It was now five years ago that the Great Tohoku Earthquake occurred causing the giant tsunami together destroying houses, buildings, land and lives in Northern Honshu (and particularly Tohoku). Readers of my blog may recall that I spent two years in Ichinoseki, in Tohoku, teaching English and living there. But that was 2012 – 2014, …
Last Saturday I began a recounting of the tale of working for Interac and living in Japan. I wrote about the first week, the training at the Toyoko Inn at Narita, and the way everything was conducted. Today I move on to recounting how it was heading up to Iwate and settling in, the gap …
Continue reading The Interac Experience Part Two – Settling In
Howdy all again. Today and for the next month or so there is no podcast. The podcast will be returning mid-July with a new batch of seven episodes. HOWEVER - today I thought I would give everyone the chance to listen to the first seven episodes again, or perhaps for the first time …
Winding down my Japanese Survival Guide now, with principally the third last post unless something else springs to mind, folks it’s time to prepare for the red tape that awaits the foreigner when you come to work in Japan as an ESL Teacher. The irony of it all is that Japan is a principally capitalistic …
Continue reading Japanese Survival Guide Point 7 – City Hall and Bureaucracy
I have been on many overnight bus journeys in my travels, and last night was another. I have crossed the Baluchistan Desert from Pakistan to Iran overnight, which is perhaps my most memorable for good and bad reasons. Bad - Hot beyond belief and very little sleep, the Good, nay AMAZING - waking up at …
Yesterday I finally had the chance to visit the most renowned onsen in Ichinoseki, the Kanpo Onsen. A beautiful setting, a little way out of town on top of a hill, the onsen is fed by reputedly 14 different hot springs. It is regarded as the best onsen in the immediate area and one of …
I have just under a week left in my home of two years now in Ichinoseki. We have been packing and preparing to shift down to Yokohama where we will live for six weeks before flying to Melbourne. We've been frequenting the second hand stores to sell off a few things - I just said …
Although the hills look quite beautiful today, I must admit to being rather sick of winter. Today was supposed to be the first day of spring! Oh well, Ichinoseki can be quite beautiful even with snow!
Well, today was an interesting day! Not too far from Ichinoseki - perhaps 30km or so, is... wait for it... you won't see this one coming.... A SAFARI PARK! I kid you not. Somehow for 2 years I have resisted going. Perhaps it was the cost, or the fact that I didn't know where it …
So, for those who don't know me, on Friday my wife and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. We headed out in the car to a small restaurant run by a friend of my wife, not quite sure what to expect. But I have to say we were more than happily surprised by the quality …
Continue reading Anniversary Dinner, in the middle of nowhere, happy surprise!
A Scottish island girl exploring the world on a budget
exposing the inner-world of my brain
My second blog page
Put pictures on your travel dreams
The beautiful picture of angels makes you happy.
inspiring journeys and friendly advice
A Scottish island girl exploring the world on a budget
exposing the inner-world of my brain
My second blog page
Put pictures on your travel dreams
The beautiful picture of angels makes you happy.
inspiring journeys and friendly advice
Andy's World Journeys 