No Grasp of Your Reality

Category: Travel

  • Waking from a Dream

    I am finally home from this last trip, and getting myself acclimated to normal life. A few friends have commented to me that they cannot imagine what’s it like to travel like I do, so I thought I would try to give you a glimpse. Imagine falling asleep knowing that you will dream for two […]

  • Travel and the Absence of Intimacy

    I’m wrapping up a two week stint in The Hague, Netherlands, and I’ve been thinking through why this trip seems to be a lot more difficult for my psyche than most of my other trips. The coworkers that I’ve been traveling with have been fantastic, and there has been no shortage of funny discussions, mostly […]

  • Check Out “Beyond My Front Door”

    Anwar is a good friend of mine, and probably my best travel partner. When my family was considering moving to Japan, he took time out of his schedule to trek all the way to northern Japan to meet up with my landlord. I’m sure he had an ulterior motive, since his addiction to world travel […]

  • The Smoking Car

    So, this train isn’t the idyllic means of transportation I was envisioning. Somehow, I must have missed the phrase “smoking car” on my ticket, and the Japanese don’t go half-way with their smoking. In addition, I have a suspicion that their air condition is broken or non-existant, which is highly unusual. You can be riding […]

  • Back in Japan and Heading North

    We’ve arrived in Tokyo with no problems. Anwar was scheduled to fly in two and half hours before me, but his flight was delayed, so he was only an hour before. We got our big bags shipped to our respective hotels and I got my cell phone so everything seemed to be going smoothly. We […]

  • Why We’re Expatriating

    Paul asked why I was looking for a job in Japan. I think a response is worth a separate post. My job has taken me to Japan quite a few times (I think my passport has 14 Japan entry stamps in it). Prior to taking this job five years ago, I had rarely left Pennsylvania, […]

  • The Family is Moving to Japan

    It’s been a while since I’ve written. Ron Paul mania has died down, we’re members of a new church where there’s a little more peace and quiet, and my month long trip to Australia happened to be to one of the more boring parts of the world. For the last year or so, I’ve been […]

  • Taste of Sumo

    For those of you who have never seen a sumo match, load up your bittorrent client (I use Azureus) and download this torrent. This is the final day of the sumo tournament going on right now that I attended last week. The video is two hours long, and is just the Makuuchi division (the 40 […]

  • Miwaza’s Photos

    Our friend Miwaza from Mitaka Evangelical Church took some beautiful photos of the kids… mostly Leah, but she’s the most photogenic, so nobody complains. My wife is jealous of her camera, but it’s clear she has a good eye for composition. You can check out Miwaza’s blog, and some of her other photography work up […]

  • Different in Japan – An Evolving List

    Shoes are removed at the front door Windshield wipers both go in the same direction Electric operated shower toilets – plugs into the wall, complete with button panel on the side of the toilet and on the wall. (Statistically, how many people get electrocuted on their shower toilets each year? Inquiring minds want to know…) […]

  • Tōkyō Pictures in Google Earth

    I took some time yesterday to geo-reference some of our photos in Google Earth, so you can see where in Tōkyō some of the pictures were taken. Google Earth now runs in Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, and it’s free, so you have no excuse to not use it. Once you install Google Earth, the […]

  • Tōkyō Pictures

    Some pictures are online – I haven’t had time to do the captions yet. SJA

  • Leftover Sushi Fried Rice Recipe

    Last night, my hunter-gatherer brought home several pieces of sushi. The sushi came packaged with pickled ginger and wasabi paste. We all love sushi, however the children are lagged and fell asleep at the dinner table before we even prayed. The result? Lots of leftovers. Not wanting to eat old sushi for lunch today, I […]

  • Family Trip to Japan

    Looks like my last trip to Japan is going to be a big one. I took a job offer on a different program, so I won’t be working the international programs for much longer. Our big upgrade that’s been going on for the last few months is reaching its climax with a three week upgrade […]

  • A Waking Dream

    Japan has started to become a recurring dream to me. I fall asleep, and feel like I wake up at 4am (like I did this morning). I take a shuttle down to the airport, jump on a couple airplanes, and end up in this fantasy world. I eat weird food, put on a thousand dollar […]