“Oh, don’t talk to me about Canadians,” said an American voice. “They’re almost as bad as those fuckin’ Australians. They never tip.” It was an effort not to join the debate. I was one of those ‘fuckin’ Australians’ who hated tipping. In my experience, the worse the service someone gives, the more they expect a… Continue reading Money
Category: Countries
Martial Arts
When I gave up the basketball club at school, I put all my energy into martial arts. My host mother had found a small doujou near home where the sensei taught a style invented by their father, combining aikidou and other styles with a few of his own moves. The senior sensei demonstrated the power… Continue reading Martial Arts
Festivals
Believe it or not, it’s been over two months this time. Summer is over and the second rainy season of the year has arrived. This one isn’t as gentle as the first and is aptly called typhoon season. We had one the other day and it was quite an experience. There were about 30 in… Continue reading Festivals
Teams
The acts varied, including a foreign dance, a song and a mock TV game show among others and everyone joined in. The idle members of the department sat back with beer, sake and whiskey and laughed and clapped equally to each skit. The team building, I realised, was in the preparation, not in the activity… Continue reading Teams
Sports
Everyone sat quietly, but I could feel an energy in the crowd, and when each team came out that energy erupted from the whole stadium. I don’t just mean the people supporting that team – I mean the whole stadium. A chant started. It wasn’t the disorganised rabble calling out a mix of ‘Go the… Continue reading Sports
Ablutions
It’s been a while since I last wrote. I made it through a whole six weeks without bothering you all with another 5 pages. And I can’t really claim that I ‘made it’ through a whole month. I’ve been involved in a few personality conflicts which combined with the heat stopped me sleeping too well.… Continue reading Ablutions
Alone
I’d really been looking forward to a BBQ at the beach the following weekend, but even that became a frustrating experience. It was organised by the company volleyball club – the only place I’d found untainted by gaijin – and I was looking forward to being able to swim, eat good food and get to… Continue reading Alone
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The third Monday of July is Ocean Day, and I was blessed with a long weekend. My hours had been building steadily since I’d arrived, and I was often required to work weekends – you can’t upgrade a phone or voice-mail system while people are using them. This was a rare chance to take a… Continue reading ãŠç¥ã‚Š
Summer, Music, Crime
JAPANESE SUMMER I’m writing to try and wake myself up. I refused the Korea network project because as far as I could see it required someone to be on site full time for a couple of months. I’m still settling in here so I didn’t want to spend my time traveling back and forth, or… Continue reading Summer, Music, Crime
犯罪
Japan is a safe country. Women and children walk unlit streets at night, confident that there won’t be anyone with a knife or a gun lurking. Each day, thousands of mama chari – mums’ bikes with a ladies frame and a basket on the front that are used by everyone, even sarariiman – are left… Continue reading 犯罪