Mar 5, 2002 | Commentary, Fukuma
I’d like to be able to say that I had no warning that the life of a JET would be so hectic, time-consuming and utterly exhausting, but the truth is I did. Former JETs, The Consulate General of Japan in both Portland and Seattle, the roughly 4-billion JET...
Feb 26, 2002 | Commentary, Culture, Experiences, Fukuma, Photography, Raves
Now I don’t want to suggest that all Japanese are alcoholics, but…. oh wait, yes I do!! So this weekend was the Town Office group trip to Nagasaki. We showed up at 8:40am. The bus started moving at 9am sharp. The first beer was cracked at 9am 40 seconds....
Feb 4, 2002 | Commentary, Fukuma, Raves
One of the first things you notice when you step off the plane and into Japanese culture is the ubiquitous mobile phone. Everyone has one and they always seem to be using them at all times. It’s like walking into some weird sci-fi flick where everyone is...
Jan 10, 2002 | Commentary, Culture, Fukuma, Photography
New Year’s In Japan, the “Big” holiday is New Year’s Day. It’s a lot more solemn then it is in the States and there’s lots of reflecting, visiting family graves, prodigal sons returning home, et al. I grabbed my camera, hopped on my...
Jan 10, 2002 | Commentary, Culture
Christmas So I had mentioned that I was going to be playing Santa at a couple of Kindergartens over the holiday season. As you’ll recall however, I got extremely ill and was able to cop out of one of the visits, but not before St. Nick paid a visit to Jingo...
Jan 10, 2002 | Commentary, Culture, Fukuma
Welcome to Japan – where contradictions are a way of life. We’ll get the meaning of that in a few paragraphs, but first I need to apologize for my extended absence lately. I didn’t intend to be gone from the site this long, but I guess I just got...
