Japan

I met Ai almost exactly one year after I’d moved to Japan. I’m getting ahead of myself, though – I need to go back to the beginning.

In my early 20s, I was addicted to travelling; I had perpetually itchy feet. Travelling had me in its grasp, my wanderlust an uncontrolled entity. And like most addictions, I needed more money to sustain it. At twenty-four years old and jobless, my savings fast running out, I needed to start making money to support my habit. It only made sense that I’d look for a job in a different country; it seemed, in my mind, to be killing two birds with one stone. Soon I was looking up international jobs, researching visas, investigating how much I’d need for the plane ticket. I then did what seemingly every other twenty-something English-speaker with a university degree but no idea how to use it does: I decided to teach English abroad. It was relatively easy to find a job online, and after an interview and a grammar test, it was confirmed. I was going to be a teacher in Japan.

Osaka, Japan I grew up in a small city in the Canadian prairies, a place known for wheat and hockey. I spent my youth memorizing maps; I was excited when the USSR…

A Love Letter To Japan from This Battered Suitcase on Vimeo. Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima, Japan The first of many love songs to Japan (my home for over two years). And…

Koh Phi Phi, Thailand I am seriously addicted to cheap massages/spa treatments when I travel. When I was in Southeast Asia, I got spa treatments a few times a month (or even…

 Osaka and Kyoto, Japan (all photos taken with my Superheadz Harinenzumi camera) As some of you may know, I lived in Japan for over two years; I left last October to travel…

(photo taken by J.) Koyasan, Miyajima, Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo, Japan There are few phrases you hear over and over again when visiting Japan. “Sumimasen!” meaning excuse me, I’m sorry, thank you,…