New Blog

My year of teaching in the beautiful village of Chugoku-Katsuyama has now come to an end. I'm now on my way to a few other magical places for a month, ending up in Palestine at the end of it all- check here for quirky/fun/curious updates.

Nagasaki

Peace Park

Starting Goodbyes

WAAAAA! Only 22 days left in Japan. Time is running out!

SMALLEST ROAD!

I decided to take a little video of what it's like to drive through the tiniest road in town. It's just big enough for my minuscule car (660 cc!). Rocking out to Watkskeburt (dutch).

Pepsi Shiso?!

At a bbq right now and a friend brought over hir new discovery, pepsi shiso! a leaf usually used for sashimi and on rice.

Land of the Miserable Anime

Himawari is monster drug and health/beauty product store. Even when you live in a rural area in Japan, have no fear, you will surely find a monster paradise for every drug for every ailment under the sun. Also every possible whitening product, every possible bug killer, house cleaner, and vitamins for ailments you never knew existed.

One thing Japan does-- pretty much everywhere possible is make cartoons for every possible occasion (yes, even super serious police warnings). Anthropomorphism is also quite common.

I took a swing through Himawari, the drug monster, and decided to create a display for you of all the miserable, dying, hacking, coughing, in-pain, sneezing, feverish anime that I found. Enjoy!

Glasses Cleaning Service at my desk

I have to say, the Japanese have it down with advertising techniques. I have to admit, the free dozen eggs at the Jomo Gas Station- sway me thre on saturdays. And the drugstore gave me a portable and attractive mini pack with folding chopsticks, a fork and a spoon.

The latest just happened when a team of 3 came into our office in lab coats and little kits. One of the women came up to me, and asked for my glasses so that she could clean them. (OK what really happened was that she said something really fast in Japanese and reached towards my face, I flinched and I thought it was someone who had lost their minds....) For a moment, the look of bewilderment and confusion on my face must have been monumental. I handed her my glasses, still confused on why a woman would come in and clean my glasses- but at this point, I remembered I was in Japan.

This is awesome, Kuramoto Glasses Company (Megane no Kuramoto) has a rolling office that drives around and offers Eye Exams. For advertising, they go from office to office, and offer to clean your glasses!