In rural Wisconsin, you hunt and eat deer; in urban Minnesota, you scare deer; in Nara, you feed and pet deer. My lab director, Ray-san, invited me to his hometown of Nara to show me around and have dinner at …
My Japanese Dormitory Experience
During my stay in Japan, I am living in a women’s dormitory provided for by work. When I was first told I would be staying in the dormitory, from my Western background, I was under the impression it would be …
Making Japan Feel Like Home
When I first arrived at the dormitory I was about to spend the next half of the year in, and had dragged all my suitcases upstairs, I was unsure how to react to my new room. Before landing in Japan, …
Skewered Heart for Dinner
Most people like barbecue and most people like chicken, including myself, so I thought nothing could go amiss when I agreed to go to a Japanese barbecue grilled chicken restaurant for dinner. This was my first dinner experience out not …
Hello Kitty Restaurant
Japanese pop culture has many unusual quirks such as J-Pop (Japanese pop music), slapstick game shows and anime cosplay. But one facet of Japanese pop culture I was not expecting is this real, and some might call extreme, love of …
Hello Kitty Restaurant
Japanese pop culture has many unusual quirks such as J-Pop (Japanese pop music), slapstick game shows and anime cosplay. But one facet of Japanese pop culture I was not expecting is this real, and some might call extreme, love of …
Independence at Last
This first week has been very busy and full of me trying to learn Japanese culture. It has been so packed full of events that I haven’t had any time to decompress from it all. Everyone is extremely friendly but …
15 Hour Jet Lag
Twenty four hours and 6,159 miles later I am sitting on a bed in a hotel room questioning whether it is worth it to get up and shower or just fall asleep right here. It’s only 6PM in Japan but …