July 6, 2019
Being unwell is no fun, no matter where you live. When you’re in another country, far from your family, friends, and a more familiar-looking healthcare sys...
May 29, 2019
Every so often, a quote or article comes along that has the foreigner population in Japan up in arms. Like this NYT piece on Pico Iyer, a man who's been he...
August 24, 2017
I failed! Let's get that out of the way.
I failed N2 on my first try - but not by much.
Each section can be passed with a minimum score of 19 points. So I 'p...
July 14, 2017
So, I have a job that involves running my company's social media accounts.
I try to do this without sounding too much like myself. That's the point of being...
June 2, 2017
June is rainy season in Japan.
I know this, because the sudden storm that blazed over Osaka last night was intense. June 1st, massive rainy thunderstorm. It...
April 13, 2017
I'm finally - finally - at level 30 on WaniKani, which is halfway through the app's levels at least. Reviewing everything is going to take a bit longer.
Fee...
April 5, 2017
A month or so ago, I was chatting with my parents on Skype. They told me a story designed to horrify middle-class England. Cadbury - purveyor of ...
November 30, 2016
On the long, uncomfortable trek through the Joyo Kanji list, similar-looking kanji have a tendency to block my path.
Lately, it's been this pair:
防 - prevent
...
October 5, 2016
Wherever I go, Japan or otherwise, people have trouble with my name. Am I a Katie? A Kayleigh? A Caddy? Is it short for something? (I'M short for something...
September 20, 2016
I was inspired to write this post by 2 things.
1) the dubious proverb 'cabbage twice cooked is death', something I might well save for another post another...