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Nothing To Sneeze At
Another national holiday for the Japanese, which they use to purchase handkerchiefs to cope with their allergies.
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Passive Aggressive Nihilism
Being nice to your employees is not a requisite characteristic in a Japanese manager.
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Make Sure You Tick The Right Box
I have to get the visa form right, else I might be corralled into a very different and somewhat older profession.
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Festival Fever
Another town festival, this one in Ibigawa.
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Bootstrapping A Dictionary
Learning to read Japanese is really really ridiculously hard. So hard that you have to use a dictionary in order to use a dictionary.
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Taking The High Rood
A farewell to Cheyne, my housemate who returns back to America this week.
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Congrats
Grant and Tracey are engaged! Congratulations!
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Pass Master
In which I discover the results of my JNLP Level 3 results.
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Been To The Snow
Another snowboarding excursion. Living in a snow-capped prefecture is awesome!
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Gaijin Snow Day
Another snow day, this time with just about every Nova Teacher we could muster in the area.
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X-Valid 0.95
Another version of X-Valid which fixed up a couple of issues, added compatibility and one-click installation.
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Penned Name
I try my hand at calligraphy and find it far too unsteady to write even my own name!
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The Grudge
A true horror movie, Juon freaked me out good and proper.
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Every Day The 14th
Valentine’s Day in Japan is an all-male affair, with women expected to buy their partners expensive gifts. Reciprocity comes later.
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The Return Of The Pedal Bike
My bike miraculously makes its way back to me courtesy of some over-zealous police work.
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An Officer Calls
My bike is found! Now I just have to get it back…
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Board Again
Another day snowboarding in northern Gifu.
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Uncle George
The death of my Uncle George.
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Ridiculous Japanese Gameshows
Gameshows here scrape the barrel for ideas, but somehow are still riotously entertaining.
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Light Brigade
In which we solve an age old mystery, for values of X where X is Japanese People.
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Snow Patrol
Snowboarding in Japan, and I didn’t even kill myself!
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Akemashita Omedetou
New Year in Japan is celebrated more widely than Christmas. I step outside and see what people are up to.
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Poor Service – At Last
It was somewhat of a relief to finally encounter poor service in Japan!
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The Deer Island God
An excursion from Hiroshima takes us to Miyajima, a holy island just off the coast.
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How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb
Hiroshima, a city that can’t escape its association with the past, but which doesn’t play the victim and is determined to use its history as a parable for the world.
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The White Heron – Plucked
The first day on our Christmas tour of Japan takes us down to Himeji, site of a famous castle.
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Best Laid Plans…
Getting ready to travel down south, while Asia is rocked by yet more natural disasters.
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Merry Christmas!
Christmas in Japan just doesn’t compare to the UK.
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Brand Identity
Japan takes the concepts of brands to an extreme, with Louis Vitton the unofficial uniform of the middle-class.
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The Geminids
Encouraged by a meteor shower and a period of relative calm, I am inspired to write a haiku.
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Not A Lot Like Sodom Or Gomorrah
Embarking into town to buy Christmas presents, I stumble upon a disturbing scene.
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Proficiency, Or Lack Thereof
In which I sit the Japanese National Language Proficiency Test Level 3, and make weak football related puns.
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Pferd, Farewell
A fond farewell and a new foodstuff.
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Ninja And Waterfalls
The purpose of a ninja is to flip out and kill people. The purpose of this day trip was to find them.
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The Old Capital
My first trip to Kyoto during which I visit some of the more spectacular ancient buildings.
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Festive Spirit
Preparations are in place for Christmas, and a day trip to Kyoto approaches.
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Japanese Smileys
Even Japanese smileys are different from western ones.
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Shichi Go San
A traditional day in Japan where children dress in traditional clothes and do traditional things like eating sweets.
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Bonsai Festival
A bonsai festival marks the arrival of spooky music in the park next door.
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Drama Queens
In which I get to attend a Kabuki performance for Free 99.
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Little World
A little excursion to a little world. Like a small version of Disney’s Epcot, Little World bills itself as an “Anthropological Museum of Man” and is quite fun.
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Bike Three
Another day, another bike.
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Many Happy Returns
Another happy occasion/cynical cash grabbing opportunity today, as both Hello Kitty and Godzilla reach important milestones.
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Saturday Night’s Alright For Frightening
The gaijin go out on a jolly, complete with costumes and karaoke.
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American Idiot
A friend decides to risk his future prosperity for the love of astronomy.
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Earth Shattering
The recent major earthquake off the coast didn’t do me any harm at all, thanks for asking!
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Falling Down
People keep falling over around me. It’s not my fault, I swear!
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Primate, Fear
A day trip to Nagashima Spa-Land, an amusement park with rickety rollercoasters.
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The Price Of Learning
Education is expensive enough at home, but in Japan it’s taken to extremes.
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Strike Two
Yet another bike related incident in Japan, involving a lost key, a screwdriver and a new lock.
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Howdy!
Technology and travel stories from a global roaming, kangaroo loving, sake drinking gaijin pom.
Check out my projects and my resume, take a look at some code on Github and feel free to contact me.