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,…
Navigating Everyday Food in Japan
I love Japanese food, and I love the way Japan has treated foreign food (ex: Japanese Italian food is amazing). Now, as a tourist, you really want to go out and eat all the good food you can, which ranges from the super touristy well-known spots and famous sushi and ramen (significantly cheaper than America!),…
Sapporo Diaries: Pancakes and (Not!) Izakayas
We were going to go out this weekend to Sapporo mainly to do some winter-ish shopping, particularly for my boyfriend who needed to get some snow boots. He ended up getting boots locally in town, so it turned into more of a food day (which was already planned anyway), plus some spontaneous shopping, some needs,…
A Newfound Appreciation for Japanese Teishoku
The other day when I was ordering and eating at a local restaurant, I recently realized that I found comfort and a sense of normalcy in Japanese teishoku meals. What’s teishoku? Teishoku (定食) is essentially a Japanese “set meal” supposed to reflect what Japanese people traditionally eat with nutritional balance. A normal set would have…
Sapporo Diaries: Seeing my Dad on a Holiday!
My dad’s in Taiwan for work, and since I had a holiday on November 23 (Labor Appreciation Day), we took the opportunity to meet up in Sapporo for a day or so since I had the day off. It’s been a few months since I’ve seen any of my family, and I get to hand…
Otaru Diaries: Walking Along the Canal on a Rainy Day
My birthday was a couple weeks ago, and one of my new friends here, who has a birthday close to mine, wanted to plan a party celebration of sorts on November 19, the weekend closest to my birthday, since mine was on a weekday. According to the weather, it was going to just be cloudy,…
Annie's Excursions
A Travel and Lifestyle Blog