so... since coming to japan, i have come to terms with the fact that sometimes japanese people and americans just view things in very, very different ways... and one of those things is dating. japan is notorious for being patriarchal and chauvinistic to the point of allowing blatant sexism and even sexual harassment in the work place (yeah... the ( Read more... )

in japan, if you're out with someone of the opposite sex, people automatically assume that you are dating. since i have a lot of male friends, this leads to a few awkward conversations ( Read more... )

lauren: japanese people don't have chimenies, right?
shougakko ichi-nensei: ... yes?
lauren: so how does santa come in?
shougakko ichi-nensei: ... um... the window?
lauren: and what does santa say when he comes?
shougakko ichi-nensei: "tadaima!"

true story.

sorry, this is a lot later than intended, but here are the ( answers to part 1 )

1. this animal is in dessert ( Read more... )

today one of my teachers wanted me to teach the student's the following dialogue:
"what's this?"
"it's apple."
when i corrected her and said "it should be "it's *an* apple" she said "oh, but that's too confusing. they'll wonder why it's "an" instead of "a" and they don't know the alphabet yet, so please just teach "it's apple""
( the rest of the story )

( Read more... )

in addition to regular classes, there are optional sessions where JETs can volunteer to help japanese teachers improve their english skills through conversation. this conversation happened tonight ( Read more... )

i just had a peanut butter sandwich for the first time since coming to japan!!! but... i accidentally bought extra thick bread, so even though it was an open-face sandwich, it was 3 cm high :(

i was mobbed by kittens on my way to work today. i was almost late because they were so cute and demanding of attention ( Read more... )