Unawkward silence is the secret aim of any friendship. Or at least it should be. When you’re able to be comfortable around something with either of you having anything to say, that’s a good sign. It may sound counterintuitive, as you are letting the conversation die, per se, but being around someone when there is …

Unawkward silence Read More »

When you’re high in agreeableness, like I am, you have to watch out for being taken advantage of. I don’t like confrontation, which is probably why I like Japan (the basic aim of living in Japan is to avoid confrontation, I’m serious, it really stifles progress), so I have to try extra hard to get …

Passive agreeableness Read More »

Thanks to my students cheating, I had a realisation about the way I’ll be administering vocabulary tests from now on. I noticed that a lot of my lower-level students were cheating by just clicking through the answers of the test I gave them, which in the particular test I use gives highly elevated scores if …

A cheating realisation Read More »

Learning a second language and learning to swim are two things that have provided me with unlimited benefits. These days teaching is all about teaching for life, and these two things are pretty good examples of just that. I’m so grateful for having the opportunity to do both. First, I swam 10k this week. First …

Lifetime learning Read More »

On a local swimming pool’s website it says the wearing of a swim cap is ‘common sense’. Japan: We pray for a quick recovery from the novel coronavirus. Also Japan: *actually goes through with a domestic tourism campaign called ‘Go to’. Nek minnit: record numbers of infections. 🙁 The lack of leadership in Japan (that …

Uncommon sense Read More »

Uketamo has a long, long history. There’s a little known mountain region in northern Japan called the Dewa Sanzan that has been used as training ground for the Yamabushi, monks who train in the austerities in the mountains, for over 1,000 years. Although the Dewa Sanzan comprises of only three mountains, currently Mt. Haguro, Mt. …

Uketamo: the philosophy to live by Read More »

Last night we had a bit of a mishap that turned out fine in the end. We had decided to go for a walk, and when we stepped outside, we could hear the slight pitter patter of rain on the carport roof. We thought it would be alright if it’s just slightly spitting. Also, when …

A bit of a mishap Read More »