Trip: Teaching in Osaka
There are [20] stories from my trip: Teaching in Osaka
JAPAN | Tuesday, 16 Jun 2009 | Views [1601]
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
JAPAN | Thursday, 14 May 2009 | Views [5207] | 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
JAPAN | Thursday, 7 May 2009 | Views [1550]
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
JAPAN | Saturday, 11 Apr 2009 | Views [3830]
Today was a roaming day, and a bit far from my normal grounds: I went to Himeji in Hyogo prefecture. I left my apartment at 9:30 am to be in Himeji by 11 so I could meet my friend at the station. We headed straight into the Himeji tourist office ... Read more >
Tags: castle, cherry blossom, culture, himeji, japan, park, sakura, spring, temple, tradition
JAPAN | Wednesday, 8 Apr 2009 | Views [15089] | 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
JAPAN | Friday, 27 Mar 2009 | Views [2631]
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
JAPAN | Monday, 23 Mar 2009 | Views [2950]
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
JAPAN | Sunday, 1 Mar 2009 | Views [6019]
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
JAPAN | Monday, 23 Feb 2009 | Views [2608] | 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
JAPAN | Wednesday, 4 Feb 2009 | Views [1559]
How was Nagoya
you ask?
Well, first off, thanks for asking and secondly, it was
quite nice.
My friend Alicia and I grabbed the express Kintetsu Urban Liner from Namba to Nagoya which
runs every thirty minutes, takes ... Read more >
Tags: atsuta shrine, castle, japan, nagoya, setsubun
JAPAN | Sunday, 1 Feb 2009 | Views [3690] | Comments [4]
Gackt: Requiem et Reminiscence II ～再生と邂逅～ (Rebirth and Reunion) - Nagoya, 2009.1.30
Say who? Gah-coo-toe , as the Japanese like to
pronounce his name, is a very famous visual rock/pop star in Japan who is
also decently ... Read more >
Tags: bunraku movie, concert, gackt, japan, jrock, nagoya, visual kei
JAPAN | Monday, 26 Jan 2009 | Views [3911]
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
JAPAN | Sunday, 18 Jan 2009 | Views [3957] | Comments [1]
My thoughts of Japan throughout the past year of living here; the good, the bad, the strange and ugly. Japan is a land of extremes: from
the obsessive otaku s to the overly
frilly maid café dresses, the made-up high school girls with their ... Read more >
Tags: concert, culture, festival, japan, living, teaching, travel
JAPAN | Sunday, 11 Jan 2009 | Views [2568]
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
JAPAN | Saturday, 3 Jan 2009 | Views [1914]
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
JAPAN | Saturday, 13 Dec 2008 | Views [1319]
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
JAPAN | Tuesday, 25 Nov 2008 | Views [9728]
There is a reason to go to Kyoto in the autumn: kouyou , or red leaves. It doesn’t matter where you go or what you
do, these beautiful multi-colored trees are all around you in various arrays of
color: vibrant green, rich yellow and orange, ... Read more >
Tags: autumn, culture, fall, japan, kouyou, kyoto, red leaves, shrine, temple
JAPAN | Wednesday, 19 Nov 2008 | Views [1856]
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
JAPAN | Saturday, 15 Nov 2008 | Views [791]
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
JAPAN | Saturday, 15 Nov 2008 | Photo Gallery
My experiences living here in Japan
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