Minimalism - Online Income - ESL - Japan
According to weather forecasts across Japan this evening, tomorrow there will be a 50% chance of rain. Whoopie-do! What’s that supposed to mean? Should I take an umbrella? Should I hang out my laundry? I don’t know, and neither do the students I asked. Believe it or not, I was once asked to leave a bar in Nagoya because I got into a ‘heated debate’ about how meaningless the Japanese […]
The Japanese have historically been known for copying things and making them better, call it reverse-engineering if you like. In fact, one of the main reasons they started learning English was to understand scientific journals for this very purpose. This trend extends to fashion in which brands such as Louis Vuitton are so popular, it seems everybody here owns an LV bag or purse. No-one seems to mind having the […]
I’ve been writing a lot of posts about Japan since I started this blog and not enough about English teaching or making money on the internet. Today, I’ll focus on the internet side of things. The first thing I do every day is check my email (read ‘delete spam’) and then I log straight into my personalized Google homepage to check my favorite blogs. I’m still surprised so few people […]
Well, I’m still a bit hungover and definitely still full after last night’s dinner with Mr. H and his staff. Mr. H is the student of mine that introduced us to ballroom dancing. Despite having turned 70, he still knows how to party! He picked us up in a taxi and took us all the way to Seki city. My wife was relieved when Mr. H turned down my offer […]
Japan’s agriculture ministry said it plans to certify the quality of Japanese food abroad in an attempt to promote “authentic Japanese food”. Does this mean that all Japanese restaurants abroad will have to conform to the standards set by the government here? If so, I don’t think it’s going to work. I heard that London is experiencing a sushi boom right now, but also that most of the chefs are […]
There are a few things I want to mention today, but they’re quite random, hence the unimaginative title. Last week was ‘Halloween Week’ at my school so I donned my mage hat (imagine a samurai’s hairstyle) and pulled out my sword. The sword retracts into the handle so I had fun stabbing my students and scaring many of the younger ones as I attacked their mothers with it. I’m glad the week […]
I love this video of a popular Japanese double-act Tetsu & Tomo. The music is from the variety show ‘Shouten’. Watch and laugh, and if you can’t view the video, you can see it here at youtube.com. I’ve become a fan of Japanese TV now that I’m married and live with the TV on permanently. While many people think that the Japanese are expression-less, everything on TV is really exagerrated. […]
In today’s Mainichi News, there was an article about a high school in Nagasaki that will start checking if applicants can use chopsticks properly. The ‘chopsticks test’ will be part of their entrance exams next year. Officials of Sasebo Women’s High School said that they wound like to see if applicants have acquired the minimum levels of eating manners by checking their use of chopsticks. The “chopstick inspections,” which include […]