Sapporo Diaries: Sanrio 60th Anniversary Exhibition
On March 4th, my boyfriend and I went out to Sapporo, with our main goals this time around were to see the Sanrio 60th Anniversary exhibition at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, and to get a haircut for my boyfriend. That’s been long overdue for him, and he’s been kind of waiting until he…
Sapporo Diaries: Taking Myself on a Solo Date to the Movies
Happy Birthday to the Emperor! February 23 was a national holiday, which meant I get the day off work. It’s a little awkward, because it’s kind of a random Thursday off (so not a three-day weekend…), and I have to go into work the next day, only for it to turn into the weekend, ha!…
Otaru Diaries: 26th Snow Light Path
On February 11th, my boyfriend and I spent a day in Otaru to go see the lights that were happening in the evening. Apparently there’s a famous event there called the Snow Light Path (translated), and the 11th was the first day of the event. I decided to spend the whole day to make the…
Sapporo Diaries: The 73rd Snow Festival
Picking up after the last post left off, is my post about my first time at Sapporo’s Snow Festival! We timed our Korea trip so we would come back right when the festival would start and not have to make a separate trip to Sapporo. We booked a hotel for the weekend, and although originally…
Seoul Diaries: Part 2
February 1: This was our first of two full days in Korea, and I wanted to make the most of it and eat at as many spots as I could! I actually switched my Day 1 and Day 2, because I figured Day 1 was a little closer, a tad more chill as our first…
Japan Doesn’t Have Napkins
Okay, well, the title is a bit of clickbait, obviously. At first, I was going to compile a list of “culture-shocks” / culture differences as an American living in Japan, but that list would have to be updated, and thought about before I go about posting it, so I decided to just write individual posts…
Sapporo/Noboribetsu Diaries: A Private Onsen Experience
On January 14 and 15, my boyfriend and I took a brief weekend getaway, sponsored by my parents as their Christmas gift to us this year, to Noboribetsu, a city in Hokkaido known for their onsen. Since I’m in Hokkaido, and I guess in Japan in general, I’ve been as wanting to go to an…
Deskwarming: an ALT Staple
Most ALTs will experience a phenomenon called “deskwarming” at some point in their career, but to different degrees. Deskwarming is essentially when you’re required to go to work (mostly because Japanese contracts are stiff), even though you may not actually have anything to do, so you either have to sit there or keep yourself killing…
Otaru/Sapporo Diaries: Experiencing Japanese New Year
Happy New Year! I got January 2-5th off (but not the 6th…) free without needing to use any paid time off (and the 9th ends up being another holiday, ha!), and though I was originally thinking of going home for a holidays when I first came, Christmas and New Year’s, since my boyfriend is here,…
Annie's Excursions
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