During rainy season you have to be very careful about when you set your clothes out, as most Japanese apartments expect you to dry your clothes outside on a drying bar on the patio.
Until next time, stay dry and AWESOME!
-R
Comic
“Class”y Puns
Corny jokes and lame puns are one of the pillars of our marriage. For both of us it makes it’s way into daily life.
I’ve started a part time job (several months ago actually) at a local university, helping with their English and cultural department. Every once in a while I have to give a presentation. Let’s just say that student facial expressions vary from not at all interested to less interested.
Until next time, STAY AWESOME!
-R
High Hopes
So over the past 6 months we’ve been anticipating the opening of a new set of stores close to us. I caught some of it on camera:
I apologize for the shaky camera
As you can guess from the comic, neither of us got our wishes for stores, but I guess it’s still nice to have options.
Until next time, STAY AWESOME
-R
Living on the Razor’s Edge
I was at the local Wellness (think Walgreens without the prescription counter, but with good prices) and saw a straight razor.
The disposable ones are not common in the US, and I the re-usable ones are super
Old Man Ganbaru
This is based on an actual… um… encounter(?) Andrea and I had in the store. I don’t know what the man was saying but he was insistent on “Ganbatte”. There really is no real translation for Ganbaru/Ganbatte, but roughly translated it means “Work Hard, Do your best, and never give up.
Until next time, STAY AWESOME!
-R
Sakura Thoughts
Falling cherry blossoms make every thought seem more profound. Even the mundane ones.
A few weeks ago was the prime Hanami (flower viewing) season for cherry blossoms. Andrea took some great pictures that you can check out below
Until next time, Stay Awesome!
-R
The “Obachan Stare”
I’m pretty sure Obachans are the inspiration for Boo ghosts in the Mario Games. Continue reading
English Skills
*Gaikokujin = Foreigner
*Sugoi = Cool
Konnichiwa!
Often times when walking down the street, kids will casually practice their English with me. Usually it’s very simple sentences like “What is your name?” or “How are you?”. If you’re lucky, the kids will know how to respond if you ask a question back, but the main thing is to keep them encouraged to try out speaking English since, as they get older, kids usually shy away from random street interactions.
From my experience, the Top Ten English Phrases in Japan For Elementary Students:
- Hello
- How are you?
- Bye Bye
- I have a pen.
- I have an apple.
- Pen-Pinapple-Apple-Pen.
- Good Job
- What is your name?
- Where are you from?
- I like (insert Japanese word for when they inevitably forget the English one)
No joke on the Pikotaro line… kids say this every day.
Until next time,
STAY AWESOME!
The Snuggle
If you’re familiar with Japan or Japanese culture, cat cafes are nothing new. But I’m glad to say(and Andrea is glad to hear) that they even exist here in Tottori. With Andrea’s love of the feline kind, I know that we would eventually visit the cafe. And so we did!
All cafes will be unique to their areas, but in most of them you’ll find a wide open room Continue reading
Windy Days
It gets windy in town, what with winter fronts moving through the mountains.
And yes, my umbrella was only 50 yen (about 47 cents US), and I did get it from the second hand store, but it is a very nice umbrella. It just no longer “umbrells” very well.
Until next time,
-R
Tottori Awesome 