… of The Kansai Scene is freaking brilliant: Not that it bothers me at all, really – the standing out. I didn’t come to Japan expecting to blend in and don’t care about the stares I get, as long as they’re of the curious variety. Besides, being part of a foreigner gang only makes […]
Japan
On the Train, from Osaka to Wakayama
I like the houses I see in the patches of countryside, between concrete shopping center strips, convenience stores, stark plots of razed dirt, and jumbled, dingy Post-War housing developments. They are the old homes, compact and white, dotted along perfectly combed fields of rice, the rows parted like hair, with mushroom-capped bonsai out front, their […]
People
This weekend, there were people everywhere – at a housewarming party for co-workers, and at an absolutely wonderful book discussion group I had the pleasure of joining this weekend. For someone who usually only sees her students, Japanese teacher, random strangers and her funny Irish neighbor – with smatterings of a fellow New Yorker, a […]
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Beautiful Mhuinteoir
An bhfuil cead agam dul go dti an leithreas ma se do thoile, a mhuinteoir. This impenetrable phrase (plus several accent marks my computer failed to produce) means “May I please have permission to go to the bathroom, teacher?” in Irish. Like all Irish schoolchildren, Sean and his classmates were required to recite this phrase […]
Frog Yoga
Like many little girls with generous, well-intentioned parents, I was sent to dance classes. Though I’m sure they were thrilled to see me prancing around in the spangly, sequined costumes of the 80s, even Underwater Saffron Snorting would have been a better fit; my coordination, grace, and desire were absolutely nonexistent. All of my unfortunate […]
Coins
There is a hole in the left pocket of my black slacks and today several coins fell through it while I was teaching 7 year-olds. The children pounced, but I was faster. “Misette*!!” they demanded. *Show it! I offered a quick flash of a few 100 yen coins. “Ehhhhh!!!” they screeched. “Japanese money!!” cried Mia […]
“Supa Kawaii” Means “Super Cute” in Japanese
Having second thoughts now about my somewhat recent decision to get hip to Japanese fashion, when my experiments result in the unfortunate pairing of ruffled smock-top dresses with turtlenecks or the wearing of slightly blousy sweaters adorned by bows. If it sounds cute, it’s not – at least not on a non-Japanese woman over the […]
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Typical
Hello! How are you? Six years old, very good, but how are you? How are you? … good? Great? Not so good? Good? Okay! Would you like a cushion? No, no, would you like to sit down? Sit down. Sit down. Yes, please! Good girl! Homework! Yes, homework. Open your books. Open your books. Open […]
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Cold
It’s really ungrateful, isn’t it, that I complain about my utilities bill – in December, 4810 yen* – when the standard bill of unfair back home in Manhattan was usually more like $200. The problem, I’ve realized, with being able to save money is that it’s never enough; if I can save 160 dollars on […]