I had two more stops before I finally made it back to my home in Kyoto: Kumamoto and Beppu. Being the busy body that I am, I constantly forget to schedule time for self care. In Kumamoto I stayed in a capsule hotel for the second time. I allowed myself to relax by taking full… Read More To Hell and Back: Bathing and Beppu
For anyone reading, I’m back! I have basically been on the move for four weeks straight and I am down to my last two weeks in Japan. Though thoroughly exhausted, I hope to spend them catching up on lots of stories here and enjoying the last bits of this sweltering Kyoto summer. After walking the… Read More Ni Hao Nagasaki
After a literally perfect week in Okinawa, I head out early to go to Kyushu for the first time! I landed in Fukuoka, get my Seishun 18 Kippu, and set out for my first stop just outside the city: Nanzo-in Temple. The daibutsu (big buddha) was truly a sight to behold (as all of Japan’s… Read More Fireworks in Fukuoka
Haisai! That’s hello in the Okinawan dialect. As you may or may not know, back in Seattle I’ve been an active member of the Okinawan Kenjin Kai of Washington State’s eisa taiko group for over six years. Needless to say I’ve been hoping to make it to this little island for a while, and it… Read More Swimming with the Fishes
I may not be living on a coast right now, but when it’s summer I need to be on a beach. This last weekend a group of us took advantage of our university’s rental house in the remote coastal city of Shirahama. It was an effort to get to and from the area, but it was… Read More Let’s Go to the Beach
The heat and humidity are in full swing here and it basically feels like I ended up in Iowa like usually do in the summer. It is also the rainy season, so when it happens to be clear outside we need to take advantage of the opportunity. I used my day off to head to the… Read More Summer Loving, Loving Summer
While every day it gets harder being away from my loved ones, and I’m starting to look forward to heading to the States, I had a superb 21st birthday. For the first time in my life, I had class to attend, and I celebrated on foreign soil. It felt a little odd to say the least. I… Read More Here’s to 21
I’m already missing my friend Kaitlin who I met up with in Tokyo, and in my last post I forgot to mention how wise she is. Some of the things that come out of her mouth are just so sage. One topic of our eclectic tangent filled discussions while she was here, was recognizing one’s happy place(s). Before… Read More My Secret Gardens
It was recently Golden Week in Japan! This means, if you can time your classes right, there’s almost ten uninterrupted days off caused by a concentration of national holidays. Me and the crew took off to nearby Korea! It’s still baffling that the flight to Korea is shorter than the train ride to the… Read More The Rising Sun and the Morning Calm
In light of Mother’s Day, I’m finally finishing my post about when my mom visited me at the end of March/start or April. Upon my return from Thailand I had originally planned to spend a week touring Kyushu by train for a week before my mother came to visit. My plane ticket was inexpensive enough… Read More Sometimes You Need Your Mom
Gaijin Guranto 