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the world outside / outside the world My life outside America: teaching, learning, living, loving.

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There are [0] photos and [14] stories tagged with "osaka".


Sayonara Osaka, I will miss you!!

JAPAN | Tuesday, 16 Jun 2009 | Views [1593]

I’m sitting here at my computer on the very last night that I’ll live here in Japan. It’s such a crazy bitter-sweet feeling. I’ve had so many amazing experiences here as well as so many wretched stories as well. It has been one wild rollercoaster ... Read more >

Tags: japan, life, osaka, sayonara


Osaka Aquarium: Ocean, You Meet Whale Shark

JAPAN | Thursday, 14 May 2009 | Views [5202] | Comments [1]

Well, that’s what it says on the front of the English brochure handed to me at Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. Engrish at it’s best.   During Golden Week (Japan’s spring break) one of my friends came over from Nagoya and we decided ... Read more >

Tags: aquarium, dolphins, fish, japan, jellyfish, kaiyukan, osaka, otters, penguin, shark


Chris†on Cafe: everything you ever wanted from a church at dinnertime

JAPAN | Thursday, 7 May 2009 | Views [1541]

Imagine a restaurant themed as a "church" as seen by Japanese eyes: with gaudy images of Christ on his cross neon-lit in blue, frescoed ceilings of cheeky cherubs, glittering glass chandeliers, a silver disco ball(?!!) tall multicolored candles, and ... Read more >

Tags: food, japan, osaka, restaurant, theme


Host Club Hustle

JAPAN | Wednesday, 8 Apr 2009 | Views [15077] | Comments [1]

So Saturday night – or rather early Sunday morning – a couple of Western friends and I decided to visit a host club. For 3 of us (myself included) this was our first step into the dark and mysterious world of hosting but the last of our group ... Read more >

Tags: host club, japan, nightlife, osaka


It's time for sumo!!

JAPAN | Friday, 27 Mar 2009 | Views [2626]

Sumo season is here in Osaka and with it comes bustling crowds of people in an already bustling part of a busy city (Namba). This is probably the strangest time for a foreigner to live in Osaka because not only are you repeatedly mistaken for ... Read more >

Tags: culture, japan, osaka, spring, sumo, tradition


Midnight necropolis: a night at a Japanese goth club

JAPAN | Monday, 23 Mar 2009 | Views [2945]

A midnight in a cemetery?! Well, not quite. Rather inside the bottom basement floor of a smoky dark club. I give you Midnight Necropolis: the gothic club night that happens once a month here in Osaka. While the name and “theme” changes (Black ... Read more >

Tags: clubbing, fashion, goth, gothic, japan, nightlife, osaka


Catching some culture: Osaka's National Art Museum

JAPAN | Sunday, 1 Mar 2009 | Views [6004]

My friend and I felt the need for a little bit of culture so we headed over to the National Museum of Art in Osaka. Leaving Higobashi exit 3 (on the blue Yotsubashi subway line) we followed a map directly outside the station to the museum. ... Read more >

Tags: art, china, contemporary, culture, japan, kanji, museum, osaka


Laughing with Pirates!

JAPAN | Monday, 23 Feb 2009 | Views [2597] | Comments [1]

The Pirates of the Dotonbori, that is, an Osaka-based improvisation group who put on shows at various venues throughout the year. Think of a local-based “ Whose Line Is It Anyway? ” show and that’s what these guys are except their shows are ... Read more >

Tags: club, comedy, improv, improvisation, japan, osaka


Bunraku: Puppet Theater

JAPAN | Monday, 26 Jan 2009 | Views [3900]

Bunraku – boon-rah-coo – or traditional Japanese puppet theater was founded in Osaka in 1684, though apparently established as the form we know today coming about in 1872 (I’m quoting the Wiki here). Bunraku contains the puppeteers (the ... Read more >

Tags: culture, japan, new years, osaka, puppet, theater, winter


SUPER TRANCE CLUB NIGHT!!!

JAPAN | Sunday, 11 Jan 2009 | Views [2560]

I visited my first trance club here in Japan over in the well-known Amemura in Osaka’s Shinsaibashi. Wait, according to the flyer it was called “super trance” (whatever that means) at a venue called Club Joule (http://www.club-joule.co.jp/) ... Read more >

Tags: clubbing, japan, nightlife, osaka


Fukubukuro Hunting

JAPAN | Saturday, 3 Jan 2009 | Views [1908]

What is a fukubukuro you ask? It is a “Lucky Bag” full of winter goodies from all your favorite stores; what’s left over because in Japan New Years is a time of cleansing and renewal and old clothes and accessories must go!! Many stores throughout ... Read more >

Tags: fashion, fukubukuro, japan, lucky bag, new years, osaka, shopping, winter


Have a very merry German Christmas?!

JAPAN | Saturday, 13 Dec 2008 | Views [1315]

I went to the lovely German Christmas Fair in Umeda with my two Japanese friends, Aya and Atsuko. We walked to a lovely overhang that spelled out Merry Christmas in German ( Weihnachtsgrüße ?), followed by a cute little carousel with prettily decorated ... Read more >

Tags: christmas, fair, food, germany, japan, osaka, winter


Relaxing at an onsen in autumn ~

JAPAN | Wednesday, 19 Nov 2008 | Views [1843]

I had a chance to visit an onsen hotel last weekend in Ikeda called Fushiokaku (http://www.fushioukaku.co.jp/english/index.html) and it was quite a treat. My friend and I walked into our lovely spacious (well, spacious for Japan) hotel room, plopped ... Read more >

Tags: autumn, culture, fall, hot springs, japan, kouyou, onsen, osaka, red leaves, rotenburo


The beginning of my blogging life

JAPAN | Saturday, 15 Nov 2008 | Views [787]

Where can I start off? I could say that Japan is a small country, perhaps about the size of my home state of California. I could say that it is bustling in the big cities, overcrowded, and burdened with an increasingly older generation that cannot ... Read more >

Tags: japan, osaka, teaching



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