approximately 150 stalls selling everything from farm fresh vegetables, handmade goods, pets, antiques, and…. 川南トロントロン軽トラ市は毎月第 4 日曜日に行われます。時間は 8 時半から 11 時半までです。約 150 台の軽トラが様々な商品を販売しています。野菜、手作りグッズ、ペット、アンティーク、そして… ALL THE FOOD!!! Seriously, this place is a gourmet’s heaven. There is so much food that I

Since I am now a long term resident of Miyazaki, and an avid foodie, I am often asked for restaurant recommendations around Miyazaki City. The only problem is I have been to so many places that whenever I am asked it is really hard to recommend just one place. I like them all for different reasons! This prompted me to start an album on Facebook titled Miyazaki City Dining, where I post delicious pictures of meals that I eat along with a short review. I hoped that this would help others discover the deliciousness that Miyazaki City has to offer. 宮崎も長いし、外食も結構多いということでレストランのオススメをよく聞かれる。問題は、好きなレストランが多すぎて、一つだけ選ぶことがなかなかできない。それぞれのレストランにいいところがある！美味しい物を食べた時、写真を取ってそのレストランの情報をシェアするため、フェイスブックで宮崎ダイニングというアルバムを作ってみた。宮崎市の美味しさを知らない人に少しでも伝わればいいなと思った。 The response was overwhelming. So many people starting commenting on my pictures, and asking me for more details of the restaurants. It gave me great satisfaction to be able to share some of my knowledge about the local area. The only person who

People often ask me what I like about Japan. Japan is a very easy country to live in, with 24 hour convenience stores and vending machines on every corner, and a cash-on-delivery reliable postage service, just to give a few examples. However, the same argument of livability could be made for Australia, or many other countries. I am sure that I could live in any number of countries comfortably. So what sets Japan apart from the rest? 日本の何が好きとよく聞かれる。 24 時間空いているコンビニと自動販売機がたくさんあり、安くて頼りになる郵便システムもあるし、日本はすごく住みやすい国だと思う。しかし、オーストラリアも他の国も住みやすい国だと言える。住み心地がいい国は実は沢山ある。では、日本のどこが違う？ I think one of the most defining features of Japan is Japanese culture. In contrast to many other countries, Japan has a long history that was relatively shielded from the outside world until the early 1900’s. Even since then, the country remains largely homogenous and conscious of preserving tradition. 日本の特徴は日本文化にあると思う。他の国と違って、日本の歴史は長くて、最近まで外からの影響をほとんど受けなかった。今でも、外国人が少なくて日本の文化を守りたい日本人が多いです。 What interests me i