Life as it is... living in Japan

There are a lot of things in Japan which are made most definitely with the sole purpose of trapping and or confusing foreigners. I am sure that the person who made them is sitting behind a nearby tree, waiting to jump out and laugh at the next foreigner that comes along and trips. Actually, I have never seen this person. But I have been caught by a "foreigner's trap." It was the weekend of the Dragon Boat race in Kagoshima, which is the prefecture south of Miyazaki. So, four of us English teachers jumped in a car and drove down to the hosting city. It was still typhoon season at this stage, so It was raining. We took the long long long way there. After several wrong turns and a serious debate on whether an American should be left alone to navigate. Just kidding, I love Americans. Japanese roads are just particularly hard to navigate, even with several Iphones and a GPS. We did find our campsite in the end, but we were starving after driving all day. The way we came fr...

Sorting rubbish in Japan is almost a full time job. In Australia we have two options. You can put it in a black bin, or the yellow bin. The black bin is for anything and everything that you could ever have or use. The yellow bin is for recycling, which is optional but highly recommended.  In Japan there is a lot more than two. Currently in my apartment I have 5 bags, and several stacks of assorted trash. It takes up an entire corner of my kitchen. Of course, the instructions for trash sorting are entirely in Japanese, so that is extremely helpful for first timers to Japan. But this is what I have eventually come up with.  The categories for my city are as follows.  1. Burnable (general waste) 2. Non-Burnable (this includes broken glass, razors, small appliances) 3. Plastics (this is almost all plastics; they must be washed, dried and have no food on them whatsoever) 4. PET bottles (like coke bottles and other plastic bottles; the caps and labels must be removed and...

Hello Everyone    Hello Ms. XX and Ms Jaclyn How are you?    I'm fine thanks, and you? I'm fine too thank you. How's the weather today?    It's sunny/cloudy/rainy. What's the day today?    It's December.... What's the DAY today?    It's Friday. What's the DATE today?    It's December 16th. Good, and what's the time?    It's two....... twenty.......... two, three, two.  This is how my teachers like me to start off most of my classes, as recommended by the English textbooks in current use. Try it out someday when you meet a Japanese person, It certainly entertains me. 

For anyone who is of average size living in Japan, you may find that you are now a giant. The largest size shoes that you will be able to find is a 25cm, which I have guestimated to be a size 9 in Australia sizes (god knows what it is in any other country). Of course I am a 9.5 or 10, so that was never going to work. Women's tops are designed for people with no breasts and pants for people with no thighs. I would sometimes be surprised if my skeleton could fit into them. If that wasn't enough to put you off the idea entirely, how bout making you feel really great when you have to buy a snug 3L. That's a size 14 in Australia, and a 12 in the states (which has the right idea and makes you a size smaller than you actually are, now that's great marketing). On the upside, you will never be able to find anything in a Japanese store that is not absolutely adorable, so if you can fit into it somehow, you will most certainly be the cutest thing that ever walked into one of you...

Who: Jacki What: Teaching English to middle school students in Japan When: July 2011 ~ Where: Miyazaki City, Japan Why: It is the only natural thing to do after completing a Japanese major at university. Oh, I suppose I have an interest in it as well. How: Via Plane My lust for travel has wound me up in a small city called Miyazaki which is situated on the southern island (kyuushu) of Japan. It is famous for its attempt to make itself into a resort, with imported palm trees lining the streets near the ocean and airport like a mini beverly hills. But, similar to most other parts of Japan at the moment, ever since the tsunami, there is not much of a thriving tourism industry. The local delicacies include raw chicken, chicken smothered in tartare sauce (which is amazing), and a beverage called hyuga natsu which is made from a citrus fruit i have never seen before coming here. It has a population of about 400,000, most of whom can not speak English....