Through the Eyes of a Vagrant

I must warn everyone, if you intend to tell your students that you have studied karate, be prepared to defend yourself. In this foreign land, one must be aware that this is a land of ninja and karate masters. And so…
After I finished one of my English classes I stepped outside [...]

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Today I made a mistake in class.  I was thirsty after teaching the class before so I reached into my bag and whipped out my bottle of coke and took a swig.  Then I suddenly heard the students go “awwwww” with this big frown on their faces.  The intern that was in the same class [...]

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At the beginning of every English class this one teacher, like many others, greets her students with aisetsu – fixed expressions, in English. This is the way it normally goes (in near robot-like fashion):
Teacher: “Good morning class”
Class: “Good morning Kawamoto sensei!”
Teacher: “How are you today?”
Class: “I’m fine, thank you!”
Teacher: “How is the weather today?”
Class: “It’s [...]

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It is near impossible to find clothes here if you are big guy. Back in Canada I wear a large and sometimes an extra-large. Here, I need to wear a 3L. At the very most, most stores only go up to LL (which is the one right before 3L). The highest [...]

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Today some idiot put out their garbage early. I came home from the grocery store to see the ravens picking at it and scattering it all over the road. I chased them away with a mighty yell and tried to gather the garbage in one place under the net they normally sit under. [...]

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Yesterday I went with Noriko to the Obon Festival in Odori Park in downtown Sapporo. There were many people dressed in kimono everywhere. We first went to an overpriced food court, where you bought tickets at the stand, and found a place to sit down. Then, waitresses came by, grabbed your [...]

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In Japan they have this really loud and annoying black bird. After asking what it was called, I was told that it was a karasu, which means raven. I guess I’ve never seen one before until now. But they sure are loud! And it almost sounds like they are laughing at [...]

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