Surviving Tokyo trains
A commuter's guide
I hope that this quick tutorial will give you sporting chance should you step on a Tokyo rush hour train, but practice makes perfect so if you really want to get good you'll just have join the suffering masses and battle it out on a daily basis.
Becoming a salaryman
Preparing for life as a Japanese salaryman
By the time Monday rolls around I will be thoroughly exhausted which is the perfect way to begin the week because I will have the communal feeling of shared experience with my fellowsalarymen as we squash up against one another on the commute to work.
Casting off the shackles
A free agent at last
We all have to make decisions based on a given set of information provided at the time of the decision. Right now, for me that means abandoning Thailand and going back to Japan. As much as it may seem to be a step back, I am forced to see it as a step forward.
The Zen art of teaching English
Dharma, Zendo and all that stuff
Finally the last gong rings and the day is done. The monks quickly bow (clock) out of the temple as I check the next day’s scroll. It looks all right. I bid the nuns farewell – they work late into the night. I join the novice monks outside the temple and we all proceed to the izakaya.
Pissing on the tracks
The ups and downs of life in Japan
Hordes of middle-aged housewives roam department stores on the weekdays sniffing out bargains on anything and everything. The only variance on their routine is that the weekend sees the husband and children in tow. You see, shopping is the national pastime, er hobby.
